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While the American Jewish Historical Society’s (AJHS) has a vast and diverse collection of historical sources, its materials related to twentieth century Jewish communal surveys and studies are especially noteworthy. The AJHS holds institutional collections from the UJA-Federation of New York, the American Jewish Congress, the National Jewish Welfare Board, the Council of Jewish Federation, and the Board of Jewish Education, which in total contain hundreds of surveys conducted over the past 120 years. Additionally, the AJHS houses the personal papers of Jewish communal lay leaders such as Lee Kaufer Franker and Cecelia Razovsky that helped to develop and craft many of these surveys.
This paper outlines how these materials have enhanced the AJHS’ collections and chronicles the ways in which archivists have sought to prepare and contextualize these collections for researchers. In particular, it will focus on the recently processed records of the UJA-Federation of New York. By demonstrating how various surveys affected the UJA-Federation’s fundraising and allocation efforts in post-1945 America, this paper will highlight how archivists can take an active role in pointing historians towards the ways that surveys obscured or revealed communal needs and justified the priorities of American Jewish organizational life.