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Jewish Family Service of Philadelphia Records
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Held at: Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
The Jewish Family Service of Philadelphia, a charitable and social service organization and constituent agency of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, can trace its origins to the United Hebrew Charities, founded in 1869, from the merging of several allied organizations engaged in similar work.
The United Hebrew Beneficent Society, the Jewish Family Service's earliest predecessor, was organized in June 1822, "for the purposes of relief to the poor and sick of our persuasion, to procure attendance, medicine, for such sick as are unable to provide for themselves and in case of death to bury them with decency, to place poor children out as apprentices to mechanical trades, and to encourage the acquirement of the Holy Tongue among the children of the members of our persuasion." The United Hebrew Beneficent Fuel Society was founded in February 1841, as the United Hebrew Beneficent Fuel and Savings Society "for the purchase of fuel and stoves, for the relief of the poor of the Jewish persuasion." The United Hebrew Relief Association, organized in April 1858, granted "temporary relief to the poor and helpless Israelites who reside in our midst." The United Hebrew Relief Association often held meetings at the Juliana Street Synagogue, then the place of worship for the German Congregation Rodeph Shalom. The Hebrew Mutual Aid Association, founded in 1861, was originally known as the Hebrew Philanthropic Society and provided relief to members of the Jewish community in times of sickness and death.
On March 25, 1869, the Society of the United Hebrew Charities of Philadelphia (UHC) was established at 34 North 7th Street through the consolidation of six Jewish charitable organizations for the purposes of rendering relief more effectual. Among them were the United Hebrew Relief Association, United Hebrew Beneficent Society, United Hebrew Beneficent Fuel Society, and Hebrew Mutual Aid Association, as well as the Hebrew Ladies' Sewing Society (1838) and the German Ladies' Hebrew Benevolent Society (1843?). The merged organization served as a relief agency for persons in financial and personal distress with a primary mission to preserve or restore the economic independence and self-respect of the Jewish family. In addition to providing monetary aid for food, rent, medical supplies, clothing, and transportation, the United Hebrew Charities provided services including but not limited to small loans for businesses, housing for transients during the Centennial International Exposition of 1876, an auxiliary branch that served as an employment bureau, and removal of families from congested slums due to increased cases of tuberculosis, most notably among Jewish garment workers. The United Hebrew Charities changed its name to the Jewish Welfare Society in 1921 to reflect the changing needs of the population which required less financial assistance and more personal services.
The Jewish Welfare Society (JWS) which long occupied the building at 330 South 9th Street, operated a growing body of relief, case work, and counseling services administered by trained social workers. During the Great Depression, JWS worked with the Committee for Unemployment Relief and the Bureau of Unemployment Relief to address the widespread and increasing unemployment in the Jewish community. Between 1937 and 1942, the Philadelphia Refugee Resettlement Committee, later known as the Philadelphia Committee for New Americans (PCNA), assisted with the economic and social adjustment of approximately 4,000 refugees displaced by Nazi Germany and its occupied territories. In December 1939, JWS began administering a shelter for transient Jewish men known as the Benjamin Wolf Home located 235 Delancey Street. From 1942 to 1946, the home was also used as a non-sectarian guest house for servicemen on leave. The Personal Aid Bureau or PAB, an outgrowth of the Prison Welfare Committee of B'nai B'rith of Philadelphia, engaged in casework and counseling services for adults and juveniles as well as their families in preparation for adjustment to life after incarceration. In the early 1940s, the work of the Chaplaincy Committee began and was led by a Communal Rabbi along with volunteer rabbis and laymen, who conducted religious services and ministered to the spiritual needs of inmates and patients at constituent agencies of the Federation of Jewish Agencies, public and private hospitals, and penal institutions including the Uptown Home for the Aged, Jewish Hospital, Eagleville Sanatorium, Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry, and Eastern State Penitentiary, Graterford, and Moyamensing prisons. JWS moved its central agency operations to 1610 Spruce Street in 1944. In 1948, the Jewish Welfare Society changed its name for a second time to the Jewish Family Service of Philadelphia.
The Orphans' Guardians Society was founded on March 15, 1868 as the Familien Waisen Erziehungs Verein (Society for the Education of Orphans in Private Families) by Samuel Hirsch, then Rabbi for Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel. The society's mission was to "foster orphans of Jewish faith, place them with respectable Jewish families, care for their education and enable them to enjoy the benefits of family life." The society's name changed to the Orphans' Guardians Society in 1892, and eventually merged with the Jewish Welfare Society in 1941, assuming responsibility for all open cases, assets, and employees.
