Finding aid for the Cleveland Hebrew Schools Records and Photographs, Series II


Repository: Western Reserve Historical Society
Creator: Cleveland Hebrew Schools
Title: Cleveland Hebrew Schools Records and Photographs, Series II
Dates: 1902-2006
Extent: 15.41 linear feet (18 containers and 1 oversize folder)
Abstract: Cleveland Hebrew Schools (CHS), officially founded in 1913, having roots back to 1885, provided an educational center for the Cleveland, Ohio, Jewish community until its closure in 2009. The collection includes school records and related documents from Cleveland Hebrew Schools, documenting changes throughout its history, including announcements, bank records, books, booklets, budgets, calendars, contracts, correspondence, curricula, employee records, enrollment records, financial records, government records, graduation records, journals, minute books, negatives, newsletters, photographs, reports, school records, song books, and tuition records.
MS Number MS 5359
Location: closed stacks
Language: The records are in English, Yiddish and Hebrew

History of the Cleveland Jewish School and United Jewish Religious Schools

The Cleveland Hebrew Schools (CHS) evolved from the Montefiore Free Hebrew School (later called the Talmud Torah) established in Cleveland, Ohio, ca. 1885. In 1905, Joshua Flock and Aaron Garber founded another communal Hebrew school. In 1907, the two schools combined, the name remaining the Talmud Torah. In 1913, the Talmud Torah received an Ohio charter and changed its name to the Cleveland Hebrew School and Institute, enrolling students in grades one through eight. Abraham Hayyim Friedland, an internationally known educator, headed the school from 1921 to 1939. In 1926, a high school was added, and a Parent Council was organized in 1930. Bernard Levitin served as superintendent from 1944 to 1970, a period of movement of Cleveland's Jewish population to the suburbs. A reorganization of the Cleveland Hebrew Schools took place during this period, with some Cleveland branches closing and new suburban schools opening. As the number of Jewish day schools and congregational classes grew, the Cleveland Hebrew Schools enrollment dropped and branches were further consolidated. In 1955, the Parent Council organized Camp Oneg, a Hebrew summer day camp, and Ganon Gil Nursery, a Hebrew school for preschool children. In 1967 Cleveland Hebrew High School merged into Akiva High School. Enrollment in the Cleveland Hebrew School continued to drop, and the school continued to consolidate its branches, until it finally closed its doors in 2009. The Hebrew School Education Foundation is still in existence (2015) and funded by the Jewish Community Federation.

The United Jewish Religious Schools was founded from the Council Religious Schools, which began in 1894. The school was originally opened to provide Sabbath school for immigrant Jewish children. The UJRS, which became affiliated with the Bureau of Jewish Education in 1947, was a school for children of unaffiliated Jewish parents. The UJRS shared two branches with the Cleveland Hebrew Schools, the Beachwood and Lander Branches. By 1970 only three of the six branches of the UJRS remained. The Bureau of Jewish Education began in 1924 as a way to organize all of the Jewish educational systems in the Greater Cleveland area, including the Cleveland Hebrew Schools and the United Jewish Religious Schools.

Click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for the Cleveland Hebrew School


Scope and Content

The Cleveland Hebrew Schools Records and Photographs, Series II, 1902-2006 and undated, consist of announcements, bank records, books, booklets, budgets, calendars, contracts, correspondence, curricula, employee records, enrollment records, financial records, government records, graduation records, journals, minute books, negatives, newsletters, photographs, reports, school records, song books, and tuition records.

This collection is of value to researchers interested in private religious education and Jewish religious life in Cleveland and northeast Ohio. The collection illustrates how Jewish education developed and changed throughout the twentieth century. The changes in education reflect the varying positions of language in the community (Yiddish, English, and Hebrew) and community priorities. Those interested in genealogy may find information of value throughout the collection. Those interested in the United Jewish Religious Schools and the Bureau of Jewish Education can find information in this collection as well. Some material is in Yiddish and Hebrew. Those interested generally in the history of religious education and Jewish identity will find information of value in this collection. Many of the minute books are close to scrapbooks, as they contain much more than just minutes, such as invitations, postcards, letters, and other various notes. There are gaps in the years between minute books. These missing years were not in the collection when it was received from the Cleveland Hebrew Schools.


