The B'nai B'rith Interlodge Council of Greater Cleveland was formed in 1942 to coordinate lodge activities of the Cleveland, Ohio, chapter of B'nai B'rith. The Cleveland chapter of B'nai B'rith (f. 1853) is Cleveland's oldest service organization. The national organization was founded in 1843 in New York City with the goals of "uniting Israelites in the work of promoting their highest interests and those of humanity," and using philanthropy and other activities to alleviate suffering and poverty. Simson Thorman became the Cleveland group's first president. Various lodges were established, reaching twelve in number in the 1930s. The organization's service activities included the establishment of the first B'nai B'rith library in America (1863) and the Jewish Orphan Home (1863), as well as fundraising for national and international disasters.
In addition to its service functions, B'nai B'rith provided a social and fraternal outlet for the growing Jewish population of Cleveland.
The B'nai B'rith Balfour Lodge Records, 1937-1977, consist of bylaws, lists, membership records, and one scrapbook. The scrapbook documents activities from 1937-1947, including war service, social activities and information about individual members.
The collection is of value to researchers studying fraternal organizations in general, and Jewish communal life on the West Side of Cleveland, Ohio, in particular.
The collection is arranged by document type, and then chronologically.
Processed by Harold Friedman and Jane A. Avner in 1998
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4774 B'nai B'rith Balfour Lodge Records, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Robert Grossman, 1993
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.