The Jewish Family Service of Philadelphia (JFS) continued its development and expansion of casework services as the principal function of the agency to "preserve and strengthen family life" as the need for relief work continued to decline. Among the services offered, were individual and group counseling, services for imprisoned adults and juveniles, housekeeping instruction and homemaker services, and business counseling and loans. Beginning in the 1950s, JFS established a collaborative partnership with psychiatrists from the Philadelphia Child Guidance Clinic including Meyer Sonis, Frederick D. Dudley, and John A. Rose. The psychiatrists conducted educational seminars for staff and provided consultation services for JFS clients in need of psychiatric care. Increased services for the aged were also established, including the Private Residence Placement program which placed elderly persons in private homes and the Central Referral and Information Service (CIRS), established by Federation but administered by JFS, to connect the Jewish aged and chronically ill to appropriate programs and services. The PCNA continued its work with refugees by sponsoring resettlement for persons displaced by war and political unrest including Hungarian refugees fleeing the Hungarian Revolution (1956), Vietnamese refugees after the capture of Saigon (1975), and Cambodian refugees during the genocide perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge (1975-1979).
The Mastbaum Loan and Service System, originally established as the Federated Loan Association in 1920, was located at 243 South 6th Street and served as a non-profit loan society. Among the original incorporators were motion picture magnate Jules E. Mastbaum, Jacob D. Lit and Samuel D. Lit, Albert M. Greenfield, Ellis A. Gimbel, Morris Wolf, Jacob Billikopf, Samuel Fels, and Horace Stern. Sometimes referred to as a "social service bank," the Federated Loan Association furnished small loans to individuals unable to secure employment in the open market or establish credit with a bank or loan company. Loans were given for a "worthy purpose" when sickness, unemployment, or unexpected expenses would cause undue burden to the borrower. Although managed entirely by Jews, Mastbaum considered itself non-sectarian and issued loans without regard for race, creed, or color. The organization changed its name to Mastbaum Loan System in 1928 and again in 1933 to the Mastbaum Loan and Service System. In 1954, Mastbaum Loan and Service System became a department of the Jewish Family Service.
In 1983, the Jewish Family Service of Philadelphia merged with the Association for Jewish Children, an institutional foster home, child care, and adoption placement agency, to form the Jewish Family and Children's Agency.
The Jewish Family Service of Philadelphia Records document the activities of the organization and its predecessors over the course of its development from a series of volunteer run relief charities to a professional family counseling and casework service agency staffed by trained social workers. The collection contains administrative records, correspondence, agency studies and surveys, case files, population and casework statistics, financial records, and programming material. The agency's relationships with allied local, regional, and national social work organizations is also well documented and provides a broad view of the evolution of social work as a profession and the development of social service activities particularly from the 1920s through the 1960s. Material created by the earliest agencies is restricted to primarily administrative and financial records, while the later material is more varied and provides greater detail about the programming and services administered by the institution over its tenure. Due to the numerous mergers and organization name changes, researchers are encouraged to consult records across multiple series to ensure discoverability of relevant materials.
The collection is arranged into two series as follows:
- Series 1: Accession 22 (Portions Restricted), 1822-1979
- Subseries 1.1: United Hebrew Beneficent Society, 1822-1869
- Subseries 1.2: United Hebrew Beneficent Fuel Society, 1841-1869
- Subseries 1.3: United Hebrew Relief Association, 1859-1869, 1889
- Subseries 1.4: Hebrew Mutual Aid Association, 1861-1870
- Subseries 1.5: Orphans' Guardians Society, 1881-1941
- Subseries 1.6: Mastbaum Loan and Service System, 1920-1954
- Subseries 1.7: United Hebrew Charities, 1856-1922
- Subseries 1.8: Jewish Welfare Society (Portions Restricted), 1915-1948
- Subseries 1.9: Jewish Family Service of Philadelphia (Portions Restricted), 1921-1979
- Series 2: Accession 829 (Portions Restricted), 1868-1979
- Subseries 2.1: Orphans' Guardians Society, 1868-1921
- Subseries 2.2: United Hebrew Charities, 1869-1923
- Subseries 2.3: Jewish Welfare Society (Portions Restricted), 1920-1949
- Subseries 2.4: Jewish Family Service of Philadelphia (Portions Restricted), 1926-1979
Series 1 placed on deposit in 1973 by the Jewish Family Service of Philadelphia. Series 2 donated in 1983 by Jewish Family and Children's Service. Collection previously administered by the Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center, acquired by Temple in June 2009.
