Cincinnati Bureau of Jewish Education Records

Manuscript Collection No. 761

1890-1998. 6.6 Linear ft.

ACCESS AND PROVENANCE
The Cincinnati Bureau of Jewish Education Records were donated to the American Jewish Archives by Elizabeth Woosley in July 2008.

All property rights have been assigned to the American Jewish Archives. All literary rights to materials in the collection are held by the individual author or his/her heirs. Questions concerning rights should be addressed to the Director of the American Jewish Archives. The collection is open to all users and available in the reading room of the American Jewish Archives.
INSTITUTIONAL SKETCH top

The Cincinnati Talmud Torah Society, predecessor to the Cincinnati Bureau of Jewish Education, was established in 1887, and moved to its first permanent location in 1892. By that time, two hundred children were registered at its school, which met at the Mishnah Society on Court St. In 1924, the decision was made to form a Bureau of Jewish Education (BJE) in Cincinnati, with which the Talmud Torah Society chose to affiliate. New schools were a top priority: an additional school was built in Avondale in 1927, and by 1937 there were schools in Avondale, West End, Price Hill, and Newport.
One of the reasons for the rapid growth of Jewish education in Cincinnati was the admission of girls to the Society’s schools. This was the work of Dr. Abraham Simon, who became principal in 1917. Dr. Simon was in the vanguard of Jewish education, and placed emphasis not only on the admission of girls to Day Schools, but also upon professionalizing the field of Jewish teaching. This approach engendered increased interest in the Jewish community, and by 1940 the Bureau was overseeing the Jewish education of more than six hundred pupils at seven schools.

Not only was the BJE involved in the formal education of its students, but in their extra-curricular activities, as well. Organizations such as Young Judaea and Habonim met at the Bureau; forums were conducted by the Yiddish Culture Federation, Young Israel, Workmen’s Circles, and other groups. In the evening, recreational pursuits were offered by the Jewish Center and Big Brothers.

In 1952, the Bureau separated from the Talmud Torah Association. A study of Jewish Education, commissioned by the Jewish Federation in 1967, recommended revitilization of the Bureau to meet the new needs of a new era. Max Frankel came to Cincinnati from Philadelphia in 1971 to assume leadership of the Bureau’s schools. During his tenure, teacher in-service training was increased, school visitations and consultations were initiated, a full-service teacher resource library was established, and the collection of audiovisual resources was expanded. Official Standards and Criteria were developed for the Day Schools and Hebrew School; these were used to evaluate schools on an annual basis. The changes instituted by Frankel stood the Bureau in good stead for many years.

The Jewish school system continued to undergo change, and by 1998 the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati proposed that the BJE’s operations, program and staff become the Council on Jewish Life and Learning, a part of Federation. It was agreed that this would be an effective measure for many reasons, among them having more resources for educational advocacy, having additional educational resources available to Federation for their programming, and administrative cost savings.

SCOPE AND CONTENT top

The Cincinnati Bureau of Jewish Education Records are divided into seven series, the largest of which is Series F, Photographs. Other materials found in the collection include documents detailing the Bureau’s early history, board meeting minutes, reports, press releases, curriculum, blueprints, contracts, and scrapbooks. The seven series are described in detail below.
SERIES A.  History.  1890-1946.
SERIES B.  Board Meeting Minutes.  1945-1998.
SERIES C.  Chronological Records.  1956-1998.
SERIES D.  Blueprints, Beth Am.  Duplicates.  1949.
	        (The originals can be found in the Flat Files: Cabinet 6, Drawer 5.)
SERIES E.  Contracts.  1948-1966.
SERIES F.  Photographs.  1938-1996.
SERIES G.  Scrapbooks.  1955-1997.


SERIES A.  Materials in the History Series describe the Bureau’s early days as the Talmud 
Torah Society, then the Talmud Torah Association.  These were the years of the Bureau’s 
most active growth.
SERIES B. The Board Meeting Minutes series documents the activities and topics of interest to the board from 1945 through 1998.

