HIAS archival materials at AJHS are from the post-war period. If you would like copies of client case files, please contact the Location Department at HIAS. Copies of case files are available from about 1940. There may be fees for search requests through HIAS.
Due to the size of AJHS' HIAS collection (over 700 linear feet), the entirety of the collection is stored off-site.
If you would like to research materials from this collection, please contact inquiries@cjh.org with the specific box and folder numbers you are interested in. Please allow at least 2 weeks after confirmation for us to arrange a delivery.
This collection contains various audiovisual and electronic media formats that may require special equipment to access. After requesting A/V items via inquiries@cjh.org, reference staff will respond back whether access is possible.
All research is done on-site in the Lillian Goldman Reading Room at the Center for Jewish History.
The records of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society housed at the American Jewish Historical Society comprise much of the history of HIAS through the second half of the 20th century, primarily through the files created by leadership based in the New York headquarters. Since the 1880s, HIAS has worked with immigrants and refugees to help them emigrate legally from their home countries to safe resettlement in the United States and elsewhere, and they continue this work today. The records focus on files of the Executive Directors and other material created by executive staff and by the Board of Directors. Also of importance is the work of the HIAS United States Operations Department in the New York office, handling immigration documentation, migration issues and resettlement activities in connection with communities throughout the United States, and in coordination with HIAS staff in overseas offices and the other departments in New York and Washington, D.C.
The AJHS HIAS records are organized into nine series:
The Executive Series contains the files of the executive leadership of HIAS, including lay leaders on the Board of Directors and professional staff in the Executive Office. The Executive Series includes the following subseries:
Board of Directors
Executive Office
Predecessor and Related Organizations
Programs as a division at HIAS appears around 2002, replacing the name Operations, which itself was an attempt to bring together the sprawling United States Operations and International Operations. All of these names described the heart of the work HIAS had been doing for decades—helping refugees and immigrants emigrate from their home countries or via a transit location to the United States, and once settled in a community, ease their adjustment to their new life, new language, new culture, and new work opportunities. The Program series includes the following subseries:
United States Operations
Overseas Operations
The Communications Series includes a large section of biographical material on board members and prospective board members, professional staff, and speakers, probably originally a part of the HIAS Speakers Bureau. Much of the Communications series is organized by creator, as the department was one of the longest-running facets of the HIAS administration. Names include:
The main responsibility of the Membership Department is recruiting new members and retaining existing members, through direct mail campaigns. Campaigns are run through Federations throughout the country, synagogues, and personal letter writing efforts by members of the HIAS Board of Directors. The HIAS Women's Division not only provided a sense of community to new refugees but served as a strong force for new HIAS membership, fundraising, and public relations. This series includes the following subseries:
Membership
Women’s Division
Scholarship Program
The department of Government Relations as we now know it appears to have started under Executive Vice-President Karl D. Zukerman in 1984. At one point in HIAS' history, they engaged consultants in Washington, D.C. to handle government-related projects closer to policy-makers. Eventually HIAS opened their own office in Washington, and later rented space in the offices of other Jewish organizations. The records in this series are arranged into two subseries:
New York Office
Washington, D.C. Office
The Finance series includes HIAS audited and unaudited financial reports and extensive reporting from the Grant Management Department as they filed required documentation for each community in the United States where federal funding aided the resettlement of HIAS clients.
Financial Reports
Collections
Grant Management
Finance Subject Files
The Administration Series contains files documenting the history of the Archives and Records Management program at HIAS under Colonel Seymour J. Pomrenze in the 1980s to 1990s, including some information on the earlier HIAS archives and records on deposit with YIVO.
Archives and Records Management
Human Resources
Information Services
Artifacts, Audiovisual Materials and Photographs
The Artifacts, Audiovisual, and Photographs Series lists the audiovisual materials that are part of the collection, including audio cassettes and reels, computer diskettes, video in various formats, two boxes of artifacts and one box of photographs found throughout the collection that had no close connection with the files.
Artifacts
Audio Cassettes
Audio Reels
Compact Discs (CD)
Diskettes
Microfilm
Photographs
Video
The HIAS Photograph Collection documents the history of HIAS's administrative and relief work from the 1940s to the 1990s as well as images documenting HIAS’s collaborations with various affiliate organizations, including its predecessors: HIAS-ICE Emigration Association (HICEM), National Refugee Service (NRS), and United Service for New Americans (USNA), among others. Many of these photographs were used in HIAS publications, such as annual reports, project pamphlets, and general newsletters to promote the work of the organization.
The project blog, On The Rescue Front, encompasses many of the interesting correspondence, images, and ephemera uncovered by AJHS and Center for Jewish History archivists during their daily processing of the HIAS Records. Included are blog posts that provide in-depth explanations and historical parallels connected to the interesting photographs and documents that were rediscovered during the organization of this collection.
Some blog post highlights:
Saving the Syrian Jewish Brides
More than just a pretty facade: HIAS at Lafayette Street