A Jewish boy growing up in rural Georgia as presented at the eighth annual conference of the Southern Jewish Historical Society / by Morris B. Abram. [cassette]
Nettie Smith who was raised in the mountains of Georgia. [cassette]
Search the collections at the Center for Jewish History
ON-SITE ACCESS
We welcome researchers, scholars, and visitors of all backgrounds. Appointments are recommended, and reservations can be made through your research account.
If an archival collection is available, there will be a link that reads 'REQUEST ITEM' in the catalogue that will send you to the Center's Aeon researcher interface. You can link requests to your appointment. A video showing these steps can be found on the Archival Materials tab of this guide.
DIGITIZATION REQUESTS
If you would like to make a digitization request, select Photoduplication Request in the request form. Please cite specific box and folder numbers for archival materials. There is a maximum 500 page limit for digitization requests due to high demand. Some items may be restricted due to fragility, size, donor restrictions, or copyright. No more than one-third of any in-copyright publication may be reproduced.
Legacy folder and file lists to the Bund Archives have been digitized and are available to view HERE.
If you have any questions on how to request a collection for use, please email inquiries@cjh.org to ask a CJH librarian.
Judah P. Benjamin Collection, P-45 [Collection is digitized and available online]
The Collection reflects the experience of Southern Jews before and during the Civil War in Louisiana and Washington D.C., as well as Benjamin's personal legacy in the American South. Benjamin, called the "brains of the Confederacy", was a statesman and jurist in the U.S., the Confederate States, and Great Britain. He achieved high-ranking titles, including the South where he held more official positions than any other man during the Civil War. He fled to England, where he was admitted to the English bar, and later assumed a judgeship.
The collection also provides a look at the continued glorification of Confederate heroes in the South long into the twentieth century.
Mordecai Sheftall papers, P-12 [Collection is digitized and available online]
The Papers record personal and business affairs of Mordecai Sheftall. The smaller portion of the collection includes family papers along with his merchant business dealings prior to and toward the end of the American Revolution including his appointment to Deputy Commissary of Issues then to Commissary of Issues for the State of Georgia and his grievances against the U.S. for lack of payment for supplies he purchased and issued to troops.
The majority of the collection is comprised of the roughly 2,792 receipts of goods and items such as beef, pork, candles, rice, flour, etc., provided to troops and units of the First through Fourth Georgia Regiments and Battalions, South Carolina Regiments, other militias
Jacobi-Schlossberg Family Papers, P-705
The bulk of the Papers comprises personal papers in the form of journals, baby books, wedding albums and correspondence kept by four generations of women in the Jacobi-Schlossberg family. It is valuable for researchers studying the social and daily life of women in the late 19th and 20th centuries and Jewish life in Montgomery, Alabama, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Roanoke, Virginia. The collection is particularly strong regarding marriage, raising and educating of children, college life, and personal journals.
A letter to a Mr. Simons regarding personal matters. In her letter, Levy notes the condition of Savannah after the Civil War.
Collection contains the surviving papers of Rabbi Tobias Geffen who served as a rabbi in New York City (1904-1907), Canton, Ohio (1907-1910), and Atlanta, Georgia (1910-1970). It includes extensive correspondence with family, autobiographies in Yiddish and English, and other material regarding his personal life. It also contains material on Congregation Shearith Israel of Atlanta, Georgia (financial records, Purim ball, etc.), the sisterhood, Hebrew School, youth work in the synagogue, and the Shearith Israel Lodge of Independent Order of Brith Abraham in the synagogue.
A letter to Abraham Lincoln recommending an individual as commissioner of the Freedman's Bureau of Louisiana. Also contains a photograph of a newspaper engraving of Hahn.
Letter to Samuel's mother, Frances Hyman, in London, describing the quality of life in Petersburg, Va., opportunities in America, and plans to move to Charleston, S.C. The letter contains an extensive postscript by Samuel's wife, Rebecca, in Yiddish. (1791)
Kate Wallach Collection, AR 25009 / MF 926 [Collection is digitized and available online]
This collection documents the personal and professional life of the lawyer Kate Wallach. Among the papers in the collection are personal and official papers, correspondence, articles on legal matters, photographs and newspaper clippings. Several folders are dedicated to her time at LSU and research in Louisiana law.