SERIES C. The Chronological Records series consists of documents of all kinds generated by the Bureau, and include reports, job descriptions, curriculum, correspondence, committee meeting minutes, proposals, and statistics.

SERIES D. The Blueprints seres includes an index to drawings, elevation drawings, reinforcing steel details, ground layout plans, site plans, parts orders, survey plat, design proposal, and plot plans. The originals of some of these can be found in the Flat Files: Cabinet 6, Drawer 5.

SERIES E. Documents in the Contracts series cover the purchases of various pieces of property.

SERIES F. Items in the Photograph series, many of which were originally housed in scrapbooks, are for the most part identified and dated. They are a mixture of black and white, color, large (8x10) and small (3x5). Some have been sleeved, others have not. Photographs should always be handled carefully, at the edges.

SERIES G. The five scrapbooks that make up the Scrapbook series contain newspaper articles, generally short in length, often accompanied by a photograph.

BOX AND FOLDER LIST top
Box	Folder			Contents

SERIES A.  History.  1890-1946.

1	1			Constitution. Talmud Torah Society.  Annual Report,
				1926-27.  1890-1937.
	2			Keren Ami Letters.  1930-1934.
	3			Bureau of Jewish Education History.  1929-1933.
	4			Bureau Archives.  1931-1937.
	5			Talmud Torah Association.  1941-1946.

SERIES B.  Board Meeting Minutes.  1945-1998.

2	1			Board Meeting Minutes..  1945-1948.
	2			Board Meeting Minutes.  1949-1952.
	3			Board Meeting Minutes.  1953.
	4			Board Meeting Minutes.  1954-1956.
	5			Board Meeting Minutes.  1957-1959.
	6			Board Meeting Minutes.  1960-1962.
	7			Board Meeting Minutes.  1963-1966.
	8			Board Meeting Minutes.  1967-1970.
	9			Board Meeting Minutes.  1971.
	10			Board Executive Committee Meeting Minutes, inc.
				Financial Reports.  1972.

3	1			Board Meeting Minutes.  1973
	2			Board Meeting Minutes.  1974.
	3			Board Meeting Minutes.  1975.
	4			Board Meeting Minutes.  1976.
	5			Board Meeting Minutes.  1977.
	6			Board Meeting Minutes.  1978.
	7			Board Meeting Minutes.  1979.
	8			Board Meeting Minutes.  1980.
	9			Board Meeting Minutes.  1981.
	10			Annual Meeting Minutes.  1977-1990.

4	1			Board Meeting Minutes.  1982.
	2			Board Meeting Minutes.  1983.
	3			Board Meeting Minutes.  1984.
	4			Board Meeting Minutes.  1985-1986.
	5			Jewish Welfare Fund.  1948-1952.
	6			Jewish Welfare Fund.  1972.					
	7			Jewish Welfare Fund.  1972.
	8			Bureau of Jewish Education.  50th and 60th 
				Anniversaries.  1975, 1985.

5	1			Board Biographical Information.  1987-1995.
	2			Board Meeting Minutes.  1994-1995.
	3			Board Meeting Minutes.  1995-1997.
	4			Board Meeting Minutes.  1996-1998.
	5			Board Meeting Minutes.  1997-1998.
	6			Merger of Bond Hill-Roselawn Hebrew School with Talmud
				Torah Association.  1956.
	7			BJE History.  1950's.
	8			Directors Reports.  BJE Constitution.  Contract.  1950's.
	9			Education Committee.  1954-1955.
	10			Board Meeting Minutes.  1954-1959.

SERIES C.  Chronological Records.  1956-1998.

 6	1			Director Annual Reports.  1956-1957.
	2			Cincinnati Community Hebrew Schools.  Statistics.
	3			1957-1958
	4			Hebrew Schools Evaluation and Recommendation.
				Curriculum Guide.  1960's.
	5			Miscellaneous.  1960's.
	6			Report on the Status of Jewish Education in Cincinnati.  1968.
	7			BJE History.  School Standards.  Education Director Job Description.  Curriculum Outline.  1960's-1970's.
	8			Correspondence.  1969-1976.
	9			Statement of Continued Existence.  1971.
	10			Press Releases, American Israelite.  1971-1972.
	11			Education Committee, Jewish Federation of Cincinnati.  
				1977-1979.
	12			Education Committee, Jewish Federation of Cincinnati.
				1980-1981.

