TABLE OF CONTENTS


Introduction

Biographical Sketch

Scope and Content Note

Restrictions

Administrative Information

Search Terms

A Finding Aid to the Samuel Felix Mendelsohn Papers. 1921-1954.

Manuscript Collection No. 199



Introduction

Repository: The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives
Creator: Mendelsohn, Samuel Felix, 1889-1953.
Title: Samuel Felix Mendelsohn Papers.
Dates: 1921-1954.
Quantity: 1.6 linear ft.
Abstract: Correspondence, sermons and addresses, manuscripts of books on Jewish wit and humor, correspondence regarding the books on Jewish wit and humor, letters of condolence and memorials, obituaries, prayers and miscellaneous.
Collection Number: MS-199
Language: Collection material in English, Hebrew, and Yiddish.

Biographical Sketch

Samuel Felix Mendelsohn was born in Starobin, Russia, on November 27, 1889. He immigrated to the United States in 1906. He received his undergraduate education in Russia and Newark, New Jersey. After graduating from the University of Cincinnati in 1916, he was ordained at Hebrew Union College in 1917. He served as rabbi for 34 years at Temple Beth Israel on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois, beginning in 1919. In 1927 he founded Jewish Book Week. He wrote editorials for The Chicago Sentinel, a Jewish weekly. He was author of four books concerning Jewish humor and folklore: THE JEW LAUGHS (Chicago, 1935), LET LAUGHTER RING (Philadelphia, 1941) HERE'S A GOOD ONE (New York, 1947) and THE MERRY HEART (New York, 1951). Mendelsohn died on February 28, 1953 in Van Nuys, California, while on sabbatical from his congregation.


Scope and Content Note

Correspondence, sermons and addresses, manuscripts of books on Jewish wit and humor, correspondence regarding the books on Jewish wit and humor, letters of condolence and memorials, obituaries, prayers and miscellaneous.


Restrictions

Terms of Access and Use

The Samuel Felix Mendelsohn Papers are open to all users. The original manuscript collection is available in the Barrows-Loebelson Reading Room of the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives.

Property and Literary Rights

Felix S. Mendelsohn, by the act of donating the Samuel Felix Mendelsohn Papers to the American Jewish Archives, assigned all property rights to the American Jewish Archives. Literary rights are retained by Samuel Felix Mendelsohn and his heirs. Literary rights may also be retained by specific creators of materials.

Questions concerning rights should be addressed to the Executive Director of the American Jewish Archives. For more information see the American Jewish Archives copyright information webpage.


Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Footnotes and bibliographic references should refer to the Samuel Felix Mendelsohn Papers and the American Jewish Archives. A suggestion for at least the first citation is as follows:

[Description], [Date], Box #, Folder #. MS-199. Samuel Felix Mendelsohn Papers. American Jewish Archives, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Provenance

The Samuel Felix Mendelsohn Papers were received from Felix S. Mendelsohn, Chicago, Illinois, in 1950-1955.

Processing Information

Processed by American Jewish Archives Staff.

Accruals and Additions

No further accruals are expected to this collection.



Search Terms

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

Jewish sermons, American
Jewish wit and humor
Jews -- Illinois -- Chicago
Mendelsohn, Samuel Felix -- 1889-1953
Rabbis
Temple Beth Israel (Chicago, Ill.)