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The Filson Historical Society Digital Projects

Browse Items (36 total)

  • National Council of Jewish Women, Louisville Section, open meeting minutes on December 11, 1939. The Committee on Americanization “thanked members who visited the German families and also thanked members for the generous response to the committee’s request for furniture.” The minutes also recount expenses and remaining Council funds for November through December. Reports and updates are recorded for the Committee of Education’s book tea and the Peace International Relations Committee’s book review. The Committee of Social Welfare report “asked for volunteers for the Children’s Home” and introduced a “Toy-Lending project.” After one month of operation, the Council workshop “has received $110.00 worth of orders.” Other points of discussion are Red Cross donations and volunteers, the Student Loan fund, the Penny Lunch fund, and updates on local events.

  • National Council of Jewish Women, Louisville Section, monthly meeting minutes on March 18, 1940. The minutes report that the Council "has contributed $100 to the National Council Scholarship Fund for Refugees." The Americanization Committee reports "that one new family and one individual had arrived in the City since the last meeting," thanks Council members for donating clothing and furniture for new residents, and notes that the Girl Scouts want to work with the committee to help immigrant girls join. A letter read from the National Chairman of the Children's Aid appeals for continued funding. To conclude the meeting, the Committee on Contemporary Jewish Affairs held a roundtable titled "Milestones in Refugee Resettlement."

  • National Council of Jewish Women, Louisville Section, annual meeting minutes, announcement, and election ticket for April 17, 1940. The minutes report on expenditures and remaining funds, including for specific immigrant and refugee aid projects like the establishment of the Council Workshop. A summary of Selma Kling's report notes "that approximately 250 emigrees are now residing in Louisville. These have been the responsibility and care of the [Americanization] committee from the time they arrive until their lives run in normal channels."

  • National Council of Jewish Women, Louisville Section, Executive Board meeting minutes for June 3, 1940. The minutes reference work with and advocating for immigrants and refugees, such as that "Sara Landau, Chairman of Peace and International Relations suggested that the work of that committee be combined with the Legislative Committee in as much as most of the problems confronting people today deal with legislation in regard to immigration and directed against aliens." Other committee reports include that volunteer English teachers were needed for the Americanization Committee, the "German Children's Aid Inc. has received $527.72 for this year," and "that Mrs. Bernard Selligman plans a study group on Contemporary Jewish Affairs, to hold one meeting each month, to study the refugee problem."

  • National Council of Jewish Women, Louisville Section, Executive Board meeting minutes for December 9, 1940. The minutes include reports on the group's Nursery School enrollment and Workshop, both of which served immigrant women and families. The Service to the Foreign Born Committee also reported on interest in Mrs. Dan Byck's American History study group for German women, collection of clothing for a refugee camp in Spain, and use of the Klauber Fund to cover fees for "four new citizenship papers."

  • Two-page, typed minutes for the annual meeting of the National Council of Jewish Women. Louisville Section held on April 21, 1941. The minutes include a summary of Mrs. Edgar Menderson's presentation on '"National Council in the Field of Service to the Foreign Born." The National Council decided to end the German Children's Aid Inc. "to make way for a broader field of work in service to the foreign born" and increase local sections' financial contributions to the expanded work.

  • Four-page minutes for the executive board meeting of the National Council of Jewish Women. Louisville Section held on October 9, 1941. A summary of the Service to the Foreign Born chair report includes the "receipt of $10.00 from 2 people who have moved out of the city as return on help from the Comm for their citizenship papers. There were 9 newcomers during the summer. The Nursery School has 33 registrations which means a waiting list of 15. It has been possible to increase the teacher's salary and she has a NYA assistant."

  • Letter drafted by Charles Strull (1883-1964) to Louisville Conference of Jewish Organizations Chairman Charles W. Morris (1892-1961) for Morris to edit and send to the Executive Committee of the Conference requesting its support of the Free Port plan to support Jewish asylum seekers coming to the United States. Strull hopes adopting the plan would sway neutral Iberian countries in particular to assist Jews seeking asylum.

  • Seven-page speech by Denise Wolff (1909-2000) detailing life and agony in Nazi occupied France during World War II, her family's immigration to the United States and Louisville, Kentucky, in 1941, and news of the Holocaust.

  • Autobiography written in English by Denise Wolff (1909-2000), a Jewish French American that immigrated to the United States during World War II. She describes her youth in France, hardship during German occupation during World War II, and immigration to the United States via Spain and Portugal, and activities she took part in at the Temple in Louisville, Kentucky.

  • Autobiography sharing the story of "Great-grandma Wolff" by Denise Wolff (1909-2000). She recounts living through multiple Germanic and German occupations in the 19th and 20th centuries, immigration to the United States, and her subsequent life as a Jewish American in Louisville, Kentucky.

  • Letter in French written to married couple Albert Wolff (1906-1989) and Jean Wolff (1913-1986) from Albert's brother Jacques Wolff (1903-1977), about arranging immigration visas.

  • Kurt Ackermann's passport contains stamps from the various ports of passage on his year and a half long journey out of Austria and to the United States.

  • This birth certificate for Kurt Ackermann was produced in 1938 by the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Wein or the Jewish Community of Vienna. First organized as an official Jewish community organization in the mid-19th century, in 1938 the IKG was tasked with managing emmigration and deportation of Vienese Jews.

  • It took several years for Kurt Ackermann to transfer his medical credentials and become certified to continue his career as a doctor in the United States.

  • Letter, written in French, to Albert Wolff (1906-1989) mentioning embarkment to New York.
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