7	1			Education Committee, Jewish Federation of Cincinnati.
				1982-1984.
	2			Miscellaneous.  1970's-1980's.
	3			Cincinnati Community Hebrew Schools.  1975.
	4			Hebrew in Public Schools/Finneytown.  1964-1977.
	5			Hebrew in Public Schools, inc. Akiva High School
				Proposal.  1975-1977.
	6			Annual Honorees 1980-1996.				
	7			Jewish Demographic Study - Cincinnati.  1980-1985.
	
8	1			BJE Directors Fellowship.  1994.
	2			BJE Directors Fellowship.  1995-1996.
	3			Covenant Awards.  1990's.
	4			Council for Initiatives in Jewish Education.  N.d.
	5			Hebrew at Sycamore High School.  1997.
	6			Reform Retirees Luncheon Speech.  Howard Ruben.  1998.
	7			Task Force on Jewish Youth Initiatives.  1998.
	8			Jewish-Catholic Teacher to Teacher Conference.  1998.
				Culture and Art Committee.  1995-1998.
	9			Board Committees.  Mission Statement.  1996-1998.
	10			Board of Rabbis Meeting Minutes.  1998.
	11			Merger with Jewish Federation.  1998.
	12			Governance.  1991, 1995, 1997.


SERIES D.  Blueprints, Beth Am.  Duplicates.  1949.

9	1			Blueprints, Beth Am.  Duplicates.  1949.
	2			Blueprints, Beth Am.  Duplicates.  1949.
	3			Blueprints, Beth Am.  Duplicates.  1949.

SERIES E.  Contracts.  1948-1966.

	4			Beth Am Property Papers.  1948-1959.
	5			Seymour Avenue Property. 1947-1959.
	6			Rockdale Avenue Property.  1958-1966.
	7			Roselawn Synagogue Agreement.  1958-1959.
	8			Ohav Shalom Agreement.  1958.

SERIES F.  Photographs.  1938-1996.

10	1			Two framed pictures, 8x10.
				Talmud Torah classes. 1938, 1939.
	2			Pictures, 8x10.  1940's-1950's.
	3			Pictures, 8x10.  1940's-1950's.
	4			Pictures, 8x10.  1960's.
	5			Protesting Maalot Massacre.  1974.
	6			Bible Contest Winners.  8x10.  1974, 1976.
	7			High School Graduation.  Kaplan Scholarship.  8x10.  1976.
	8			Scrapbook pages.  1976, n.d.
	9			Jewish Teacher Center.  May 1977.				
	10			Consecration.  National Bible Contest.  
				Siddur Induction.  8x10.  1977.
	11			Jr. Bible Contest Winners.  8x10.  1979.
	12			Miscellaneous.  1970's.
	13			Miscellaneous.  1970's.
	14			Miscellaneous.  1970's.
	15			Miscellaneous.  1970's.
	16			Miscellaneous.  1969-1975.
	17			Miscellaneous.  1974-1975.

11	1			Book Fairs.  1970's-80's.
	2			Book Fairs.  1970's-80's.
	3			Book Fair.  1988.
	4			Teachers Conferences.  1980's.
	5			Teachers Conferences.  1980's.
	6			Consecration.  Siddur Induction.
				Bible Contest Winners.  1980.	
	7			Consecration.  Siddur Induction.  1981.
	8			Scrapbook pages.  1981.
	9			Bible Contest Awards Assembly. May 1982.
	10			Scrapbook pages.  1982.
	11			Consecration.  Siddur Induction.  1982-1984.
	12			Scrapbook pages.  1984.
	13			Principals Workshop.  1985.
	14			Teachers Conference.  1986.
	15			Yom Haatzmaut.  May 10, 1987.
	16			Lillian Miller Teacher Incentive Grants.  April 26, 1988.
	17			City-Wide Teachers Conference.  December 19, 1988.
	18			CAJE Conference.  1988.
	19			JCC Early Childhood Class.  1988.
	20			Pillar of Fire Lecture Series.  October 17, 1988.
	21			Day School Teachers Regional Conference.  1989.
	22			In-Service Day.  February 8, 1989.