Statement of Arrangement

The collection is arranged in seven series.
Series I: Minutes is arranged alphabetically by subject and then chronologically.
Series II: Administration is arranged alphabetically by subject and then chronologically.
Series III: Financial is arranged alphabetically by document type and then chronologically.
Series IV: Correspondence is arranged alphabetically by subject and then chronologically.
Series V: Enrollment Cards is arranged alphabetically by subject and then chronologically.
Series VI: United Jewish Religious Schools is arranged in two sub-series.
Sub-series A: United Jewish Religious School Papers is arranged alphabetically by subject and then chronologically.
Sub-series B: Sub-series B: United Jewish Religious Schools enrollment cards is arranged alphabetically by subject and then chronologically.
Series VII: Photographs is arranged alphabetically by subject and then chronologically.

Restrictions on Access

None.

Related Material

The researcher should also consult MS 4620 Cleveland Hebrew Schools Records and PG 495 Cleveland Hebrew Schools Photographs.

Indexing Terms

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

Subjects:

Jewish educators -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
Jewish religious education -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
Jewish religious schools -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
Jews -- Education -- Ohio -- Cleveland.
Jews -- Ohio -- Cleveland -- History.
Schools -- Ohio -- Cleveland.

Organizations/Corporations:

Cleveland Hebrew Schools -- Photographs.
Cleveland Hebrew Schools -- Records and correspondence.

Preferred Citation

[Container __, Folder __ ] MS 5359 Cleveland Hebrew School Records and Photographs, Series II, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio.

Acquisition Information

Gifts of the Cleveland Hebrew Schools in 2008 and 2010.

Processing Information

Processed by Rachel Gluvna, Lee Haas, and M. Alexander Kaufmann in 2015.

Detailed Description of The Collection

Series I: Minutes 1902-2000

Box Folder
1 1 Administrative Board 1971-1973
1 2 Administrative Board Meeting 1974-1975
1 3 Administrative Board Meeting 1975-1976
1 4 Board of Trustees 1966 1972
1 5 Board of Trustees 1971-1972
1 6 Cleveland Hebrew Schools minutes (in Yiddish, most likely Montefiore Free Hebrew School, oversize material removed to Container 18) 1902-1905
1 7 Cleveland Hebrew Schools minutes 1914-1923
1 8 Cleveland Hebrew Schools minutes 1923-1932
1 9 Cleveland Hebrew Schools minutes 1971-1972
1 10 Cleveland Hebrew Schools minutes 1972-1973
1 11 Cleveland Hebrew Schools minutes 1973-1974
1 12 Cleveland Hebrew Schools minutes 1974-1975
1 13 Cleveland Hebrew Schools minutes 1975-1976
1 14 Cleveland Hebrew Schools minutes 1976-1977
1 15 Cleveland Hebrew Schools minutes 1977-1978
Box Folder
2 1 Cleveland Hebrew Schools minutes 1978-1979
2 2 Cleveland Hebrew Schools minutes 1979-1980
2 3 Cleveland Hebrew Schools minutes 1980-1981
2 4 Cleveland Hebrew Schools minutes 1981-1982
2 5 Cleveland Hebrew Schools minutes 1982-1983
2 6 Cleveland Hebrew Schools minutes 1983-1984
2 7 Cleveland Hebrew Schools minutes 1984-1985
2 8 Cleveland Hebrew Schools minutes 1985-1986
2 9 Cleveland Hebrew Schools minutes 1986-1987
Box Folder
3 1 Cleveland Hebrew Schools minutes 1989-1990
3 2 Cleveland Hebrew Schools minutes 1989-1990
3 3 Cleveland Hebrew Schools minutes 1996
3 4 Cleveland Hebrew Schools minutes 1997
3 5 Cleveland Hebrew Schools minutes 1999
3 6 Cleveland Hebrew Schools minutes 2000
3 7 Executive Committee 1975-1976
3 8 Jewish Education Study Committee Subcommittee on Local Hebrew Schools 1953-1963

