The Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland Records, 1839-1982 (1901-1979), consist of correspondence, trustee and committee minutes and reports, annual reports, surveys, newspaper clippings, publications, research papers, and scrapbooks.
This collection is of value to researchers interested in wide-range of topics within American and Cleveland social welfare history as well as within Jewish history (on the local, national, and international levels). In addition, researchers interested in major topics within American history such as immigration, the Great Depression, and World War II and their effects upon a specific ethnic group will find significant documentation. As a consequence of numerous surveys, the collection is rich in quantitative data. Materials concerning World War II are located in Series II and Series IV. Series II includes records of Jewish participants in the war and a study of the families of Jewish servicepersons (filed under the heading World War II), while materials concerning the resettlement of World War II refugees, and the effects of World War II upon social welfare needs and services are filed under Jewish Family Service Association. Series IV includes materials relating to a League for Human Rights "Rumor Roundup" column published in the Plain Dealer, 1942-1943, clippings about Germany and Nazis that were published in Cleveland newspapers between 1935 and 1938, and clippings pertaining to Jews who served in the war. Extensive materials concerning the Cleveland Jewish community's health needs are located in Series II and Series III. Of particular note in Series II are documents from 1912 and 1913 concerning the need for a Jewish hospital in Cleveland (filed under Mt. Sinai), records pertaining to the Jewish Dispensary Association, 1914-1916, and a 1945 report, 'Study of the Professional Standards of Child Care at the Orthodox Jewish Orphan's Home", (filed under Orphanages). In Series III, the subject heading "Health" incorporates such concerns as drug problems, Mt. Sinai hospital, and older persons, while other health-related materials in this series are located in the files of the Social Agency Committee. Materials concerning the activities of The Jewish Community Council are included in Series II as well as in Series IV. Series IV materials, covering the period 1935-1942, include clippings pertaining to a trip to Washington by a delegation seeking action against Polish pogroms, protests against Nazi demonstrations in Cleveland, and a defense of Rabbi Barnett Brickner against a Catholic Universe Bulletin attack upon his position concerning religion in the schools. Of particular note in Series II is a 1949 thesis concerning the formation and first six years (1934-1940) of The Jewish Community Council. Quantitative surveys are located principally in Series II. Reports from a variety of studies conducted between 1920 and 1980 are filed under the heading, Population Studies. Included among these are "Jewish Population Study of Greater Cleveland, 1925-1926", "Study of Jewish School Population in Cleveland, 1934", and "Older Persons in the Cleveland Jewish Community, 1979". Among other headings in Series II that include survey data are Cleveland, Collinwood; Education (Jewish); and Orphanages, Jewish Orphan Asylum/Home.