Finding aid for the Judah Rubinstein Papers


Title:
Judah Rubinstein Papers
Repository:
Western Reserve Historical Society
Phone: 216-721-5722
http://www.wrhs.org
Creator:
Judah Rubinstein
Dates:
1825-2003
Quantity:
3.01 linear feet (3 containers and 1 oversize folder)
Abstract:
Judah Rubinstein was an archivist, historian, author, and research associate for the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, Ohio, and a well-known authority on Cleveland Jewish history. He helped to establish the Cleveland Jewish Archives at the Western Reserve Historical Society in 1976. He provided research for a number of books on Cleveland Jewish history and co-authored the book Merging traditions: Jewish life in Cleveland. The collection consists of correspondence, research notes, lectures and slide presentation scripts, newspaper clippings, reports and oral history transcripts. Nineteenth century materials are photocopies.
Identification:
MS 4907
Location:
closed stacks
Language:
The records are in English

Biography of Judah Rubinstein

Judah Rubinstein (1921-2003) was an archivist, historian, author, and research associate for the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, and a well-known authority on Cleveland Jewish history. His parents, Israel (d. 1966) and Sonia (1900-1982) were born in Poland and came to the United States early in the twentieth century. They married in 1920. Judah Rubinstein was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and attended public schools in the Kinsman and Glenville neighborhoods, which at that time were population centers for the Jewish community. He graduated from Western Reserve University in 1942, received a Masters in Arts from that school in 1947, and attended Harvard University from 1948-1951. In 1955 he worked as a historian for the Jewish Theological Seminary of America's American Jewish History Center, providing the Seminary with basic research for a projected monograph on Cleveland Jewish history. This research became the basis for The History of the Jews of Cleveland, by Lloyd Gartner, published in 1978.

Rubinstein joined the staff of the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland (JCF) in 1958 as its research associate. He compiled local Jewish population studies, research reports, exhibits, and other projects relating to the JCF. In 1976 Rubinstein helped establish the Cleveland Jewish Archives at the Western Reserve Historical Society. With Sidney Vincent he was the co-author of a book of photographs, Merging Traditions: Jewish Life in Cleveland, published jointly by the JCF and the Western Reserve Historical Society in 1978. In 1980 he was appointed JCF archivist with major responsibilities in the area of records management, Jewish community history, and publications. In that capacity he was active in the publication of The Camp Wise Story, by Albert Brown, What I Remember: Clevelanders Recall the Shtetl, compiled by Goldie Lake, and Personal and Professional, by Sidney Vincent. Rubinstein officially retired from his position in 1986, but continued on a part-time basis as a consultant in history and archives. At the time of his death in 2003, he had nearly completed a second edition of Merging Traditions, published posthumously in 2004 by the Kent State University Press.


click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Judah Rubinstein

Scope and Content

The Judah Rubinstein Papers, 1825-2003, consist of correspondence, research notes, lectures and slide presentation scripts, newspaper clippings, reports, and oral history transcripts. Nineteenth century materials are photocopies.

The collection is of value to researchers investigating the history of the Jewish community of the Cleveland, Ohio, metropolitan area in general, and specifically, those contributions to the body of research on Cleveland Jewish history by Judah Rubinstein. Some of his original research includes papers on Ezra Brudno (1877-1954), Marcus Rosenwasser (1846-1910), the Jewish press in Cleveland, and Sidney Z. Vincent (1912- 1982). Information about the creation of the Cleveland Jewish Archives at the Western Reserve Historical Society, the Jewish Community Federation Archives and History Committee, and its publications subcommittee is also to be found in this collection. Rubinstein collected documentation on other organizations, including Camp Wise, and conducted the oral histories of Leah Garber (1885-1978), Irving Kane (1901-1988), and Ben Zevin (1901-1984). Also of note is the primarily Yiddish correspondence from Israel Rubinstein (d. 1966) to Sonia Rubinstein (1900-1982) before and after their marriage, and other correspondence from relatives in the United States, Canada, and Europe to Sonia Rubinstein from 1916 through the 1930s.

Statement of Arrangement

The collection is arranged alphabetically by subject, and then chronologically.

Restrictions on Access

None

Related Material: Related Material

The researcher should also consult MS 4563 Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland Records; and MS 4835 Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland Records, Series II.


Separated Material: Separated Material

All photographs have been removed to PG. 528 Judah Rubinstein Photographs. Audiocassettes have been removed to the audiovisual collections.


Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

Camp Wise (Euclid, Ohio)
Jewish Community Federation (Cleveland, Ohio). Archives and History Committee
Jewish press -- Ohio -- Cleveland
Jews -- Ohio -- Cleveland
Jews -- Ohio -- Cleveland -- Biography
Jews -- Ohio -- Cleveland -- History
Jews -- Ohio -- Cleveland -- Interviews
Jews -- Ohio -- Cleveland -- Societies, etc. -- History
Rubinstein, Judah
Rubinstein, Sonia, 1900-1982 -- Correspondence
Western Reserve Historical Society. Cleveland Jewish Archives

Preferred Citation

[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4907 Judah Rubinstein Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

Acquisition Information

Judah Rubinstein, 1990, 1993, and 1998-2003.

Processing Information

Processed by Jane A. Avner in 2004


Detailed Description of The Collection



The collection is arranged alphabetically by subject, and then chronologically, 1825-2003

Box 1 / Folder 1
American Jewish Archives, correspondence, 1977 and 1979, .




Box 1 / Folder 2
Biographical material on Judah Rubinstein, public relations sheet and paragraphs, 1974, 1979-1980, 1983, 1985-1986, and undated, .




Box 1 / Folder 3
Book publishing, "The North Coast Book Trade," unpublished manuscript by Russell Duino, 1993, pages 1-150, .




Box 1 / Folder 4
Book publishing, "The North Coast Book Trade," unpublished manuscript by Russell Duino, 1993, pages 151-end, .




Box 1 / Folder 5
Cleveland College of Jewish Studies, memoranda, notes, correspondence, and photocopies of historical documents relating to a class on Cleveland Jewish history taught by Rubinstein, 1971-1972, .




Box 1 / Folder 6
Cleveland College of Jewish Studies, memoranda and lists relating to class taught by Rubinstein, 1989, .




Box 1 / Folder 7
Cleveland Jewish history, bibliographic analysis by Rubinstein, 1954, .




Box 1 / Folder 8
Cleveland Jewish history, miscellaneous newspaper clippings, 1921, 1964, 1971-1973, 1976-1977, 1979, 1985, 1990-1991, and 1993, .




Box 1 / Folder 9
Cleveland Jewish News, photography competition, correspondence, 1976, .




Box 1 / Folder 10
Cleveland State University, Ethnic Heritage Studies Development Program, correspondence, newspaper clippings, manuscript on Cleveland Jewish history by Sol Jaffe, 1975-1976, .




Box 1 / Folder 11
Conferences, Regional History Conference, press releases, invitations, and newspaper clippings, 1955, .




Box 1 / Folder 12
Cuyahoga County Grand Jury, photographs (photocopies) and memoranda, 2000, .




Box 1 / Folder 13
Donations, art and books, lists and correspondence, 1984 and 1992, .




Box 1 / Folder 14
Exhibits, "Doorways of Diversity, 150 Years of Jewish Life in Cleveland," Cleveland College of Jewish Studies, brochure, 1989, .




Box 1 / Folder 15
Exhibits, "For Every Thing A Season; Jewish Art in Cleveland," Cleveland State University, proposal, and newspaper and magazine articles, 2000, .




Box 1 / Folder 16
Exhibits, "Roots and Branches," Pittsburgh, PA, correspondence, proposal, brochures, 1978 and 1980-1982, .




Box 1 / Folder 17
Exhibits, "Years of Our Life: A Pictorial Review of the Cleveland Jewish Community 1839-1976," correspondence, newspaper clippings, and notes, 1907, 1940-1941, 1975, 1977-1979, and undated, .




Box 1 / Folder 18
General correspondence, 1978-1979, 1990, 2000, .




Box 1 / Folder 19
Guralnik, David B., journal articles, 1987 and undated, .




Box 1 / Folder 20
Hadoar, issue on Cleveland [in Hebrew], 1953 (original stored in Oversize Folder 1, oversize materials), .




Box 1 / Folder 21
Jelinek, Yeshayahu, correspondence, 1967-1968, .




Box 1 / Folder 22
Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, reports, constitution, correspondence, and historical account, 1928-1931, 1936, and 1955, .




Box 1 / Folder 23
Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, Archives and History Committee, agendas, minutes, notes, and memoranda, 1979-1980, .




Box 1 / Folder 24
Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, Archives and History Committee, agendas, minutes, notes, reports, and memoranda, 1981-1983, .