Series II: Administration 1951-2006 undated

Box Folder
3 9 Administration 1970-1986
3 10 Barrat, Joseph 1971-1974
3 11 Bar Mitzvah 1971-1975
3 12 Beachwood Branch 1969-1974
3 13 Beachwood Branch 1974-1976
Box Folder
4 1 Beth-Aynu Congregation 1974-1975
4 2 Board of Trustees 1970-1984
4 3 Capital repairs and replacements 1977-1978
4 4 Choral Recitation, book 1951 1956 1962
4 5 Choral Recitation 1960 1961 1970
4 6 Committees 1970-1974
4 7 Curricula 1959 1964 1966
4 8 Dinner, annual, 41st 1971-1972
4 9 Dinner, annual, 42nd 1972-1973
4 10 Dinner, annual, 43rd 1973-1974
4 11 Dinner, annual, 44th 1974-1975
4 12 Dinner, annual, 45th 1975-1976
4 13 Dinner Dance, booklet, 90th 1998
4 14 Dinner Dance, booklet, 91st 1999
4 15 Dinner Dance, booklet, 92nd 2000
4 16 Dinner Dance, booklet 2004-2006
4 17 Dinner Dance, journal, 41st 1971-1972
4 18 Dinner Dance, journal, 42nd 1972-1973
4 19 Dinner Dance, journal, 44th 1974-1975
4 20 Employees 1969-1976
4 21 Enrollment 1971-1975
4 22 Enrollment 1981-1982
4 23 Enrollment 1982-1983
4 24 Enrollment, A-O 1983-1984
4 25 Enrollment, P-Z 1983-1984
4 26 Enrollment, A-O 1984-1985
4 27 Enrollment, P-Z 1984-1985
4 28 Enrollment, A-O 1985-1986
4 29 Enrollment, P-Z 1985-1986
Box Folder
5 1 Enrollment 1986-1987
5 2 Enrollment, Beachwood 1972-1973
5 3 Enrollment, Beachwood 1973-1974
5 4 Enrollment, Beachwood 1974-1975
5 5 Enrollment, Beachwood 1975-1976
5 6 Enrollment, Beachwood 1977-1978
5 7 Enrollment, Beachwood 1978-1979
5 8 Enrollment forms 1986-1987
5 9 Enrollment, Lander 1972-1973
5 10 Enrollment, Lander 1973-1974
5 11 Enrollment, Lander 1974-1975
5 12 Enrollment, Lander 1975-1976
5 13 Enrollment, Lander 1977-1978
5 14 Events 1971-1975 1991 1993 2002
5 15 Graduation 1972
5 16 Graduation 1973
5 17 Graduation 1974
5 18 Graduation 1975
5 19 Graduation 1976
5 20 Graduation, invitation and flyer 1961
5 21 Graduation, class organization 1975
5 22 Graduation, lists 1964-1975
5 23 Graduation, program 1984
5 24 Graduation, song sheet and contacts 1971-1972
5 25 Graduation, song sheet and contacts 1972-1973
5 26 Graduation, song sheet and contacts 1973-1974
5 27 Graduation, song sheet and contacts 1974-1975
5 28 Graduation, song sheet and contacts 1975-1976
5 29 Lander Branch 1970-1972
5 30 Lander Branch 1972-1973
5 31 Lander Branch 1973-1974
5 32 Lander Branch 1974-1975
5 33 Lander Branch 1975-1976
5 34 Lander Branch Building Fund, scrapbook (removed to Box 18) undated
5 35 Leasing and rental 1980-1995
5 36 News 1960-1961 1971-1976
5 37 Parent Council of the Cleveland Hebrew Schools 1971-1972
5 38 Parent Council of the Cleveland Hebrew Schools 1972-1973
Box Folder
6 1 Parent Council of the Cleveland Hebrew Schools 1973-1974
6 2 Parent Council of the Cleveland Hebrew Schools 1974-1975
6 3 Parent Council of the Cleveland Hebrew Schools 1975-1976
6 4 Plays 1964
6 5 Publicity 1969-1975
6 6 Retirement 1977-1978
6 7 School calendar 1972-1973
6 8 Suggestions for teachers undated
6 9 Transportation 1971-1972
6 10 Transportation 1972-1973
6 11 Transportation 1973-1974
6 12 Transportation 1974-1975
6 13 Transportation 1975-1976
6 14 Vocal presentation 1952

Series III: Financial 1914-1981

Box Folder
6 15 Annual journal 1976-1981
6 16 Annual reports 1914
6 17 Audit reports 1917-1936
6 18 Audit reports 1937-1951
6 19 Budget 1975-1976
6 20 Budget requests 1975-1976
6 21 Estimated budget (first version) 1978-1979
6 22 Estimated budget (final version) 1978-1979
6 23 Exemption Application, Parent Council 1974
6 24 Financial reports 1914-1933
6 25 Functional budget 1974-1978
6 26 Monthly finance report 1916-1923
6 27 Monthly finance report 1924-1927
Box Folder
7 1 Monthly finance report 1939-1941
7 2 Revised budget 1977-1978
7 3 Scholarship candidate records 1971-1974
7 4 Tuition balance records 1971-1973
7 5 Tuition balance records 1973-1976
7 6 Tuition income records 1976