Series 1 originally processed by Lindsay B. Nauen in 1978. Series 1 reprocessed and finding aid revised according to contemporary archival standards between November 2015 and May 2016. Select subseries and folder titles were revised to more accurately reflect the contents including the addition of dates. All boxes in the collection were renumbered and relabeled. During this time, Series 2 was processed according to contemporary archival standards and integrated into the revised finding aid. All arrangement and description activities for both series were completed in May 2016 by Jessica M. Lydon, Associate Archivist.
A circa 1934 copy of an office manual of the Philadelphia County Relief Board, donated with the collection, was removed and cataloged separately.
Organization
- Citizens Committee on Displaced Persons
- Committee for Unemployment Relief (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Council of Social Agencies (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Familien Waisen Erziehungs Verein (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Family Service Association of America
- Federated Loan Association (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Hebrew Mutual Aid Association (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Jewish Welfare Society (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Mastbaum Loan and Service System (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Orphans' Guardians Society (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Public Charities Association of Pennsylvania
- United Hebrew Beneficent Society (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- United Hebrew Beneficent Fuel Society (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- United Hebrew Charities (Philadelphia, Pa.)
- United Hebrew Relief Association (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Subject
- Employment agencies -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- Family counseling -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- Family social work -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- Jews -- Charities -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- Jewish orphans -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- Poor families -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- Prisoners -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- Psychiatric social work -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- Refugees -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- Savings and loan associations -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- Unemployed -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- Older Jews -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
Place
- Publisher
- Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center
- Finding Aid Author
- Machine-readable finding aid created by: Rajkumar Natarajan, Sky Global Services India (P) Ltd.
- Finding Aid Date
- May 2024
- Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research. Access to case lists and summaries, casework and psychiatric consultation interviews, and personnel records containing personally identifying information, details of counseling services or financial assistance provided, or medical information including referrals for treatment is restricted for 75 years from date of creation. Restrictions, where applicable, are noted at the file level in the collection inventory below.
- Use Restrictions
-
Portions of the Jewish Family Service of Philadelphia Records are the physical property of the Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries and portions are in the custody Libraries. Intellectual property rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. Researchers are responsible for determining the identity of rights holders and obtaining their permission for publication and for other purposes where stated.
Collection Inventory
Series 1 contains the records of the Jewish Family Service and its various predecessor organizations, placed on deposit in 1973. This series is divided into 8 subseries according to the creating agency. Researchers are advised that there may be some overlap in the date coverage of records and should consult multiple series particularly for programmatic material that may span across the records created by multiple institutions.
Subseries 1.1 is arranged alphabetically by title or type of record and contains constitution, bylaws, a list of founding members, and Board of Directors meeting minutes from the organization's inception until its merger with allied organizations in 1869 to form the United Hebrew Charities. Small portions of the constitution, bylaws and meeting minutes are written in Hebrew.
Subseries 1.2 contains Board of Directors meeting minutes from the organization's inception until its merger with allied organizations in 1869 to form the United Hebrew Charities.
Subseries 1.3 is arranged alphabetically by title or type of record and contains the organization's charter, constitution, record of membership dues, a ledger detailing the monetary relief distributed to clients, and Board of Managers meeting minutes for the years leading up the organization's merger with allied organizations in 1869 to form the United Hebrew Charities.
Subseries 1.4 contains the organization's constitution, bylaws, and meeting minutes from its founding up to the organization's merger with allied organizations in 1869 to form the United Hebrew Charities. The bound constitution, bylaws, and a portion of the meeting minutes are written in German. A Photostat of the April 1867 constitution is written in English.
Subseries 1.5 is arranged alphabetically by title or type of record and contains the charter, constitution and bylaws, general journal, records of legacies and endowments left to the Orphans' Guardians and its predecessor, a ledger detailing the monetary relief distributed to the organization's clients, and the Board of Directors meeting minutes from its founding up to the organization's merger with the Jewish Welfare Society in 1941. Approximately 20 years of the earliest meeting minutes are in German. Additional records created by the Orphans' Guardians can be found in Subseries 2.1.
