HIST 3603: Jewish Immigration: Jewish History: United States
United States
Columbia Archives
- Albert Lasker CollectionAlbert Lasker worked on providing agricultural training to Jewish immigrants.
- Community Service Society records, 1842-1995The Community Service Society, a large, private, New York City social service agency. The society was established in 1939 from a merger of the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor and the Charity Organization Society, whose separate files make up most of the collection.
- Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter records, 1944-1946The Oswego Refugee Camp was the only refugee camp set up in the United States for Jews fleeing persecution during WWII.
- Russian Jewish New YorkThe exhibition featured more than 150 photographs, personal documents, posters, original artworks, and books on the New York Russian Jewish immigrant community held at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library and Bakhmeteff Archive. The exhibition explores many of the issues and personalities discussed in the April 4-6, 2006, international conference on Russian Jewish New York.
- League of Nations records, High Commission for Refugees (Jewish and Other) Coming from Germany, 1921-1941"The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organisation founded on 10 January 1920 as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War."
Books
- Jewish immigration to the United States byPublication Date: 1914PRIMARY SOURCE:
The book discusses the emigration of Jews from Eastern Europe to the U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with sections of the book discussing topics including the reasons for the Jewish emigration from Eastern Europe, the immigration of Jews to the U.S., and the characteristics of the settlement of Jews in the U.S.
Online Archival Resources
- Joint Distribution Committee ArchivesThe JDC was "the overseas rescue, relief, and rehabilitation arm of the American Jewish community" during the early 20th century.
Its vast digital collection contains searchable text collections from 1914-1932, a detailed interactive timeline, historically-themed exhibitions, over 45,000 photographs, findings aids, educational resources, relevant archives news and more. - Early New York Synagogue ArchivesThree significant Manhattan Jewish communities—Shearith Israel, B’nai Jeshrun, and Ansche Chesed—moved from the Lower East Side to Harlem, midtown, and the Upper West Side. The Kane St. Synagogue remained in its original neighborhood in Brooklyn and the Eldridge Street Synagogue stayed at its original location; the latter has been designated a National Historic Site. Each of the five communities was comprised of immigrant populations that arrived from Europe and settled in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
The combined collections of these synagogues, from 1730 until the beginning of the 20th century, document the lives of people and communities that are all still vibrant today.
- Jewish life in America, c1654-1954 : sources from the American Jewish Historical Society, New York. This link opens in a new window"Jewish Life in America, c1654-1954 is an indispensable resource for scholars and students interested in understanding and exploring the history of Jewish communities in America from their first arrival in New York in 1654 to the integral part that they play today. All of the material has been digitized in colour and typescript and printed material is full-text searchable; it will provide an essential resource for teaching and study, from undergraduate to research students and beyond. The material is based on a rich variety of original manuscript collections from the unique holdings of the American Jewish Historical Society in New York; we provide access to six major organisational collections and twenty-four collections of personal papers; all of which have been digitized in their entirety."--Nature and scope.
- American Jewish Historical SocietyLocated at the Center for Jewish History on 14th Street, the AJHS contains a valuable collection of records on the history of Jews in America.
- The American Jewish Experience through the Nineteenth Century: Immigration and AcculturationEssay by Jonathan Sarna and Jonathan Golden. This site is a bit older, but the "links to online resources" include images of some relevant primary sources.
Newspapers
- Jewish Press in the USAThis section of the Historical Jewish Press site (National Library of Israel) focuses on papers printed in the US. Languages included: English, Yiddish, Ladino, and German.
- Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) ArchivesFounded in 1917, the JTA has been the primary source for specifically Jewish news until the present day. Their archives have been digitized and are completely searchable online.
- ProQuest historical newspapers. The American Hebrew & Jewish Messenger. This link opens in a new windowContains full text of the newspapers American Hebrew and the Jewish messenger from 1857-1922.
- ProQuest historical newspapers. The American Israelite . This link opens in a new windowContains full text of the newspaper the Israelite including its title variants.
- Jewish Morning Journal (Morgan Zjournal)Daily Yiddish paper, from 1901-1971. Access provided by the Historical Jewish Press for 1906-1922.
- The Occident and American Jewish AdvocateThe Occident and American Jewish Advocate was published from 1843-1869 in Philadelphia. It was edited by Isaac Leeser and Mayer Sulzberger
- B’nai Brith MessengerThe B’nai B’rith Messenger [BBM], named after Los Angeles’s foremost nineteenth-century congregation of the same name, chronicled Jewish life in the city for almost one hundred years (1897-1995).