Box 1 / Folder 25
Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, Archives and History Committee, agendas, minutes, notes, reports, and memoranda, 1984-1985, .




Box 1 / Folder 26
Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, Archives and History Committee, correspondence, proposals, memoranda, and lists, 1992-1994, .




Box 1 / Folder 27
Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, Archives and History Committee, correspondence, proposals, memoranda, and lists, 1995-1996, .




Box 1 / Folder 28
Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, Archives and History Committee, Publications Subcommittee, correspondence, notes, minutes, and reports, 1981-1985, .




Box 1 / Folder 29
Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, Archives and History Committee, Publications Subcommittee, correspondence, notes, minutes, and reports, 1982-1983, .




Box 1 / Folder 30
Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, Archives management at the Jewish Community Federation, correspondence, lists, and reports, 1977-1981, .




Box 1 / Folder 31
Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, Cleveland Jewish Archives, correspondence, notes, reports, minutes, and memoranda, 1958 and 1966-1977, .




Box 2 / Folder 32
Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, Cleveland Jewish Archives, correspondence, notes, reports, minutes, and memoranda, 1977-1981, .




Box 2 / Folder 33
Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland,Cleveland Jewish Archives, correspondence, notes, reports, minutes, and memoranda, 1981-1986, .




Box 2 / Folder 34
Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, Oral History Project, correspondence, memoranda, and newspaper clippings, 1970-1972, .




Box 2 / Folder 35
Jewish National Fund, tree certificate issued in honor of the 25th anniversary of Mr. & Mrs. Israel Rubinstein,1945 (original stored in Oversize Folder 1, oversize materials), .




Box 2 / Folder 36
Jewish Theological Seminary, New York, correspondence relating to Rubinstein's research activities for a monograph about Cleveland Jewish history, 1955, .




Box 2 / Folder 37
Jewish Theological Seminary, New York, correspondence relating to Rubinstein's research activities for a monograph about Cleveland Jewish history, 1956-1957, .




Box 2 / Folder 38
Lectures, Anti-Defamation League exhibit, slide narrative, 1984, .




Box 2 / Folder 39
Lectures, "Brudno vs. Blackstone: When a Lawyer Writes," presented at the Rowfant Club, 1981, .




Box 2 / Folder 40
Lectures,"Cleveland Jewish History Personalities," notes, newspaper clippings, and narrative, 1987, .




Box 2 / Folder 41
Lectures, Cleveland Jewish History, Rowfant Club, 1993, .




Box 2 / Folder 42
Lectures, "The History of Cleveland's Synagogues," presentation at the exhibit Doorways of Diversity at the Cleveland College of Jewish Studies, 1990, .




Box 2 / Folder 43
Lectures, "The Jewish Press in Cleveland," 1975, .




Box 2 / Folder 44
Lectures, "John Philip Sousa," at the Rowfant Club, notes, magazine article reprints, and correspondence, 1987, .




Box 2 / Folder 45
Lectures, "Merging Traditions," 1978, .




Box 2 / Folder 46
Lectures, "Photography and a Book: The Making of Merging Traditions," 1980, .




Box 2 / Folder 47
Lectures, "Sidney Vincent," 1982-1983 and 1991, .




Box 2 / Folder 48
Lectures, slide presentations, notes, 1997 and 2001. "Sidney Vincent," 1982-1983 and 1991, .




Box 2 / Folder 49
Lectures, "There is a Doctor in the House," about Marcus Rosenwasser, speeches and reprint of speech in American Jewish Archives, 1982, 1993-1994, .




Box 2 / Folder 50
Lectures, "Wolf Lewkowicz," Rowfant Club, correspondence, notes, index to letters, and letters [photocopies], 1922-1938, 1966, and 1982, .




Box 2 / Folder 51
Lectures, "Writing and Illustrating Cleveland History," 1978, .




Box 2 / Folder 52
Oral history, correspondence and lists of questions, 1971, 1979, 1988-1989, .




Box 2 / Folder 53
Publications, Cleveland Jewish News issue on Cleveland Jewish history, 1971, .




Box 2 / Folder 54
Publications, Encyclopedia Judaica articles on Cleveland and Cleveland Jewish personalities, correspondence and articles, 1969-1971 and 1974-1975, .




Box 2 / Folder 55
Publications, Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, correspondence and contract, 1985-1986, .




