This collection documents the professional activities and personal life of Arthur Waskow, a Jewish Renewal rabbi and political activist. It includes printed materials such as brochures, booklets, clippings, correspondence, financial documents, photographs, and writings by Waskow as well as other authors. Materials reflect various aspects of Waskow’s life including teaching, involvement in the human and civil rights movements, and the peace process in the Middle East.
Rustin was a prominent American civil rights leader, LGBT rights activist, and advocate for the Black-Jewish cooperation in the United States. This collection focuses on his involvement in the American Soviet Jewry movement.
Contains correspondence relating to Diamond's legal and political career during which time he served as Corporation Counsel for the City of Buffalo, New York State Supreme Court Justice, and on the faculty of the University of Buffalo Law School. A large amount of material is concerned with the American Civil Liberties Union, the Buffalo Jewish Center, the United Jewish Fund of Buffalo, the United Jewish Appeal, the American Jewish League for Israel, the American-Israel Cultural Foundation, the American Fund for Israel Institutions, the American Friends of the Hebrew University, the State of Israel Bonds, the Independent Zionists of America, the American Zionist Council and the American Christian Palestine Committee. Also includes anti-Nazi material, material on civil rights and anti-discrimination legislation, the problem of church and education, speeches, general correspondence, files of newspaper clippings, and memorabilia.
Folder consists of an announcement, articles, an awards program, correspondence, news clippings, and a resume regarding Kaplan's tenure as President of the NAACP and as Vice Chairman of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. There are copies of racist correspondence from Jews and non-Jews reacting to Kaplan's interviews on radio and television.
Peter Bloch Collection addenda (AR 25623) [Digitized]
Bloch was a historian, writer, journalist and an expert of Puerto Rican culture, who was born on October 19th, 1921 in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Collection consists of photographs, correspondence and clippings documenting Peter Bloch’s engagement in Hispanic culture and civil rights from the 1940s-1960s. Also included are autographed photographs from actors and others; various other documents pertaining to Peter Bloch.
Polier was a Lawyer, attorney for Free Synagogue Child Adoption Committee, Chairman of American Jewish Congress' National Governing Council and the Commission on Law and Social Action. This collection contains the personal and professional papers of Shad Polier. These materials reflect his widespread participation with the civil liberties movement, equal rights and anti-discrimination, including legal files from cases with which Polier was involved concerning and civil liberties, articles and speeches by Polier, correspondence, and materials from several of the organizations with which Polier was affiliated, including the American Jewish Congress, the World Jewish Congress and the NAACP.
Virginia Levitt Snitow Papers (P-876)
The collection highlights Virginia Snitow's active years in the Women's Division of the American Jewish Congress and an organization she founded, US / Israel Women to Women. Papers contain correspondence and both fiction and non-fiction writings on racial, gender and class equality. Also included are family stories and diaries chronicling time spent in her summer home in Granada.
American Jewish Congress records (I-77) [Digitized]
The AJC Records represents the single largest collection on the organization and its impact on the United States legal system, civil rights and liberties, the fight against discrimination and anti-Semitism, American Jewry, and support for the State of Israel. The collection includes the constitution, by-laws, and minutes of the Administrative and Executive Committees and Governing Council of the Congress.
Jewish Counter Culture Collection (I-504)
This collection includes materials documenting the activities and publications of independent and activist American Jewish organizations. Sample news publications from a variety of independent presses are included, as are a variety of home-published newsletters and flyers. The collection addresses anti-war protests and U.S. draft avoidance; American Jewish activism on Israel; feminist involvement in Judaism; socialism and radicalism; and international affairs. Materials include newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, news clippings, articles, limited correspondence, speech notes, reports, and flyers.
Jewish Labor Committee collection (I-377)
The Jewish Labor Committee was founded on February 25, 1934. JLC serves as a bridge between Jewish workers and the trade union movement. It was active in the civil rights movement, the struggle for Soviet Jewry, and often acts as organized labor’s representative involving racial and religious issues. The Jewish Labor Committee manages activities in the area of social justice, civil and human rights, Yiddish-speaking programs and programs of Jewish cultural and Jewish defense.
Jews for Urban Justice (Washington, D.C.) Records (I-159)
This collection contains the records of the Jews for Urban Justice, documenting their activities in Washington, D.C. from 1967-1971. It is mostly made up of articles and summaries of their campaigns and administrative history. The organization was involved in urban desegregation, urban renewal, demonstrations against war and Anti-Semitism, Jewish discussion series, and the politicization of religious rites. JUJ organized in solidarity with the Chicago Seven, African-Americans, veterans, farm workers, and Soviet Jewry. Other materials include meeting minutes, newsletters, leaflets, program materials, calendars, correspondence, press clippings, press releases, reports, flyers, and membership materials.
National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council records (I-172)
NJCRAC was established to coordinate the work of national and local Jewish agencies in the field of community relations in the United States; name changed in 1968 from National Community Relations Advisory Council. This collection documents the activities, administrative, planning, proceedings, and correspondence from its founding in 1944 to 1994. The collection includes correspondence, programs, minutes, proposals, reports, clippings, press releases, and publications.
New Jewish Agenda Records (I-393)
The collection consists of general membership correspondence, event fliers, meeting minutes and memoranda, an organizational history, position papers, press releases, a list of chapter representatives, discussion bulletins and a bibliography of the Jewish community's lesbian and gay liberation movement.
Synagogue Council of America records (I-68)
The collection documents the lifespan and activities of the joint Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Jewish communities' efforts in coordinating Jewish life and activities in America. It contains correspondence, photographs, and ephemera including photographs of Martin Luther King, Jr., Edward Kennedy, and Presidents Eisenhower, Truman, and Johnson, along with Eleanor Roosevelt. Of particular interest is correspondence and photographs documenting the removal, reconsecration, or burial of ritual Synagogue items for repatriation from Europe to the U.S. and South America after WWII; also contains information on damaged synagogues in France.
Archive of the American Soviet Jewry Movement
The American Soviet Jewry Movement emerged from small grassroots groups of students and others outside the establishment in the early 1960s, pushing for the rights of these Soviet Jews and calling for them to be allowed to emigrate. By the early 1990s, the movement evolved into a worldwide phenomenon. As a whole, the American Soviet Jewry Movement was integral to raising awareness of the conditions under which Soviet Jews lived and advocating for the eventual emigration of hundreds of thousands.
The AASJM is comprised of dozens of personal and organizational archival collections, digital collections, and oral histories. For a complete breakdown of this collection, please visit our AASJM Research Guide.