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Rhawnhurst Syrkin Folkshul 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 Folkshuln, originally known as the Yiddish National Radical Schools, developed in the United States circa 1910 in New York by East European Jewish immigrants ideologically affiliated with the Labor Zionist-Poale Zion movement. Shortly thereafter, Folkshuln began developing in Philadelphia with the purpose of providing secular Jewish education that promoted and cultivated Hebrew and Yiddish languages and their respective literature, Jewish history, customs, and values, Israel, and Zioinsm. All Jewish folk schools in Philadelphia were organized under the Folkshuln of Philadelphia and were considered a constituent agency of the Federation of Jewish Agencies. The Folkshuln, along with other Jewish schools were overseen by the Council on Jewish Education, a coordinating agency that provided guidance on Jewish education in Philadelphia.
The Rhawnhurst Syrkin Folkshul opened in the South Philadelphia neighborhood in the fall of 1940 at 1729 South 6th Street. The school was originally known as the Nachman Syrkin Folkshul after labor Zionist, Nachman Syrkin. The school provided education to Jewish students for a modest tuition, but was primarily funded through the Allied Jewish Appeal. Leo Dashefsky, a faculty member at Gratz College served as the principal beginning in 1940 until the school's closure. In 1961, the school moved from its South Philadelphia location to Northeast Philadelphia in the Rhawnhurst neighborhood spurring the school's name change. Declining enrollment forced the Rhawnhurst Syrkin Folkshul to close at the end of the 1975-1976 schoolyear.
The Rhawnhurst Syrkin Folkshul records, 1940–1975, consist primarily of photographs, yearbooks, and scrapbooks filled with newspaper clippings, predominately from Yiddish newspapers, of articles and advertisements about the school. The date span of the newspaper clippings supersedes the date range of the rest of the materials in the collection. There is a lack of administrative records in the collection and therefore does not document the management and operational activities of the school.
The records are arranged alphabetically.
Collection previously administered by the Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center, acquired by Temple in June 2009. Donated by Leo Dashefsky, principal of Rhawnhurst Syrkin Folkshul in 1976.
Finding aid prepared according to contemporary archival standards in 2012 by Jessica M. Lydon, Project Archivist.
- Publisher
- Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center
- Finding Aid Author
- Sarah DeRupo, Project Archivist
- Finding Aid Date
- August 2024
- Access Restrictions
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Collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
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The Rhawnhurst Syrkin Folkshul Records are the physical property of the Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries. The donor has assigned its rights to Temple University Libraries. Other creators' intellectual property rights, including copyright, belong to them 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.