Series E. Culture Department, 1943–1974

Series Description

The Culture Department series consists of 11 boxes (4.4 linear feet)containing correspondence of the department directors, Simon Federbush and Wolf Blattberg, together with reports, publications, and other material pertaining to the activities of the New York branch of the Culture Department.

The Culture Department in New York was established in March 1945 to assist with reconstruction of the spiritual and cultural life of Holocaust survivors; recovery of cultural treasures and communal archives; and to strengthen the intellectual aspects of Jewish life in the Western hemisphere and Sephardic communities in the Mediterranean area. Several variations of the name of the department are used in the collection, including Education Department, Cultural Department, and Department of Culture and Education.

Material in the series includes correspondence of the first director, Simon Federbush (1945–ca. 1950) and the second director, Wolf Blattberg (1950–1958), who joined the department in 1945. After Blattberg's death in 1958, Greta Beigel assumed his responsibilities for cultural work. Included in Blattberg's files is correspondence with the London headquarters of the Culture Department and its director, Aaron Steinberg (1946–1968).

In addition to correspondence, the series contains reports, publications, and other materials pertaining to the activities of the Culture Department in New York, such as the school adoption plan, cultural delegation to Europe and South America, essay contests, relations with UNESCO, book drives, and periodicals. Other materials in the series refer to conferences on Jewish, Yiddish, or Hebrew culture.

Spanning the years 1943–1974, the series is divided into three sub-series:

Sub-series 1. Executive Files, 1944–1959, consists of 8 boxes of files of Simon Federbush and Wolf Blattberg's correspondence and reports.

Sub-series 2. Miscellaneous, 1943–1966, 1971 consists of two boxes of various correspondence, United Nations committee reports, and awards.

Sub-series 3. Publications, 1945–1965, 1973–1974 consists of one box of publications regarding Jewish life and culture. Many of these publications are in Yiddish.

 
Sub-series 1.  Executive Files, 1944–1959
Federbush, Simon, 1944–1958
 
E11

Correspondence, 1944
 2

Correspondence, 1945
 3

Correspondence, Jan–Mar 1946
 4

Correspondence, Apr–Jun 1946
 5

Correspondence, Jul–Sep 1946
 6

Correspondence, Oct–Dec 1946
 7

Correspondence, Jan–Apr 1947
 8

Correspondence, May–Sep 1947
 9

Correspondence, Oct–Dec 1947
 10

Correspondence, Jan–Apr 1948
E21

Correspondence, May–Dec 1948
 2

Correspondence, 1949
 3

Correspondence, 1950
 4

Correspondence, Jun–Dec 1953
 5

Correspondence, Jan–Jun 1954
 6

Correspondence, Jul–Dec 1954
 7

Correspondence, Jan–Jun 1955
 8

Correspondence, Jul–Dec 1955
 9

Correspondence, Jan–Jul 1957
 10

Correspondence, Aug–Dec 1957
E31

Correspondence, 1958
 2

Activities 1945–1946
 3

Biographical sketch, 1947
 
Blattberg, Wolf, 1945–1958
 
 4

Correspondence, Jan–Apr 1946
 5

Correspondence, May–Aug 1946
 6

Correspondence, Sep–Dec 1946
 7

Correspondence, Jan–Apr 1947
 8

Correspondence, May–Jun 1947
 9

Correspondence, Jul–Sep 1947
 10

Correspondence, Oct–Dec 1947
E41

Correspondence, Jan–May 1948
 2

Correspondence, Jun–Sep 1948
 3

Correspondence, Oct–Dec 1948
 4

Correspondence, Jan–Mar 1949
 5

Correspondence, Apr–May 1949
 6

Correspondence, Jun–Aug 1949
 7

Correspondence, Sep–Oct 1949
 8

Correspondence, Nov–Dec 1949
E51

Correspondence, Jan–Mar 1950
 2

Correspondence, Apr–Jun 1950
 3

Correspondence, Jul–Dec 1950
 4

Correspondence, 1951
 5

Correspondence, 1952
 6

Correspondence, 1953
 7

Correspondence, Jan–Jul 1957
 8

Correspondence, Aug–Dec 1957
 9

Correspondence, Jan–Aug 1958
 10

Dwork, C. Irving, Washington, D.C. office, 1946
E61

Argentina, 1953–1956
 2

Argentina, statistical reports, correspondence, 1955
 3

Brazil, 1953–1958
 4

Canada, 1953–1957
 5

Great Britain, 1949–1953
 6

Great Britain, 1954
 7

Great Britain, 1955
 8

Great Britain, 1956
 9

Israel, 1953
 10

Israel, 1954
 11

Israel, 1955
E71

Israel, 1956
 2

Israel, 1957–1958
 3

Mexico, 1953–1956
 4

Peru, 1953–1958
 5

Surinam, 1952–1958
 6

Uruguay, 1953–1958
 7

California, Connecticut, Florida, and Illinois, 1953–1958
 8

Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, and Missouri, 1949–1959
 9

