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American Soviet Jewry Movement Photographs Collection

 Collection
Identifier: I-495

Scope and Content Note

The collection contains digitized photographs and slides from the Archives of the American Soviet Jewry Movement and other related collections at the American Jewish Historical Society.

American Soviet Jewry Movement Photographs Collection consists of 1244 digitized photographs and slides selected from several collections of the Archive of the American Soviet Jewry Movement. It documents not only the everyday struggle for Soviet Jewry in the USA by depicting over two decades of demonstrations, vigils, and meetings, but also contains scenes of mourning and celebrations regarding Movement activists of all ages and walks of life, whether ordinary citizens, politicians, or celebrities. A number of photographs in the collection offer a glimpse into Cold War-era Jewish life on the other side of the Iron Curtain: prominent Soviet Jewish activists, Prisoners of Conscience in Siberian labor camps, clandestine gatherings and forbidden observations of religious holidays and ceremonies, and daring public protests by Refuseniks in the center of Moscow.

The physical aspect of the collection consists of 1 manuscript box containing 415 photographs. The digital collection contains digital surrogates of the 415 photos in the box, and those of 734 additional photographs that were not physically separated from their parent collections. The total number of digital images is 1494.

Dates

  • Creation: undated, 1969-1991

Language of Materials

The collection is in English.

Access Restrictions

The collection is open to all researchers by permission of the Director of Library and Archives of the American Jewish Historical Society.

Permission to reproduce collection materials must be obtained in advance and paid for prior to usage. A Materials Release Form must be completed for photographs. Usage fees are assessed by the AJHS as the owner of the physical collection material.

Use Restrictions

Information concerning the literary rights may be obtained from the Director of Library and Archives of the American Jewish Historical Society. Users must apply in writing for permission to quote, reproduce or otherwise publish manuscript materials found in this collection. For more information contact:

American Jewish Historical Society, Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, New York, N.Y., 10011 email: inquiries@cjh.org

Historical Note

American Soviet Jewry Movement Photographs Collection represents a selection of photographs from various collections housed within the Archive of the American Soviet Jewry Movement (AASJM). These papers reflect the effort, beginning in the 1960s through the late 1980s, of thousands of American Jews of all denominations and political orientations to stop the persecution and discrimination of Jews in the Soviet Union. The American Soviet Jewry Movement (ASJM) is considered to be the most influential Movement of the American Jewish community in the 20th century. The beginnings of the organized American Soviet Jewry Movement became a model for efforts to aid Soviet Jews in other countries, among them Great Britain, Canada, and France. The movement can be traced to the early 1960s, when the first organizations were created to address the specific problem of the persecution and isolation of Soviet Jews by the government of the Soviet Union.

Extent

1 Digital Files : 1 manuscript box (415 images) and 1494 digital images

Abstract

This is an artificial collection that contains digitized photographs and slides selected from various collections in the Archives of the American Soviet Jewry Movement, and other related collections at the American Jewish Historical Society. The physical part of the collection consists of one manuscript box containing 415 photographs that were separated from their parent collections.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into a single series.

  1. American Soviet Jewry Movement Photographs Collection, undated, 1969-1991

Physical Location

Located in AJHS New York, NY

Alternate Access to Digitized Photographs

The digital images can also be accessed by following this link: AASJM photographs in Digitool.

Acquisition Information

This artificial collection was created by the American Jewish Historical Society in 2009 and extended in 2013-2014.

Digitization Note

The digitization of a portion of the items available here has been made possible through a generous grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

