Abstract: |
Jordan C. Band (b. 1923) was a prominent Cleveland, Ohio, area lawyer and social activist. Born and raised in the Cleveland
area, Band attended Western Reserve University for two years before being drafted into the Army in 1943. Upon his return home
from the war in 1946, he married Alice Glickson, with whom he had three children. He finished his schooling in the Law School
of Western Reserve University. Band was hired by law firm Ulmer, Berne, Gordon & Glickman (today known as Ulmer & Berne),
where he worked until his retirement in 1994. Band concentrated in real estate and property law, and at one point served as
the legal counsel for the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland. Band was also involved in numerous organizations, both
nationally and in the Cleveland area. Nationally, Band served as chairman of the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory
Council from 1967-1970. He was the national vice president of the American Jewish Committee from 1975-1980 and a member of
the National Urban Coalition, the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, the National Conference on Soviet
Jewry, the Bureau for Careers in Jewish Service, the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds, and the Jewish War Veterans.
Locally, Band was deeply involved with the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, serving as chairman of several committees.
He was also a member of the Community Relations Board of Cleveland from 1970-1980 and 1983-1990. He was co-chairman of the
Greater Cleveland Project, chairman of the Greater Cleveland Conference on Religion and Race, and chairman of the Mayor's
Committee on Rewriting of Rules Applicable to Deadly Force by Cleveland Police Officers. Further, he was a member of the Greater
Cleveland Roundtable Race Relations Committee, the Study Commission on Race Relations at Cleveland State University, the United
Torch Allocations Guidelines Committee, and the Shaker Heights Human Rights Commission. Band was an outspoken advocate for
social change and civil rights. He spoke publicly about the plight of Soviet Jewry, the perils of segregation, and the responsibility
of Jews as social activists. He was active in the civil rights movement of the 1960s and frequently spoke and wrote about
Black-Jewish relations. The collection consists of correspondence, awards, speech texts, writings, minutes, and scrapbooks.
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