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Jewish Ceremonials Club (Philadelphia, Pa.) 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 Ceremonials Club was organized in December 1956 by Harry M. Buten, who then served as its president for the duration of its operation. The first meeting of the club took place on January 27, 1957. Its purpose was to provide a venue for the study of Jewish ceremonial objects, promotion of their design and production, and to increase the use of such objects in both the home and the synagogue. Harry M. Buten along with his wife, Nettie, operated a museum out of their home known as the Buten Museum of Wedgwood that included Jewish ceremonial objects made of Wedgewood. The club ceased activity sometime circa 1970.
The Jewish Ceremonials Club (Philadelphia, Pa.) Records include exhibition catalogs and brochures, auction catalogs, correspondence, meeting minutes, press releases, and newspaper clippings. The various exhibition catalogs and brochures as well as the Parke-Bernet Galleries auction catalogs document the rare Judaica in private collections in the mid-twentieth century and provide context for the object materials discussed amongst the members of the Jewish Ceremonials Club. Included in the correspondence are communications with Jewish historian and author, Cecil Roth who attended a meeting of the Jewish Ceremonials Club in 1958 to discuss ceremonial art objects. Also within the collection is an outline for a presentation given by Harry and Nettie Buten titled "Gracious Jewish Living" on using and implementing Jewish ceremonial art and objects in the average home. The visual media in the collection includes postcards of the Synagogue of the Transito in Madrid Spain and ceremonial objects from the collection at the Jewish Museum at The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and photographs of Nettie Buten.
The collection is arranged alphabetically.
Donated in 1981 by Nettie Buten, wife of the founder of the Jewish Ceremonials Club and in 1996 by Judith Maslin, daughter of Sarah Blumberg, secretary for the Jewish Ceremonials Club. Collection previously administered by the Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center, acquired by Temple in June 2009.
Collection processed and finding aid prepared in 1981 by L. Leopold and W. McCalley. Finding aid revised according to contemporary archival standards in 2012 by Jessica Lydon, Project Archivist.
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- 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
- February 2024
- Access Restrictions
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Collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
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The Jewish Ceremonials Club (Philadelphia, Pa.) Records are the physical property of the Special Collections Research Center, Temple University 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.