Related Material

American Soviet Jewry Movement Photographs Collection represent a selection of photographs from various collections of the Archive of the American Soviet Jewry Movement (AASJM) located at the American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS). Other Soviet Jewry Movement collections at AJHS include the records of Action for Soviet Jewry (I-487), the National Conference on Soviet Jewry (NCSJ; I-181 and I-181A), the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews (I-410, I-410A), Houston Action for Soviet Jewry (I-500), Seattle Action for Soviet Jewry (I-507), The Jewish Chronicle Soviet Jewry Collection (I-523), B'nai B'rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum Soviet Jewry Movement Collection (I-529), Chicago Action for Soviet Jewry (I-530), Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism (I-538), United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (I-543), Jewish Family Service of Greater New Orleans (I-547), Jewish Defense League (I-374) the papers of Joel Ackerman (P-787), Julia Mates Cheney (P-806), Jerry Goodman (P-863), Laurel and Alan J. Gould (P-866), Carolyn W. Sanger (P-870), Leah Lieberman (P-869), Si Frumkin (P-871), Elaine Pittell (P-873), Sanford A. Gradinger (P-880), Shaul Osadchey (P-882), Leonard S. Cahan (P-883), Doris H. Goldstein (P-887), David H. Hill (P-888), Margery Sanford (P-889), Pinchas Mordechai Teitz (P-891), David Waksberg (P-895), Pamela B. Cohen (P-897), Moshe Decter (P-899), William Korey (P-903), Morey Schapira (P-906), Charlotte Gerper Turner (P-907), Myrtle Sitowitz (P-908), Kathleen M. Hyman (P-911), Babette Wampold (P-912), Rabbi David Goldstein and Shannie Goldstein (P-918), Leslie Schaffer (P-923), Arthur Bernstein (P-925), Dolores Wilkenfeld (P-927), Sylvia Weinberg (P-928) , Irwin H. Krasna (P-934) , Constance S. Kreshtool (P-935), Betty Golomb (P-938), Grace Perlbinder (P-942), Mort Yadin (P-943), Ann Polunsky (P-886), Lillian Foreman (P-945), Marilyn Labendz(P-946), Abraham Silverstein(P-947), Bert Silver (P-949), Billie Kozolchyk (P-950), John Steinbruck (P-951), Lawrence I. Lerner (P-952), Ruth Geller Gold (P-953), Efry Spectre (P-954), Alan M. Kohn (P-956), Frank Brodsky (P-957), Victor Borden (P-959), Estelle Newman (P-960), Carol S. Kekst (P-961), Linda Rutta (P-965), Rachel Braun (P-967), Jack Forgash (P-968), Michael Greene (P-969), Judith A. Manelis (P-970), Fred Greene (P-971), Harry Lerner (P-972), Alan L. Cohen (P-973), Murray Levine (P-974) and Jack Minker (P-975).

American Soviet Jewry Movement Oral Histories Collection (I-548) contains audio and video interviews with activists of the American Soviet Jewry Movement, former Refuseniks and Prisoners of Conscience.

Additional materials from other collections include records dealing with the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry (SSSJ) located within the North American Jewish Students Appeal (NAJSA, I-338) and the records of the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council (NJCRAC, I-172). Related records are also located at the AJHS in Newton Centre, MA including memorabilia and ephemera of the New England Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry (I-237) and the Records of the Student Coalition for Soviet Jewry – Brandeis University (I-493).

Processing Information

This artificial collection is the result of several digitization efforts of the American Jewish Historical Society and the Center for Jewish History. The first batch of 415 photographs and slides was digitized in 2009. The photos and slides were physically removed from their parent collections to form an artificial American Soviet Jewry Movement Photographs Collection, I-494. The digital surrogates of the photos comprised an artificial digital collection of the same title. The call number was eventually changed to the current number, I-495. Several subsequent digitization efforts added 734 images to the digital collection, while the original photographs remained in their parent collections. While the initial batch of 415 photographs and slides was digitized on item level, the subsequently added 734 photographs were digitized on folder level.

The original call number assigned to this collection was I-494. The initial 415 photographs and slides, digitized in 2009, were named, ingested, and cataloged using that call number. The old call number appears in those digital images' file names and individual call/accession numbers.

Title
Guide to the American Soviet Jewry Movement Photographs Collection, undated, 1969-1991 *I-495
Status
Completed
Author
Processed by Andrey Filimonov
Date
© 2014
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Description is in English.
Sponsor
as part of the Leon Levy Archival Processing Initiative, made possible by the Leon Levy Foundation

Revision Statements

  • August 2016: Container list updated by Andrey Filimonov.
  • August 2017: Included information on the call number change from I-494 to I-495 in the Processing Information field.
  • March 2020: Post ASpace Migration Cleanup by Tanya Elder.

Repository Details

Part of the American Jewish Historical Society Repository

Contact:
15 West 16th Street
New York NY 10011 United States