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Subject Guide: American Midwest

Vacation Album — Chicago, Nevada, California, 1949. Edna Ehrlich Papers, AR 25639. LBI

Highway map showing part of the Midwest region including Cleveland, Detroit,  Chicago, Des Moines, Lincoln

Institutional Archival Highlights

B. Manischewitz Company Records, I-283

This collection contains pamphlets, printed materials and photos concerning the activities of the Kosher food manufacturing company founded by Rabbi Dov Ber Manischewitz in Cincinnati in 1888. Includes product information and recipes for holiday meals, as well as copies of presentations at a 1956 symposium on "Jewish Life as Reflected in Jewish Foods."

Records of the Clara de Hirsche Literary Society (Minneapolis, Minn.), I-275

This collection consists of publications produced and written by a group of 17 young women in Minneapolis, and consisting of feature articles, book reviews, poetry, editorials, essays, reports and other literary pieces.

Congregation Tifereth Israel Collection, I-522

This was the first Reform congregation in Cleveland, established in 1850 when members of the congregation Anshe Chesed seceded regarding a religious dispute. By the end of the 19th Century, it was one of the most prominent Reform congregations in the U.S. Materials includes newsletters and programs, a history of the congregation’s first 100 years, and material related to the student Zionist group Ayukah.

Jewish Community Centers Association (St. Louis, Mo.) Collection, I-372

This collection contains various circulated material produced by the Jewish Community Centers Association of St. Louis, Missouri. Also included are several dozen issues of the regional run of The Journal.

Jewish Family and Children's Service (Detroit), RG 364 [Digitized]

An affiliate agency of the Jewish Welfare Federation in Detroit, formerly the Jewish Social Service Bureau (JSSB). The collection is mostly records of the JSSB and, to a lesser extent, of the Jewish Family and Children's Service (JFCS). Most items are individual case files. Administrative records include: general correspondence; minutes of staff and committee meetings. Records of institutions which at some point merged or were affiliated with the JSSB: the Resettlement Service, Jewish House of Shelter, Jewish Child Placement Bureau, Hebrew Orphan Home.

Records of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, I-310

The records include annual reports, correspondence, publications such as the JC review and the Jewish Federation review, member lists, and reports.

National Jewish Welfare Board, Records, I-337 subiiserbsub4 (Subseries 4: Geographic Files)

JWB divided the U.S. into geographical areas (known as Sections or Regions) including the Midwest. The Regions' mission was to promote close relationships between JCCs, Ys, and other organizations, coordinate programs, develop new JCCs, and aid member agencies in growth to contribute to the intellectual, religious, social and physical well being of Jews and Americans. This subseries consists of correspondence, field reports, newsletters, maps, charts, diagrams, and blueprints dealing with JCCs within the regional sections.

Oral Histories Collection, P-773

Typewritten oral history transcripts of executives in the United Jewish Appeal and the Jewish Welfare Federation in Detroit.

Postcards Collection, I-593

The synagogue postcard series contains 106 postcards of synagogues across the U.S. including: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio.

Sunrise Cooperative Farm Community, RG 432

A Jewish collectivist agricultural colony in the Saginaw Valley of Michigan headed by Joseph J. Cohen, a former editor of the anarchist newspaper, Freie Arbeiter Stimme. The colony was an attempt to find a solution to economic problems of the Depression and an idealistic experiment in communal organization based on the principles of the anarchist movement. Contains: constitution, meeting minutes, reports, financial statements, Yiddish press clippings, memoirs, mimeographed newsletter Sunrise News.

Temple Beth El (Birmingham, Mich.) Records, I-111

The collection contains a file of The Temple Bulletin; various pamphlets on its history; the Temple Beth El dedication issue of The Jewish American (September 18, 1903); programs, brochures and publications on the Woodward-Gladstone Street Synagogue and materials on the relocation to Birmingham, Michigan.

Records of the Yidisher Teater Gezelshaft in Detroit, RG 1369

The Yidisher Teater Gezelshaft (Jewish Theatre Guild) in Detroit was a theater society dedicated to producing artistic and popular plays in Yiddish. It was founded in 1942 as a community theater aimed at serving the entertainment and educational needs of the Jewish community of Detroit. Materials include: correspondence, meeting minutes, financial reports, programs, mailings, and membership materials.

J.W.B. building, Des Moines, Iowa, circa 1917. I-337.B10.F017. AJHS.

2 story brick buildings with awnings and signs. On the side of the building is painted "b'nai brith soldiers club"

Personal Archival Highlights

Arthur J. Lelyveld Papers, P-1030

The collection mostly contains sermons, correspondence, reports, and materials from Lelyveld's work in Ohio and Nebraska before 1950. In addition to his work as a rabbi, he was involved in the Jewish Peace Fellowship, the Omaha Urban League, and projects related to social justice. Most materials focus on work attempting to establish aid to conscientious objectors in Civilian Public Service camps and to aid those in Japanese internment camps. He also visited college campuses in South Dakota and Iowa to report on how Judaism was taught.

Benjamin Laikin Papers, RG 605

The collection consists of correspondence, circulars, invitations, and newsletters, relating to the Jewish community of Detroit. Organizations include the Jewish Community Council of Detroit, Jewish Teachers Seminary and Jewish Welfare Federation of Detroit.

Isaac Brown Family Papers, P-628

Collection consists of legal documents, certificates, photographs, newspaper clippings, ephemera, and a scrapbook which document the lives of members of a German Jewish family in the Midwest during late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Joseph Family Photographs, P-688

Collection consists of black-and-white prints depicting the Milwaukee Jewish community during the first half of the 20th century. Subjects include national, state, and local Workmen's Circle groups; World War I soldiers; Americanization classes; Congregation Beth Hameorosh Hagodol; and the Liliner Society.

Moses Benjamin Papers, RG 661

Materials relating to Benjamin's activities in the Workmen's Circle of Cleveland, including correspondence, lecture notes, speeches. Photograph, annual convention, Toronto, 1922.

Scrapbook of Walter and Hadassah Plaut, 1930-1957, AR 25482 [Digitized]

Contains clippings, brochures, correspondence, and photos from the education and early careers of Walter and Hadassah Plaut. Interspersed are publications from colleges and Jewish institutions: Beth Jacob in Cincinnati, Ohio; Hadassah; Hashomer Hatzair ; Hebrew Union College; Herzl Camp in Webster, Wisconsin; Mount Zion Temple in St. Paul; Temple Emanuel in Duluth, Minnesota; University of Michigan; Wayne University.

Spielberger Family Papers, P-609

The personal papers, business records, and photographs of Ludwig Spielberger, a Hungarian immigrant, and a successful grocer in Akron, Ohio.