Finding aid for the Charles Reznikoff Papers

Biography of Charles Reznikoff

Charles Reznikoff (1894-1976), was a writer, editor, and poet. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he studied both journalism and law. He is most well-known for By the Waters of Manhattan (1962), a selected edition of his poems. His poetry was influenced by Yiddish sources and his fiction and plays typically dealt with Jewish themes, especially the plight of urban Jews in the United States. His non-fiction writing included The Jews of Charleston: A History of an American Jewish Community (1950), which was co-authored with Uriah Z. Engelman. He also served on the editorial staffs of: Corpus Juris, an encyclopedia of law, The Menorah Journal and Jewish Frontier (a Labor Zionist publication).

Scope and Content

The Charles Reznikoff Papers, 1950s, consist of two folders of an unpublished manuscript for a book concerning the history of the Cleveland, Ohio, Jewish community. Lloyd P. Gartner used this manuscript as a source for his book, History of the Jews of Cleveland. This book, published in 1978 by the Western Reserve Historical Society in cooperation with the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, was reprinted in paperback in 1987.

This collection is of value to researchers studying the development of the Cleveland, Ohio, Jewish community. The manuscript covers the period 1837-1900, in three sections: 1837-1845, 1845-1870, and 1870-1900. The footnotes are particularly useful as they often quote entire primary source documents.

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions on Access

None.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

Preferred Citation

[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4369 Charles Reznikoff Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

Acquisition Information

Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, 1978.

Processing Information

Processed by Nancy F. Becker in 1989.