Box 2 / Folder 56
Publications, History of the Jews of Cleveland, by Lloyd Gartner, review by David Miller and correspondence, ca. 1973, .




Box 2 / Folder 57
Publications, Merging Traditions, notes, newspaper clippings, and historical writings, 1937, 1958, 1971, 1974, 1977, 1979, and undated, .




Box 2 / Folder 58
Research, notebooks, undated, .




Box 2 / Folder 59
Research, Baskind, Moe, autobiographical account, 1972, .




Box 2 / Folder 60
Research, Bellefaire, correspondence, review, anniversary book, 1988 and undated, .




Box 2 / Folder 61
Research, Budwig family, correspondence [photocopies], 1866-1867, .




Box 2 / Folder 62
Research, Camp Wise, correspondence and biographical accounts of David Warshawsky and Samuel D. Wise, 1977, 1986, and undated, .




Box 2 / Folder 63
Research, Camp Wise, log, 1911, .




Box 2 / Folder 64
Research, Camp Wise, log, 1922, .




Box 2 / Folder 65
Research, Carpenters Union, writings, 1957-1958, .




Box 2 / Folder 66
Research, Cemeteries, lists and correspondence, 1840 [photocopy], 1960, 1988, and undated. Includes undated history of Fir Street Cemetery, .




Box 2 / Folder 67
Research, Children of Aaron Family Association, constitution [photocopy], 1905, .




Box 2 / Folder 68
Research, Cleveland Achuzah [early Zionist group], minutes [photocopies from Zionist Archives in Jerusalem], 1914, .




Box 2 / Folder 69
Research, Cleveland Heights, minutes, 1947, .




Box 2 / Folder 70
Research, Cleveland Jewish history, A Brief History of the Jewish Community of Cleveland, 1837-1976 by Sol Jaffe, 1976, .




Box 2 / Folder 71
Research, Cleveland Jewish history, early documents [photocopies] and notes, 1825, 1839, 1846, 1851-1853, 1863-1865, 1867-1869, 1871, 1886, 1904, 1910, 1912, 1916, 1923, 1925, 1933, 1936, 1938, 1953, 1958, 1974, and undated, .




Box 2 / Folder 72
Research, Cleveland Jewish history, early immigrants and families, correspondence and notes, 1970s, 1990, 2001, and undated, .




Box 2 / Folder 73
Research, Cleveland Jewish history, The Forward [Yiddish language newspaper], 1955, .




Box 2 / Folder 74
Research, Cleveland Jewish history, photograph research, notes, undated, .




Box 3 / Folder 75
Research, Cleveland Jewish history, population studies, reports and lists, 1961, 1966-1968, 1970, and 1978-1979, .




Box 3 / Folder 76
Research, Columbus, OH, newspaper clipping, 1976, .




Box 3 / Folder 77
Research, Dauby, David, 1865, 1870, and 1909 [photocopies], .




Box 3 / Folder 78
Research, Cohen, Elias (d. 1904), correspondence and newspaper clipping, 1976, .




Box 3 / Folder 79
Research, Frommer, Rabbi Jacob, correspondence, 1978-1980, .




Box 3 / Folder 80
Research, Garber, Leah, oral history transcript, 1972, .




Box 3 / Folder 81
Research, Garment workers' strike (1911), research paper by Mary Morgenthaler, 1981, .




Box 3 / Folder 82
Research, Glenville High School, class of 1939 yearbook photographs with 1989 addresses [photocopy], 1989, .




Box 3 / Folder 83
Research, Heights Area Project, magazine article, 1977, .




Box 3 / Folder 84
Research, Jewish Consumptive Relief Society, newspaper clippings, undated, .




Box 3 / Folder 85
Research, Jewish Day Nursery, account of Frieda J. Hand, 1979, .




Box 3 / Folder 86
Research, Kalish, Max, correspondence and brochures, 1976 and undated, .




Box 3 / Folder 87
Research, Kane, Irving, oral history transcript, 1986, .




Box 3 / Folder 88
Research, Kutash, Henry, oral history transcript of interview with Kutash's cousins David and Shirley Guralnik, 1997, .




Box 3 / Folder 89
L. N. Gross Company, history by William V. Gross, 1967 and chronology, undated, .




Box 3 / Folder 90
Research, Landy family, correspondence, certificates, and newspaper clippings, 1908-1909, 1913, 1911, 1952, 1983, and 1987, .




