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Genealogy Guide: Landsmanshaftn Records

Reference Books at the Center for Jewish History

The Jewish Communal Register of New York City, 1917-1918 (NY: Kehillah (Jewish Community) of New York City, 2nd ed. 1918). Includes a listing of landsmanshaftn. Genealogy Institute   F 128.9 .J5 J52
Digital version from Internet Archive
 
Kliger, Hannah, ed. Jewish Hometown Associations and Family Circles in New York: The WPA Yiddish Writers' Group Study (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1992). An analysis of the WPA study. Genealogy Institute   F 128.9 .J5 J574 1992
 
Rontch, Isaac, ed. Di Idishe Landsmanshaften fun Nyu York [The Jewish Landsmanschaften of New York] (NY: I.L. Peretz Yiddish Writers’ Union, 1938). A survey of immigrant societies in NY prepared by the Yiddish Writers’ Group of the Federal Writers’ Project, WPA. Includes essays on landsmanshaft history and activities as well as survey results[in Yiddish]; also contains Table of Contents and Directory of Organizations [in English]. Genealogy Institute   F 128.9 .J5
 
Sorkin, Sidney. Bridges to an American City: A Guide to Chicago’s Landsmanschaften, 1870 to 1990 (NY: Peter Lang, 1993). 
 
Soyer, Daniel. Jewish Immigrant Associations and American Identity in New York, 1880-1939 (Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 2001, paperback reprint of 1997 Harvard University Press edition) Genealogy Institute   F128.9 .J5
 
Weisser, Michael. A Brotherhood of Memory: Jewish Landsmanshaftn in the New World. (NY: Basic Books, 1985). An examination of landsmanshaftn in the lives of immigrant Jews. Genealogy Institute   F128.9 .J5 W45 1985

Web Sites

Burial Societies in the New York Metro Area. An online database created by the Jewish Genealogical Society, Inc. (New York), listing burial plots of landsmanshaftn, synagogues, family circles, fraternal organizations and labor unions. Searchable by town name or keyword. Contains more than 10,000 entries from almost 100 cemeteries located in New York City, Long Island, Putnam County, Westchester County, and northern New Jersey.

Landsmanschaft Immigrant Benevolent Organizations, by Glenda Rubin, 1996. Includes a basic description of landsmanshaftn, as well as a list of organizations in Israel, with contact information.

American Jewish Yearbook. The American Jewish Committee Archives has digitized the complete volumes from 1899 to the present. The books contain directories of national and local organizations, often listing founding date, officers, and addresses.

 

Landsmanshaft Records at the Center for Jewish History (CJH)

You may search the CJH's online catalog by either the organization name or the town name.