By Poorvi Bellur Part 3: William Maslow Read Introduction; Part 1 on Shad Polier; Part 2 on Justine Wise Polier The American Jewish Congress underwent multiple changes in its focus over the course of the early 20th century, however it was under the leadership of individuals like Will Maslow that it transformed into an organ for social justice advocacy. Phil Baum, Sylvia Deutsch, and…
By Poorvi Bellur Part 2: Justine Wise Polier Read Introduction; Part 1 on Shad Polier The daughter of AJC founder and prominent rabbi Stephen S Wise, Justine Wise Polier rose to become one of the foremost fighters for social justice and equality in legislation. Justine Wise Polier (American Jewish Historical Society, Shad Polier Papers, Call #P-572) Breaking barriers of religion and gender, Polier became…
By Poorvi Bellur Part 1: Shad Polier Read Introduction “The AJC began developing its program of using legislation and litigation to protect human rights in 1944 and 1945. At that time many respectable “liberal” organizations told us not to get involved in these projects. We ignored them and went ahead. We did so not because we’re a “liberal” organization but because we’re a Jewish…
By Poorvi Bellur Conducted over the course of Black History Month 2017, this research project is structured around primary sources from the archives and the personal collections of each of these individuals and their correspondences with other important leaders of the Civil Rights movement. This study focuses on the umbrella organization of the American Jewish Congress and profiles 3 major voices in the Jewish…
By Moriah Amit, Senior Reference Services Librarian, Genealogy Coordinator Although the notion that our immigrant ancestors’ names were changed by clerks at Ellis Island has been debunked time and again by noted scholars in Jewish genealogy (see References below), this myth remains pervasive in the stories that American Jews tell about their family history. The truth, that most of our immigrant ancestors chose to…
By Nicole Greenhouse, Archivist The American Jewish Historical Society and the Center for Jewish History are proud to highlight the AJHS Counter Culture Collections, a set of over 170 linear feet of 25 smaller collections documenting Jewish involvement in left politics, the Jewish Renewal movement, the Peace movement, and Jewish student activism in the 20th century. Materials in the Counter Culture Collection date as…
by Center for Jewish History President and CEO Joel J. Levy Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, is a time to remember, to commemorate, and to honor all those who died in the Holocaust, as well as the survivors who endured those very dark and terrible years. Sadly, Jewish history is replete with many earlier instances of anti-Semitism, but the near annihilation of European Jewry…
by James Nadel, Communications Outreach Associate A month ago, the Center for Jewish History hosted “Echoes and Reflections,” a traveling program for educational professionals that focuses on Holocaust pedagogy. Echoes and Reflections was originally co-designed by three of the world’s most significant Jewish institutions: the Anti-Defamation League, Yad-Vashem (the Holocaust museum of Israel) and the USC Shoah Foundation. Since 2005, the program has traveled all over…
The Center and its partners are proud to send the above letter to our elected representatives, urging them to oppose the elimination of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Support from the NEH helps the Center to achieve its primary mission: to preserve and protect the history of the Jewish people.
By J.D. Arden, Reference Services Librarian, Genealogy Specialist, Center for Jewish History Here at the Center for Jewish History in the Ackman and Ziff Family Genealogy Institute, researchers in genealogy often discover or bring in old postcards, letters, manuscripts or vital statistics records. These old documents are notoriously difficult to read! Some are in Yiddish, some in Hebrew. Here are my tips for deciphering Hebrew-alphabet penmanship…