New Hampshire, 1949–1956
 10

New York City, 1953
 11

New York City, 1954
 12

New York City, 1955
 13

New York City, 1956
E81

New York City, 1957
 2

New York City, 1958
 3

New York State, 1953–1958
 4

Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island, 1949–1958
 5

South Carolina, Texas, Washington, D.C., and Wisconsin, 1950–1957
 6

Virgin Islands, 1954
 7

Book drives, 1945–1948
 8

Blattberg, Wolf, condolences, 1958
 9

School adoption plan, 1946–1950
 10

Participant correspondence, 1945–1949
 11

Participant correspondence, 1950
 12

Reports and memos, 1945–1946
 
Sub-series 2.  Miscellaneous, 1943–1966, 1971
 13

Correspondence, 1943–1946
 14

Correspondence, 1947–1949
E91

Correspondence, 1950–1959
 2

Correspondence, 1960, 1962, 1965–1966, 1971
 3

Beigel, Greta, 1958–1959
 4

Katz, Rachel, 1959
 5

Marcus, Robert S., 1947–1948
 6

Marcus, Robert S., 1949–1950
 7

Scharfstein, Zevi, trip to South America, 1947
 8

Sokal, Saul, 1951–1959
 9

Commission on European Jewish Cultural Reconstruction, 1946–1947
 10

Commission on the Role of Science in Jewish Education, Kallen, Horace M., chairman, 1958
 11

Cultural Committee, 1947–1948
 12

Finance Committee, 1953–1955
 13

Jewish Cultural Reconstruction, Inc., 1945–1949
 14

Jewish Cultural Reconstruction, Inc., 1950–1954
 15

Speaker's bureau, 1947
 16

United Nations Children's Fund and United Nations Economic and Social Council, reports (including United Nations Economic and Social Council Textbook Improvement Project), 1950–1952
 17

United Jewish Educational and Cultural Organization, 1947
 18

Activities in Latin America, 1950–1958
E101

American Jewish Cultural Congress, 1947
 2

European symposium, Yiddish in Jewish life, Jan 29–30, 1966
 3

First International Jewish Musicological Congress, 1957–1958
 4

Marcus, Jay Joshua Memorial Awards, 1950–1952
 5

Jewish education in United States, 1946–1950
 6

Jewish education and youth activities in Europe, reports, 1945–1946
 7

Maimonides celebration and American Jewish Tercentenary, 1954–1956
 8

Marcus, Robert S., awards, 1951–1956
 9

Marcus, Robert S. Memorial Library, Tartakower, Arieh, address at opening ceremony, 28 Jan 1953
 10

Second Hebrew Congress, Tartakower, Arieh, address, 1955
 11

Textbook revision, 1951
 12

Who's Who in World Jewry, 1953–1954
 13

Yiddish Cultural Congress, 1949
 14

Activities reports, 1946–1949
 15

Activities reports, 1950–1964
 16

List of books and newspapers receiving Cultural Affairs, 1955–1956
 17

Rudawski, David, article, “The Nature of the Religious Revival and Its Effect on the Jewish School”, 1957
 
Sub-series 3.  Publications, 1945–1965, 1973–1974
 18

Bulletin of the Department for Culture and Education, no. 1–4, Jul 1945–Aug 1946
 19

Bulletin of the Department for Culture and Education, no. 1–6, 1950
E111

Duker, Abraham G., publications on Jewish life, 1950–1965
 2

Jewish Cultural Affairs, no. 1–6, 1950 (Yiddish)
 3

Jewish Cultural Affairs, vol. I, no. 7–8, 1951
 4

Jewish Cultural Affairs, vol. I, no. 7–11, Vol. II, no. 10, 1951, 1953 (Yiddish)
 5

Jewish Cultural Affairs, 1955–1961 (incomplete set)
 6

Jewish Cultural Affairs, vol. XII, no. 4–XIII, no. 4, 1961–1962 (Yiddish)
 7

Jewish Cultural Affairs, vol. XIII no. 1–4, 1962
 8

Jewish Cultural News (including cover letter), May 1973, Feb 1974
 9

Publications, re: Herzl, Theodor; Glatstein, Jacob; Toynbee, Arnold, 1955–1961
 10

Selected List of Jewish Books Published in the United States, vol. I–vol. II, no. 2, Jan 1950–Dec 1952