TABLE OF CONTENTS
A Finding Aid to the Walter G. Peiser Manuscripts. 1972-1989.
Manuscript Collection No. 805
Funding, in part, for the arrangement and description of this collection
was provided by the National Historical Publications and Records
Commission.
Introduction |
|
| Repository: | The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives |
| Creator: | Peiser, Walter G., 1899–1994 |
| Title: | Walter G. Peiser Manuscripts |
| Dates: | 1972-1989 |
| Quantity: | 2.0 linear feet (2 record cartons) |
| Abstract: | This collection consists of handwritten manuscripts for Walter Peiser's English translations of various books of the Bible. Translations are accompanied by a brief commentary in most cases. |
| Collection Number: | MS-805 |
| Language: | Collection material in English. |
Biographical Sketch
Walter Gilbert Peiser was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1899, and graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1921. He was ordained at Hebrew Union College in 1924, and received his doctorate from Louisiana State University. He served as rabbi to Congregation B’nai Israel in Baton Rouge, Louisiana from 1927 until his retirement in 1966. A classical Reform Jew, Peiser stressed that Jews were simply a religious group, not a separate people who needed their own homeland. He joined the anti-Zionist American Council for Judaism in the 1930s. Passionately committed to social justice, Peiser once refused to say an invocation to the Louisiana State legislature in 1929 to protest Governor Huey Long’s political corruption. In 1933, he verbally attacked the proponents of violent acts against black railroad workers, and worked with the Commission on Social Justice to gain a peaceful resolution to the situation. In 1930 he was named president of the Southwest Jewish Chautauqua Society. Peiser also translated and commented on various books of the Bible, notes of which are included in this collection. He served on the faculty of Louisiana State University.
Scope and Content Note
This collection consists of handwritten manuscripts for Walter Peiser's English translations of various books of the Bible including Genesis, Exodus, Psalms, Jeremiah, Ezra and Nehemiah. Translations are accompanied by a brief commentary in most cases.Also included is a manuscript, “The Bible: A Study,” which explains Peiser’s motivations for writing the new translations and some of his personal religious convictions.
Arrangement Note
This collection is arranged in a single (1) series: material arranged by book in the Biblical order.
Restrictions
Terms of Access and Use
This collection is 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
Gretchen Pressburg , by the act of donating the Walter G. Peiser Manuscripts to the American Jewish Archives, assigned all property rights to the American Jewish Archives. Literary rights are retained by Walter Peiser or his heirs.
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.
Related Material
Peiser, Walter G. Nearprint. Nearprint Biographies.
Peiser, Walter Gilbert. 1924. The rabbinical law of torts: as compared with the American and English common law. Thesis (Rabbinic) -- Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. [Available at the Klau Library.]
Administrative Information
Preferred Citation
Footnotes and bibliographic references should refer to the Walter G. Peiser Manuscripts and the American Jewish Archives. A suggestion for at least the first citation is as follows:
[Description], [Date], Box #, Folder #. MS-805. Walter G. Peiser Manuscripts. American Jewish Archives, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Provenance
The Walter G. Peiser Manuscripts were received from Gretchen Pressburg, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in May, 2011.
Processing Information
Processed by Michelle Wirth, September, 2011.
This collection was arranged and described according to minimal-processing standards. Funding, in part, for the arrangement and description of this collection was provided by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
Accruals and Additions
No further accruals are expected to this collection.
Box Folder Listing
Search Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the American Jewish Archives's online catalog.