TABLE OF CONTENTS


Introduction

Biographical Sketch

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement Note

Conditions of Access and Use

Related Material

Administrative Information

Search Terms

Box Folder Listing

Series A. Correspondence. 1898-1949.

Series B. Miscellaneous. 1893-1969.

Series C. Audio Recordings. 1931-1944, undated.

A Finding Aid to the Stephen S. Wise Collection. 1893-1969.

Manuscript Collection No. 49


Introduction

Repository: The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives
Creator: Wise, Stephen Samuel, 1874-1949
Title: Stephen S. Wise Collection.
Dates: 1893-1969
Quantity: 13.4 linear feet (7 Hollinger boxes and 20 phonograph boxes)
Abstract: Reflects the career of Stephen S. Wise. The bulk of the material deals with Wise's participation in Zionist activities and organizations. There is also material dealing with the founding of the Jewish Institute of Religion, the Free Synagogue, and various other topics. Includes original aluminum audio recording discs of selected sermons delivered by Wise at Carnegie Hall from 1932-1942.
Collection Number: MS-49
Language: Collection material in English.

Biographical Sketch

Stephen S. WiseStephen Samuel Wise was born in 1874 in Budapest, Hungary, and taken to the United States at the age of 17 months. From childhood he determined to become a rabbi like his father Rabbi Aaron Wise, who, together with Alexander Kohut and Gustav Gottheil, helped prepare him for the rabbinate. Graduated with honors from Columbia University at the age of 18, Wise was ordained in 1893 by Adolph Jellinek of Vienna. He became assistant rabbi of New York City's Congregation B'nai Jeshurun, and assumed full responsibility there after the death of Rabbi Henry S. Jacobs.

In 1900, shortly before marrying Louise Waterman, Wise became rabbi of Temple Beth Israel in Portland, Oregon. For the next six years he pioneered in interfaith cooperation, social service, and civic leadership. His sermons are collected in Beth Israel Pulpit: Sermons (2 vols., 1906). He also served as an unpaid commissioner of child labor for Oregon.

In 1902 Wise received his Ph.D. degree from Columbia University for his translation and editing of Solomon ibn Gabirol's, Improvement of the Moral Qualities. For the Jewish Publication Society he translated the book of Judges for their English version of the Bible, submitting his work in 1908.

Wise began his Zionist career during the late 1890's by helping to articulate the movement's ideology and organize its followers. A founder of the New York Federation of Zionist Societies in 1897, he led in the formation of the nationwide Federation of American Zionists in 1898 and served as its honorary secretary until 1904 in close cooperation with Theodor Herzl. He met Herzl at the Second Zionist Congress in Basle in 1898 and at that time agreed to serve as American secretary of the world Zionist movement. In 1914 he was instrumental in creating the Provisional Executive Committee for General Zionist Affairs and later headed it.

Wise acted as an important intermediary to President Woodrow Wilson and Colonel Edward House from 1916-1919, when, with Louis D. Brandeis and Felix Frankfurter, he helped formulate the text of the Balfour Declaration of 1917. He spoke on behalf of Zionist aspirations in Palestine at the Versailles Peace Conference of 1918-1919, where he also pleaded for the cause of the Armenian people.

He was vice president of the Zionist Organization of America from 1918 to 1920 and president from 1936 to 1938. On several occasions he served as chairman of the United Palestine Appeal. Though he worked closely with Chaim Weizmann, David Ben Gurion, and Abba Hillel Silver, he often disagreed with them on specific policies and broke relations with Weizmann in the 1920's and with Silver in the 1940's. His views at times conflicted with those of the Zionist organizations as well. Wise always sought unity for the movement, which did not at that time have the backing of a united Jewry or the sympathy of the non-Jewish community. His Great Betrayal (1930), written with Jacob De Haas, reviewed the history of British policy toward Palestine up to the Passfield White Paper in 1930.

In an effort to direct American Jews into pro-Zionist channels, lead them to more liberal objectives in the United States, and to create a more democratic base in American Jewish life, Wise led in the organization of the American Jewish Congress, first on a provisional basis in 1916-1919, then more permanently in 1920. He served as vice-president from 1921-1925 and as president or honorary president until his death.

Wise was among the first to warn of the dangers of Nazism to the Jewish and non-Jewish world. In 1936 he organized the World Jewish Congress and headed it until his death in 1949. As a Zionist leader, as president of the American and World Jewish Congresses, and as co-chairman of the American Jewish Conference, he presented the Jewish cause to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the U.S. State Department, as well as to the general public, both Jewish and non-Jewish.

