Barnett R. Brickner (1892-1958) was a New-York born Zionist, educator, orator, and Rabbi of Anshe Chesed Congregation (1925-1958) in Cleveland, Ohio. He was involved in numerous local, national and international organizations, both Jewish and non-sectarian. To realize his goal of promoting and enhancing Jewish family life he created a Young People's Congregation at Anshe Chesed. He also directed the congregation into a more traditional Reform observance and the Zionist movement. Brickner was also extremely active in local Jewish organizations, including the Cleveland Zionist District, the Bureau of Jewish Education, and the Jewish Welfare Fund. Nationally, he served on the Executive Committee of the Zionist Organization of America, chaired the Committee on Chaplains of the Central Conference of American Rabbis during World War II, and in 1943, was selected by the National Jewish Welfare Board to serve as executive chairman of the Committee on Army and Navy Religious Activities. In 1953, he was elected president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. He married Rebecca Aronson Brickner in 1919. The collection consists of biographical material, sermons, addresses, writings, miscellany, files from the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the National Jewish Welfare Board's Committee on Army and Navy Religious Activities, and Congregation Anshe Chesed, and correspondence from his family and from various Jewish community leaders and organizations.