Bernard C. Ehrenreich Papers, P-26 [Collection is digitized and available online]
The Papers contain documents and paraphernalia spanning seven decades. In 1906 he took the pulpit of Congregation Kahl Montgomery in Montgomery, AL. Zionism and progressivism pervaded his thoughts and work. Collection is valuable for researching Montgomery's Jewish community, Christian-Jewish relations in the South, and more.
Emanuel de la Motta Prayerbook Collection, P-68 [Collection is digitized and available online]
Two manuscript prayer books written by De La Motta for his daughters, Clara and Rachel, in 1820 in Charleston, South Carolina.
Central Conference of American Rabbis Data Cards, I-215
This collection describes the work of Reform rabbis in towns throughout Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. [1915-1945]
Jewish Welfare Fund and Federation of New Orleans collection, I-383
This collection contains general correspondence, minutes and memorandum concerning federation meetings, including statements of the Review committee on the Welfare Fund agency's relationship with local communities. It also contains reports concerning the Casework Service Subcommittee, the Pre-School Committee, studies and surveys, lists of local Jewish organizations, and publication Budget Digest (1960-1961).
Jewish Family Service of Greater New Orleans Records, I-547
The records focus on the work to resettle Jews from the Soviet Union during the 1970s and 1980s. It contains lists of Displaced Persons from Eastern and Western Europe who arrived by ships to the port of New Orleans in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The records also document the resettling of refugees from Southeast Asia in the 1980s. Materials include ship manifests, memos, agendas, correspondence, clippings, policy statements and procedures, statistics, congressional reports, programs and budgets.
Records of Temple Beth El (Helena, Arkansas), I-470
The records offer a valuable insight into a small town Southern Jewish community. The community, mainly German Jews devoted to the Reform movement, participated actively in charity work and mutual benefit societies, and maintained a close relationship with Jewish communities throughout the South. Much of this collection concerns activities of women in the community.
Many of the records for the Helena Jewish community have been lost, destroyed by fire, or discarded by community members. This collection, which contains correspondence, real estate deeds, financial ledgers, minute meetings, news clippings, a scrapbook and photographs, is representative of the majority of historical items pertaining to the Helena Jewish community that exists today.
Records of the Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim (Charleston, S.C.), I-107
This collection contains a letter (1790), signed by Philip Hart and Jacob Cohen, officers of the Congregation, congratulating George Washington on assuming the office of President of the U.S., a copy of a financial ledger maintained by Israel De Lieben, gabbai of the Congregation, dated 1800. The original is located in the Congregation's archives. The collection also contains printed material dealing primarily with the Congregation's 200th anniversary in 1950.
Congregation Beth Jacob (Atlanta, Ga.) Collection, I-484
This collection consists of publications issued by the Congregation, Torah Day School, and Yeshiva High School. Beth Jacob publications include a copy of the dedication ceremony in 1956, issues of Beth Jacob Magazine (1974-1980, with gaps), a timeline of Atlanta Jewish history (1843-1985), and a history of the Congregation's first fifty years (1943-1993). An issue of TDSA Today (Spring 1990) and an invitation to the Yeshiva's annual dinner in 1993 is also available.
Congregation Mikve Israel (Savannah, Ga.) Collection, I-277
The collection consists of transcripts from the records of the congregation, 1790-1791; a copy of an 1849 statute of the State of Georgia relating to the congregation; and several publications and newspaper clippings on the history of the congregation. The transcripts also record important dates in the history of the congregation from 1733 to 1904.
Gazette of the United States, George Washington letter to Hebrew Congregation of Savannah, I-466 [Collection is digitized and available online]
The June 19, 1790 issue of the Gazette of the United States. Within this issue, an address made by Levi Sheftal, President of the Hebrew Congregation of Savannah, GA to President Washington was printed alongside President George Washington's reply.
Nashville Jewish Community Collection, I-252
The collection contains records of Congregation Ohava Emes and the Standard Club (now the Woodmont Golf and Country Club) of Nashville, TN. Records consist of transcript and microfilm of Congregation's minutes and microfilm of Standard Club's ledger book.