TABLE OF CONTENTS


Introduction

Biographical Sketch

Scope and Content Note

Organization

Arrangement

Restrictions

Related Material

Administrative Information

Box and Folder Listing

Series A: Research and Correspondence. 1947-1966.


A Finding Aid to the 

Fritz Bamberger Papers

1947-1966

Manuscript Collection No. 78



Introduction


Title: The Fritz Bamberger Papers

Dates:
1947-1966.

Abstract: Fritz Bamberger, scholar and academic had a long and illustrious career as editor of periodicals such as Esquire, and as an administrator and instructor at schools such as the Berlin's Teachers Institutue and the Hebrew Union College- Jewish Institute of Religion. The Fritz Bamberger Papers cover three distinct areas: correspondence and documentation of the Society of Jewish Bibliophiles from its inception in 1961 through 1966; Bamberger's own research, specifically a survey of the growing need for Rabbis conducted from 1947-1966; and correspondence, pamphlets, press releases, and catalogues pertaining to University Publishers, Inc. from 1964-1966. The papers span the dates 1947-1966.

Quantity: 0.8 linear feet; 2 Hollinger boxes.

Identification: Manuscript Collection No. 78.

Biographical Sketch

Fritz Bamberger was born in Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany on January 7, 1902. In 1923, he was awarded his Ph.D. in intellectual thought from the University of Berlin. Bamberger worked as a research professor at the Hochschule für die Wissenscraft des Judentums in 1926. From 1934 to 1938, Bamberger served as the director of the Berlin Jewish Teacher's Institute, the Berlin Jewish Lehrhaus as well as the director of the Board of Education for Jews in Berlin. From 1929 to 1932 he collaborated with Leo Strauss on the publication of Moses Mendelssohn's philosophical works in the Jubilaeumsausgabe .

Bamberger came to the United States in 1939, teaching Jewish Philosophy at the Chicago College of Jewish Studies and at the University of Chicago until 1942. In 1942, he joined the editorial board of Esquire, an influential men's magazine, as the director of editorial research. In 1948, Bamberger became the editorial director of the magazine. From 1952-1956, Bamberger was the editor-in-chief of Coronet , before becoming the executive director of Esquire, Inc., until 1961. Bamberger returned to academia in 1961 as the Assistant to the President of the New York campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and as a Professor of Intellectual History, where he remained until his death in 1984.

Bamberger served as the vice-president of the Leo Baeck Institute and was a member of the executive committee of the Frank L. Weil Institute for Studies in Religion and Humanities. He also served as the vice-chairman of the North American Branch of the World Union for Progressive Judaism. He contributed to many German, French, and American periodicals.

Bamberger was author of the following: Die Einstehung des Wertproblems in der Philosophie des 19 Jahrhunderts , (1924); Die Geistige Gestalt Moses Mendelssohns (1929); Das System des Maimonides (1935); Das neunte Schuljahr (1937); Zunz's Conception of History (1941); Leo Baeck: the Man and the Idea (1958); Julius Guttman-Professor of Judaism (1961). Bamberger also edited the following works: Die Lehren des Judentums, 3 vols. (1928-1930); Moses Mendelssohns Gesammelte Schriften, 3 vols. (1929-1932); Herders Blaetter der Vorzeit (1936); Books are the Best Things (1962).

Bamberger married Kate Schwabe in 1933. They had two children, Michael and Gabrielle (Gay). Following his wife's death, Bamberger married Maria E. Nussbaum in 1966. Fritz Bamberger died on September 21, 1984 in New York.

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Scope and Content Note

The Fritz Bamberger Papers were bequeathed by the Klau Library at the New York campus of HUC-JIR to the American Jewish Archives in 1979. The collection encompasses Bamberger's correspondence, catalogues, and press releases relating to University Publishers, Inc., as well as the creation of the Society of Jewish Bibliophiles. Bamberger founded the Society of Jewish Bibliophiles in 1961 as a testimony to what he perceived to be the Jewish commitment to learning and knowledge. Unique to Fritz Bamberger's papers are his research notes and correspondence on his survey of the growing needs of rabbis, which he conducted from 1947-1966. Researchers interested in examining the transitions and paradoxes of rabbinic life in post-World War II America should examine these surveys, which can be found in 2/1 through 2/3.

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Organization


The papers are organized into a single series.

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Arrangement

See description of individual series.

