Genealogy Guide: Landsmanshaftn Records

The YIVO Archives maintains records from over 1,000 societies, arranged in over 500 record groups (collections), ranging in date from 1859 to 1984. YIVO also has an extensive collection of records of the Workmen’s Circle (Arbeiter Ring), whose branches were often organized according to the town or region where their members originated. For additional details, see Rosaline Schwartz and Susan Milamed, A Guide to YIVO’s Landsmanshaftn Archive: From Alexandrovsk to Zyrardow (New York: YIVO, 1986), available at the Center for Jewish History at Genealogy Institute   Z 6373 .U5 S38 1986. The complete list of landsmanshaft collections at the YIVO Archives is organized alphabetically by the name of the landsmanshaft.

In the 1960's, AJHS microfilmed the incorporation papers of "Jewish" non-profit organizations in New York County (Manhattan) for the period from 1848 to 1920. These incorporation papers comprise Collection I-154 and include over 3,000 organizations, most of which are landsmanshaftn. The complete list of landsmanshaftn incorporation papers at AJHS is organized alphabetically by the name of the town of origin. 

In addition, the American Jewish Historical Society’s Landsmanshaftn Collection (I-332) contains over 100 folders of material on dozens of societies. A few organizations are cataloged separately, such as the German Hebrew Benevolent Society of the City of NY (I-46), Independent Slonimer Benevolent Society (I-126), Radomer Culture Center (I-125), and Slonimer Ladies’ Bikur Cholim Unterstutzungs Verein (New York) (I-127). AJHS also has a Workmen’s Circle collection (I-304).

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