Box 3 / Folder 91
Research, Miller, David, oral history project, correspondence, lists, autobiographical writing, 1982 and undated, .




Box 3 / Folder 92
Research, Miller, David, writings, including "The Holocaust and Jewish Resistance," 1977, and The Neo Hagaddah, 1969 and 1977, .




Box 3 / Folder 93
Research, Newman, Julius, autobiography [photocopy], 1957, .




Box 3 / Folder 94
Research, Newmark, Hy, correspondence, 1978, .




Box 3 / Folder 95
Research, Ratner family, correspondence, 1977 and 1979, .




Box 3 / Folder 96
Research, Rosenberg, Felix, certificates and newspaper articles, 1840s-1912 and undated [photocopies], .




Box 3 / Folder 97
Research, Rosenwasser, Marcus, diary, encyclopedia, newspaper and magazine articles, photographs [all photocopies], and notes, 1864, 1894, 1906, 1910-1911, 1926, and undated, .




Box 3 / Folder 98
Research, Rosenwasser, Marcus, family history, 1942, .




Box 3 / Folder 99
Research, Schlesinger, Sigmund, diary [photocopy], 1868, .




Box 3 / Folder 100
Research, Soviet Jews, newspaper clipping, 1990, .




Box 3 / Folder 101
Research, Synagogue architecture in Cleveland, magazine articles, brochures, and notes, 1912, 1971, 1975, and 1989, .




Box 3 / Folder 102
Research, Synagogues in Cleveland, lists and brochure, 1936, 1955 and undated, .




Box 3 / Folder 103
Research, Ullman family, correspondence [photocopies], 1863 and 1870, .




Box 3 / Folder 104
Research, Unsleben, Bavaria, correspondence and encyclopedia entry, 1989, .




Box 3 / Folder 105
Research, Weinberger, Billy, newspaper article, 1979, .




Box 3 / Folder 106
Research, Wohl, Samuel, correspondence, minutes, biography, and photographs [all photocopies], 1918-1919, 1923, 1925-1927, 1933, 1965, and undated, .




Box 3 / Folder 107
Research, Workmen's Circle, program, 1928, .




Box 3 / Folder 108
Research, Yeshivath Adath B'nai Israel, lists, historical accounts, 1965, 1969, and 1973, .




Box 3 / Folder 109
Research, Zevin, Ben, oral history transcript, 1977, .




Box 3 / Folder 110
Research, Zionism in Cleveland, magazine article, 1978, .




Box 3 / Folder 111
Retirement from the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, correspondence, newsletter, poem, and speech, 1986, .




Box 3 / Folder 112
Rowfant Club, correspondence and publications, 1989, .




Box 3 / Folder 113
Rubinstein, Israel (d. 1966) and Sonia (1900-1982) [parents of Judah Rubinstein], correspondence, primarily in Yiddish, 1916-1917, .




Box 3 / Folder 114
Rubinstein, Israel (d. 1966) and Sonia (1900-1982) [parents of Judah Rubinstein], correspondence, primarily in Yiddish, 1918, .




Box 3 / Folder 115
Rubinstein, Israel (d. 1966) and Sonia (1900-1982) [parents of Judah Rubinstein], correspondence, primarily in Yiddish, 1919-1921, 1923, and 1924, .




Box 3 / Folder 116
Rubinstein, Israel (d. 1966) and Sonia (1900-1982) [parents of Judah Rubinstein], correspondence, primarily in Yiddish, 1927-1929, .




Box 3 / Folder 117
Rubinstein, Israel (d. 1966) and Sonia (1900-1982) [parents of Judah Rubinstein], correspondence, primarily in Yiddish, 1933-1935, .




Box 3 / Folder 118
Rubinstein, Israel (d. 1966) and Sonia (1900-1982) [parents of Judah Rubinstein], correspondence, primarily in Yiddish, undated, .




Box 3 / Folder 119
Rubinstein, Israel (d. 1966) and Sonia (1900-1982) [parents of Judah Rubinstein], correspondence, primarily in Yiddish, postcards, 1913-1930s [unsorted], .




Box 3 / Folder 120
Rubinstein, Israel (d. 1966) and Sonia (1900-1982) [parents of Judah Rubinstein], correspondence, translated from the Yiddish, 1918, 1927, and 1932, .




Box 3 / Folder 121
Tours of Cleveland Jewish sites, lists, 1990, 1991, 1995, and undated, .