12	1			Tu BShevat Celebration.  February 7, 1990.
	2			Regional Day School Teachers Conference.  1990.
	3			Larry Katz farewell.  June 1991.
	4			Teacher Resource Complex.  1991.
	5			March of the Living.  1990, 1992.
	6			Tikvah Seniors.  1992.
	7			53rd Annual Meeting.  1978.
	8			54th Annual Meeting.  1979.					
	9			55th Annual Meeting.  1980.
	10			55th Annual Meeting.  1980.
	11			56th Annual Meeting.  1981.
	12			57th Annual Meeting.  1982.
	13			58th Annual Meeting.  1983.
	14			59th Annual Meeting.  1984.
	15			59th Annual Meeting.  1984.

13	1			60th Annual Meeting.  1985.
	2			60th Annual Meeting.  1985.
	3			61st Annual Meeting.  1986.
	4			62nd Annual Meeting.  1987.
	5			62nd Annual Meeting.  1987.
	6			63rd Annual Meeting.  1988.
	7			65th-66th Annual Meetings.  1990-1991.
	8			67th-68th Annual Meetings.  1992-1993.
	9			69th Annual Meeting.  1994.
	10			69th Annual Meeting.  1994.
	11			JC&A Entertainers.
	12			JC&A Entertainers.
	13			JC&A Entertainers.

14	1			The Avianes.
	2			Cantors Concert.
	3			Emil Cohen and Sandy Schmuely.
	4			Farbund Theater Troupe.
	5			Festival of the Performing Arts.  1975-1976.
	6			Gloria Feidman Trio.
	7			Kleveland Klezmorim.
	8			Klezmer Conservatory Band.
	9			Mike Burstyn Concert.
	10			Miriam Mizakura, the Japanese-Jewish Girl.
	11			Mizrahi and Stark.
	12			The Rebbetzin from Israel.
	13			Sam Levinson
	14			Serenade Judaica.
	15			Spotlight on Cincinnati.
	16			Yiddish Musical Theater.
	17			Art Exhibit.  May 1973.
	18			Biduron.1974-1976.
	19			Jewish Book Review Contest.  1986-87.
	20			Childrens Art Exhibit.  May 10, 1987.
	21			Soviet Jewish Experience.  Adath Israel.  April 4, 1987.	
	22			Book Review Contest.  1988.
	23			Super Sunday.  January 24, 1988.
	24			Soviet Jewry Vigil.  March 1, 1988.
	25			Patrons Reception.  March 13, 1988.
	26			Chidon Hatanach.  March 27, 1988.
	27			Jewish Culture and Art Committee.  November 13, 1988.
	28			Jewish Culture and Art Committee.  1988-1989.
	29			Orthodox Home.  March 13, 1989.
	30			Jewish Entertainment Series.  1995-1996.
	31			Jewish Culture Series Committee.  Various dates.
	32			Office staff.  N.d.
	33			Office staff.  N.d.

15	1			Miscellaneous.
	2			Miscellaneous.
	3			Miscellaneous.
	4			Miscellaneous.
	5			Miscellaneous.
	6			Miscellaneous.
	7			Miscellaneous.  No ID and/or no date.
	8			Miscellaneous.  No ID, no date.
	9			Miscellaneous.  No ID.
	10			Miscellaneous.  N.d.

SERIES G.  Scrapbooks.  1955 - 1997.

16	1			Newspaper articles.  1955-1959.
	2			Newspaper articles.  1980-1984.

17	1			Newspaper articles.  1960-1973.

18	1			Newspaper articles.  1984-1992.
	2			Newspaper articles.  1992-1997. 

	
  
  
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