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Restrictions

Access Information

The Fritz Bamberger Papers are open to all users and available in the reading room of the American Jewish Archives.

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Related Material

Adler, Robert S. MSS. Collection No. 150.

Bamberger, Fritz. Founder's Day Speech. Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Cincinnati, Ohio, 1974. TR-4987

Bamberger, Fritz. Lecture. Society of Jewish Bibliophiles, n.d. TR-1304.

Central Conference of American Rabbis. MSS. Collection No. 34.

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. MSS-Collection No. 20.

Morgenstern, Julian. MSS. Collection No. 30.

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Administrative Information

Citations

Footnotes and bibliographic references should refer to the Fritz Bamberger Papers and the American Jewish Archives.

Provenance

The Fritz Bamberger Papers were donated by the Klau Library, HUC-JIR in New York, New York, in 1979.

Processing Information

Processed by Rachel Howse.

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Box and Folder Listing

Series A: Research and Correspondence. 1947-1966.


Note to Researchers: To request materials please note the collection number as well as the box and folder numbers shown below.

The Fritz Bamberger Papers contain the correspondence and research of Fritz Bamberger, a faculty member at the HUC-JIR campus in New York which has been organized into a single series of research and correspondence files. Of special interest to researchers is the correspondence and documents pertaining to the Society for Jewish Bibliophiles, especially the Society's 1962 book Books are the Best Thing , edited by Bamberger



Box Folder
1 1
Society of Jewish Bibliophiles.A-C, General.

2
Society of Jewish Bibliophiles. "Books are the Best Things." 1962-1963.

3
Society of Jewish Bibliophiles. Cohn, Julius H. 1961-1963.

4
Society of Jewish Bibliophiles. Cohn, Julius H. 1964-1966.

5
Society of Jewish Bibliophiles. Dienstag, Jacob I. 1965.

6
Society of Jewish Bibliophiles. F-K, General.

7
Society of Jewish Bibliophiles. Glueck, Nelson. 1961-1966.

8
Society of Jewish Bibliophiles. Guttmann, Joseph. 1963-1965.

9
Society of Jewish Bibliophiles. Hofheimer, Henry. 1961-1965.

10
Society of Jewish Bibliophiles. Jacobs, Maurice. 1961-1962.

11
Society of Jewish Bibliophiles. L-R, General.

12
Society of Jewish Bibliophiles. Marcus, Jacob Rader. 1962-1966.

13
Society of Jewish Bibliophiles. Reichert, Victor E. 1963.

14
Society of Jewish Bibliophiles. Rosenberger, Ludwig. 1963-1965.

15
Society of Jewish Bibliophiles. Roth, Cecil. 1962-1965.

16
Society of Jewish Bibliophiles. S-V, General.

17
Society of Jewish Bibliophiles. Sandmel, Samuel. 1961-1965.

18
Society of Jewish Bibliophiles. Weitzner, Emil. 1963-1965.

19
Society of Jewish Bibliophiles. Zafren, Herbert C. 1961-1963.

20
Society of Jewish Bibliophiles. Zafren, Herbert C. 1964-1965.

21
Society of Jewish Bibliophiles. Membership.

22
Society of Jewish Bibliophiles. Miscellaneous. 1961-1965.

23
Society of Jewish Bibliophiles. Miscellaneous. n.d.
Box Folder
2 1
Survey of the Needs of Rabbis. Reports; correspondence. 1947-1956.

2
Survey of the Needs of Rabbis. Reports; correspondence. 1961-1962.

3
Survey of the Needs of Rabbis. Reports; correspondence. 1963-1965.

4
University Publishers Inc. General correspondence.

5
University Publishers Inc. Bamberger memos.

6
University Publishers Inc.Glueck, Nelson. 1964-1965.

7
University Publishers Inc.Heller, Lillian. 1964-1966.

8
University Publishers Inc. Hebrew Union College Press. 1964-1965.

9
University Publishers Inc.Lyons, Maxwell. 1964-1965.

10
University Publishers Inc.Marcus, Jacob Rader. 1965-1965.

11
University Publishers Inc.Morgenstern, Julian. 1964-1965.

12
University Publishers Inc. Sandmel, Samuel. 1963-1965.

13
University Publishers Inc. Snyder, Herman E. 1964-1965.

14
University Publishers Inc. Zweibel, Joel. 1964-1965.

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The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives.