Jewish Theological Seminary of America. General Files. Records, 1902-1972. 1940-1972 (bulk).
Title:
Records, 1902-1972. 1940-1972 (bulk).
The General Files of the Jewish Theological Seminary, which served as the Seminary's central filing system, consist principally of the correspondence of the president/chancellor (the title changed from president to chancellor in 1951). Some correspondence of vice-chancellors and other. top administrators is also included. Since the bulk of this material dates from 1940-1972, the years Dr. Louis Finkelstein (1895-1992), headed the Seminary, the General Files chiefly document his administration. There is, though, a significant amount of material from the 1930s, some from the 1920s, and a scattering going back to 1902. These earlier files cover, if thinly, the administrations of Solomon Schechter and Cyrus Adler. Records dating from the Seminary's founding in 1886 until its reorganization in 1902 have not been found in these files. Material in the General Files is mainly correspondence, both letters received and carbons of outgoing letters. The files also contain a variety of other types of documents, such as: minutes, reports, press releases, texts of speeches and lectures, clippings, reprints of articles, programs, invitations, guest lists, photographs, and audio tapes. Correspondents include: members of the Seminary's boards of directors and overseers; faculty members, administrators, students, and staff; administrators of institutions and programs affiliated with the Seminary (such as the American Jewish History Center, the "Eternal Light" radio program, the Jewish Museum, the Schocken Institute for Jewish Research, and the University of Judaism); participants in the Conference on Science, Philosophy, and Religion and the Institute for Religious and Social Studies; recipients of honorary degrees; rabbis; clergypeople of other faiths; Dr. Finkelstein's academic colleagues; contributors to his book "The Jews: Their History, Culture, and Religion" (published between 1949 and 1971); representatives of many Jewish communal, religious, cultural, educational, and political organizations; politicians and other public figures; Israeli government officials; administrators of neighboring academic institutions on Morningside Heights, particularly Columbia University; community organizations, particularly Morningside Heights, Inc.; and an occasional member of the public writing to ask a question about Jewish law or custom. These files document Seminary administrative and academic matters, and during Louis Finkelstein's administration they also reflect his role as a prominent American Jew, one who was occasionally called upon to act as a spokesman or representative of American Jews as a whole. Dr. Finkelstein's work as an author and editor, particularly the preparation of his "The Jews..." is documented here. Of particular note are extensive (in some years making up approximately one quarter of the General Files) files documenting the Institute for Religious and Social Studies and the Conference on Science, Philosophy and Religion - programs fostering intergroup relations founded at the Seminary in 1938 and 1940, respectively. Included is correspondence with participants and with people invited to participate. Copies of Conference papers and transcripts of Institute talks are also included. Participants in the Conference and Institute were often prominent people from a wide ran. ge of fields. As a result, there are letters here from W.H. Auden, Mary McLeod Bethune, Franz Boas, Van Wyck Brooks, T.S. Eliot, Nels Ferre, Aldous Huxley, Jacques Lipchitz, Alain Locke, Thomas Mann, Margaret Mead, Reinhold Niebuhr, I.I. Rabi, Bertrand Russell, Bayard Rustin, Delmore Schwartz, Ben Shahn, Harlow Shapley, Paul Tillich, and many others. Also of note is correspondence with Frieda Schiff Warburg, daughter of Jacob Schiff and a Seminary board member. From 1944, when she donated her Fifth Avenue house to the Seminary for use as the Jewish Museum, until her death in 1958, the files contain her correspondence with Louis Finkelstein and other Seminary administrators, notably Jessica Feingold. This correspondence provides a view into the donation of the Warburg house and its transformation into the Jewish Museum.
ArchivalResource:
365 linear ft.
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