Series IV: Correspondence 1903-2001 undated

Box Folder
7 7 Administrative Board 1971-1975
7 8 Administrative Board, notice of meetings 1971-1972
7 9 Board of Trustees 1973-1977 1994
7 10 Bureau of Jewish Education 1971-1972
7 11 Bureau of Jewish Education 1972-1973
7 12 Bureau of Jewish Education 1973-1974
7 13 Bureau of Jewish Education 1974-1975
7 14 Bureau of Jewish Education 1975-1978
7 15 General 1990
7 16 General January-April 1991
7 17 General May-December 1991
7 18 General January-April 1992
7 19 General May-December 1992
7 20 General January-April 1993
7 21 General May-November 1993
7 22 General July-September 1998
Box Folder
8 1 General October-December 1998
8 2 General January-March 1999
8 3 General April-June 1999
8 4 General July-September 2000
Box Folder
9 1 General Oct. 2000-May 2001
9 2 General, meeting notices 1972-1973
9 3 Jewish Community Federation 1971-1978
9 4 Locations (removed to oversize file 1) 1903-1960
9 5 Trees for Israel (removed to oversize file 1) 1973 1994 undated

Series V: Enrollment Cards 1920s-1970s

Box
10 Cleveland Hebrew Schools cumulative enrollment cards, A-Z 1920s-1940s
Box
11 Cleveland Hebrew School cumulative enrollment cards A-Z 1950s
Box
12 Cleveland Hebrew School enrollment cards 1960s-1970s

Series VI: United Jewish Religious Schools 1930s-1984

Sub-series A: United Jewish Religious School Papers 1966-1984

Box Folder
13 1 Annual Get-Together 1970
13 2 Barrat, Joseph 1970-1971
13 3 Beachwood Branch 1969-1970
13 4 Beachwood Branch 1970-1971
13 5 Board of Trustees, correspondence 1969-1972
13 6 Board of Trustees, lists 1969-1972
13 7 Board of Trustees, minutes 1970-1971
13 8 Board of Trustees, minutes 1971-1972
13 9 Board of Trustees, minutes 1972-1973
13 10 Board of Trustees, minutes 1973-1974
13 11 Board of Trustees, minutes 1974-1975
13 12 Board of Trustees, minutes 1975-1976
13 13 Board of Trustees, minutes 1976-1977
13 14 Board of Trustees, minutes 1977-1978
13 15 Board of Trustees, minutes 1978-1979
13 16 Board of Trustees, minutes 1979-1980
13 17 Board of Trustees, minutes 1980-1981
13 18 Board of Trustees, minutes 1981-1982
Box Folder
14 1 Budgeting 1971-1972
14 2 Capital repairs and replacements 1971-1972
14 3 Central Collection Agency 1971
14 4 Communications 1971-1972 1983-1984
14 5 Congregation 1970-1972
14 6 Events 1969-1972
14 7 Finances 1971-1972 1974
14 8 Governance 1969-1970
14 9 Keren Ami Fund 1971-1978
14 10 Lander Branch 1970-1971
14 11 News 1970-1972
14 12 PTA 1969-1970
14 13 PTA 1970-1971
14 14 PTA 1971-1972
14 15 Publicity 1970-1972
14 16 Registration 1970-1971
14 17 Registration 1971-1972
14 18 School communications 1969-1972
14 19 Special classes 1970-1971
14 20 Special classes 1971-1972
14 21 Staff 1970-1972
14 22 Tuition 1966-1972

Sub-series B: United Jewish Religious Schools enrollment cards 1930s-1970s

Box
15 United Jewish Religious Schools enrollment cards 1932-1960s
Box
16 United Jewish Religious Schools enrollment cards 1930s-1970s

Series VII: Photographs 1926-1993

Box Folder
17 1 Annual Dinner (removed to Oversize Folder 1) 1941
17 2 Annual Dinner 1956-1981
17 3 Camps 1957 1958 1964 undated
17 4 Classes (oversize material removed to Container 18) 1926-1954
17 5 Classes (oversize material removed to Container 18) 1955-1963
17 6 Classes (oversize material removed to Container 18) 1964-1975
17 7 Classes (removed to Oversize Folder 1) 1967 undated
17 8 Commencement 1971-1977 1979
17 9 Commencement, portraits 1977-1987 undated
17 10 Commencement, portraits 1990-1993 undated
17 11 Events 1950-1981
17 12 Events undated
17 13 Memorials and Honors, book (oversize material removed to Container 18) 1929-1951
17 14 Students 1971
17 15 Unidentified photographs 1960 1971 1980 1981