Subseries 1.6 is arranged alphabetically by title or type of record and contains articles of incorporation and bylaws, annual meeting minutes and reports, Board of Directors meeting minutes, financial statements, promissory notes and indexes of loans issued by Mastbaum, correspondence with borrowers, records of loan payments made by borrowers, and a list of stockholders.
Subseries 1.7 is arranged alphabetically by title or type of record and contains constitution and bylaws, a ledger detailing the monetary relief distributed to clients which includes names, addresses and profession of those receiving monies as well as the reason for the request (i.e. rent, fuel , etc.), minutes of the auxiliary board known as the Ladies' Board, and a near complete run of annual reports and board meeting minutes from the organization's founding in 1869 up to its change of name to the Jewish Welfare Society in 1921. Additional records created by the United Hebrew Charities can be found in Subseries 2.2.
Subseries 1.8 is arranged alphabetically by title or type of record and contains board and committee meeting minutes and reports, financial records, agency studies, staff manuals, a sampling of personnel records of case workers and administrators employed by the society including Dorothy C. Kahn who served as executive director of the Philadelphia County Relief Board upon her departure from the JWS, statistical reports that provide extensive information on caseload and population characteristics of those served by the organization, and other administrative and programming material for services offered to the mentally ill, military servicemen, refugees and displaced persons, transients, and the unemployed. Additional records created by the Jewish Welfare Society can be found in Subseries 2.3
Access to case summaries and personnel records in this series, which may contain personally identifying information, details of counseling services or financial assistance provided, or medical information including referrals for treatment is restricted for 75 years from date of creation. Restrictions, where applicable, are noted at the file level in the collection inventory below.
Subseries 1.9 is arranged alphabetically by title or type of record and contains board and committee meeting minutes and reports, financial records including ledgers detailing the monetary relief distributed to refugee and native clients, agency studies, a sampling of personnel records of case workers and administrators employed by the society, casework files for psychiatric consultations, including psychiatric evaluations and referrals for treatment for mental health problems, placement of dependent children and the aged, refugee resettlement, and counseling services for prisoners and their families and transition assistance for parolees. Additional materials created by the Jewish Family Service can be found in Subseries 2.4.
Access to casework and psychiatric consultation interviews in this series, which may contain personally identifying information, details of counseling services or financial assistance provided, or medical information including referrals for treatment is restricted for 75 years from date of creation. Restrictions, where applicable, are noted at the file level in the collection inventory below.
Series 2 contains the records of the Jewish Family Service and its various predecessor organizations, donated in 1983 after the merger of the Jewish Family Service with the Association for Jewish Children to form the Jewish Family and Children's Service. This series is divided into 4 subseries according to the creating agency. Researchers are advised that there may be some overlap in the date coverage of records and should consult multiple series particularly for programmatic material that may span across the records created by multiple institutions.
Subseries 2.1 contains an admissions register recording the names of children cared for by the organization and payments made to the members appointed as their guardians. Additional records created by the Orphans' Guardians can be found in Subseries 1.5.
Subseries 2.2 is arranged alphabetically by title or type of record and contains financial records that provide detail about the individuals receiving aid including names and addresses as well as the type of relief received such as rent, food, goods including clothing and shoes, and medical aid. Additional records created by the United Hebrew Charities can be found in Subseries 1.7.
Subseries 2.3 is arranged alphabetically by title or type of record and contains board correspondence and committee meeting minutes, financial records including extensive agency budget material, and studies and reports on services. Additional records created by the Jewish Welfare Society can be found in Subseries 1.8.
Access to case lists, summaries and interviews in this series, which may contain personally identifying information, details of counseling services or financial assistance provided, or medical information including referrals for treatment is restricted for 75 years from date of creation. Restrictions, where applicable, are noted at the file level in the collection inventory below.
Subseries 2.4 is arranged alphabetically by title or type of record, is the largest subseries in the collection, and contains organization histories, board correspondence and manuals, budget material, committee meeting minutes and reports, estates and bequests, staff seminar files, studies and reports on services, and various programming files on "New Americans," homemaker and housekeeping services, and mental health and family counseling, among others. Additional records created by the Jewish Family Service can be found in Subseries 1.9.
Access to the Esther Gowen Hood Fund file and refugee case lists in this series, which may contain personally identifying information or details of financial assistance provided, is restricted for 75 years from date of creation. Restrictions, where applicable, are noted at the file level in the collection inventory below.