Call Number:

SCRC 394

Repository:

Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center

Extent:

1.48 linear feet (5 boxes)

Language:

English and Yiddish

Preferred Citation:

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Har Jehuda Cemetery (Upper Darby, Pa.) Records, SCRC 394, Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Date:

1902-1959 (inclusive)

Creator:

Har Jehuda Cemetery (Upper Darby, Pa.)

Form:

Administrative records, Born digital, Correspondence, Directories, Financial records, Ledgers (account books), and Logs

Abstract:

The corporation now known as the Har Jehuda Cemetery began as the Independent Chevra Kadisho in 1893. The Independent Chevra Kadisho was a burial organization that owned and operated the Independent Chevra Kadisho Cemetery in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania while working out ofofficesbased in South Philadelphia. Throughout their early history, the Independent Chevra Kadisho's primary mission was to use their space and resources to help those in the Philadelphia-area Jewish community who did not have relatives able to arrange for and/or afford a proper Jewish burial. Although initially described as a "free burial society, " the Independent Chevra Kadisho also sold plots in their cemetery to various Jewish fraternal groups for use by their members. This, along with community donations, helped defray operational and maintenance costs. The Chevra Kadisho continued these practices through 1902 when they opened a larger cemetery in Upper Darby called the Har Jehuda Cemetery. The Independent Chevra Kadisho then served as the official owner and operator of both their original site and Har Jehuda well into the twentieth century. Over time, the majority of the Independent Chevra Kadisho Cemetery's member organizations used up their space or ceased operations. As a result, the owners of the Independent Chevra Kadisho, the Moskowitz family, shifted the bulk of their operation from the offices in Philadelphia to their Har Jehuda Cemetery grounds in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. It was around this time that they began using only the "Har Jehuda Cemetery" name when referring to the management of either cemetery site and discontinued the use of "Independent Chevra Kadisho"when referring to administrative function. The Independent Chevra Kadisho name survived only as the name of the original cemetery in Gladwyne.

Har JehudaCemetery sold the land containing the Independent Chevra Kadisho Cemetery and the neighboring Har Hasetim Cemetery in 1993. Eventually, the Beth David Reform Congregation acquired the land and now maintains the space known as Gladwyne Jewish Memorial Cemetery. The Har Jehuda Cemetery in Upper Darby remains open and fully operational.

The Har Jehuda Cemetery Records consist of burial registers, correspondence, and financial documents created during the operation of both the Independent Chevra Kadisho and Har Jehuda Cemeteries. The burial registers include names, last addresses, ages, dates of death according to the Hebrew and Gregorian calendars, and grave locations of those buried in the Har Jehuda Cemetery. The books log burials from the opening of the cemetery in 1902 to 1948. Two registersare devoted to the burials of men, one in Yiddish and one in English, while the other is strictly women, which is in Yiddish. The two registers of men do not contain identical information. They do include many of the same names but they also include names that are found in one but not the other. Though the information in these registers dates back to 1902-1903, physical evidence in the registers themselves suggest they were not compiled until around 1941.

The bulk of the correspondence is between Independent Chevra Kadisho President Harry Moskowitz and state and local hospitals and Jewish benevolent associations. Correspondence from institutions to the Independent Chevra Kadisho consists of requests for burials on behalf ofdeceasedpatients or clients that did not have the means to cover a proper Jewish burial. The response letters from Harry Moskowitzindicate whetherthe Independent Chevra Kadisho took care of the burials gratis. Additionally, a small number of outgoingletters are requests for reimbursement to families who received a free burial but where later determined to have the money to pay for it. Frequent correspondents include the Jewish Welfare Society of Philadelphia, The Jewish World, Mount Sinai Hospital of Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia County Relief Board. Additional correspondence includes discussions of financial matters such as delinquent payments for plotsheld. Also included are financial records for both the Independent Chevra Kadisho and the Har Jehuda Cemetery consisting of paid bills, receipts, and disbursement ledgers noting payments made for cemetery operational and management costs.

The collection is arranged alphabetically by document type.