Beyond his public role lay a commitment to his vocation as a rabbi. Wise first sprang into national prominence in 1906 when, after preaching trial sermons at Congregation Emanu-El in New York City, he rejected overtures to serve as rabbi there because his demand for a "free pulpit," not subject to control by a board of trustees, was refused. His famous "Open Letter to the Members of Temple Emanu-El of New York on the Freedom of the Jewish Pulpit," is reprinted in his autobiography, Challenging Years (1949, pp. 86-94), together with a discussion of Louis Marshall's denial that the congregation had called Wise to its pulpit.

Returning from Oregon to New York, Wise founded the Free Synagogue, which was based on freedom of the pulpit, free pews to all without fixed dues, outspoken criticism of social ills, the application of religion to their solution, and an extensive program of social welfare. His sermons are collected in Free Synagogue Pulpit: Sermons and Addresses (10 vols., 1908-32).

In 1922 he launched the Jewish Institute of Religion (JIR), which provided training of rabbis from all branches of Judaism, education of Jewish scholars, and preparation of leaders for community service. He served as its president until 1948, when JIR merged with Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Nelson Glueck assumed the presidency.

A social liberal, Wise was co-founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1909 and the American Civil Liberties Union in 1920. He pleaded for clemency and justice on behalf of Sacco and Vanzetti in 1927. He was also active in organizations such as the Child Labor Committee, the Old Age Pension League, the Religion and Labor Foundation, and the League to Enforce Peace. Also, he battled for the rights of workers to organize, and championed the strike against the U.S. Steel Corporation in 1919 and the Passaic textile union strike in 1926. He actively campaigned for Woodrow Wilson in 1912 and 1916, and later supported the candidacies of Alfred E. Smith, Norman Thomas, and (from 1936 on) Franklin D. Roosevelt. With John Haynes Holmes he headed the City Affairs Committee which exposed corruption in New York City and finally succeeded in forcing the resignation of Mayor James J. Walker in 1932.

Like his Christian counterparts and friends, Walter Rauschenbusch, Josiah Strong, and Washington Gladden, Wise was a forthright, forceful, and influential preacher of social concerns. His opinions and attitudes are expressed in his Child Versus Parent (1922); As I See It (1944), a collection of his articles for the journal Opinion, which he edited from 1936 to 1949; Personal Letters of Stephen S. Wise (1956, ed. by Justine Wise Polier and James Waterman Wise); and Stephen S. Wise: Servant of the People-Selected Letters (1969, ed. by Carl Hermann Voss).

Stephen Wise died in 1949.


Scope and Content Note

The Stephen S. Wise Collection reflects the career of Rabbi Wise, Zionist leader, founder and president of the Jewish Institute of Religion, and founder and senior rabbi of the Free Synagogue in New York City.

Material in the collection deals with Wise's participation in Zionist activities and organizations. There is also material dealing with the publication of Jewish Studies in Memory of Israel Abrahams, the founding of the Jewish Institute of Religion, and the founding of the Free Synagogue. The collection consists of correspondence, audio recordings of Wise's sermons and public addresses, newsclippings, nearprint, and press releases.


Arrangement Note

This collection is arranged in three (3) series:

Series A. Correspondence. 1898-1949.
Series B. Miscellaneous. 1893-1969.
Series C. Audio Recordings. 1931-1944, undated.

Conditions of Access and Use

Terms of Access

The collection is open for use.

Terms of Reproduction and Use

This collection has been placed in the permanent care, custody, and control of the American Jewish Archives (AJA) by the donors of the collection. Questions concerning rights to use or publish materials from the collection should be addressed to the Executive Director of the AJA. For more information, see the American Jewish Archives copyright information webpage.


Related Material

Related Collections

Stephen Wise Papers, P-134. American Jewish Historical Society, New York, N.Y.


Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Footnotes and bibliographic references should refer to the Stephen S. Wise Collection and the American Jewish Archives. A suggestion for at least the first citation is as follows:

[Description], [Date], Stephen S. Wise Collection, MS-49, Box [#], Folder [#]. American Jewish Archives, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Provenance

The Stephen S. Wise Collection was received from various donors, 1945-1999. A partial list of donors is available.

Processing Information

Processed by Kathleen McIntyre, January 1978.


Box Folder Listing

Series A. Correspondence. 1898-1949. [4.5 Hollinger boxes]
Scope and Content Note: Some of the notable correspondents include Ismar Elbogen, Nahum Goldmann, Richard Gottheil, Horace M. Kallen, Lily Montagu, and Chaim Weizmann.
Arrangement Note: Alphabetical, by name of correspondent. Letters within the folders are arranged chronologically. The "General" folders at the beginning of each letter of the alphabet contain material concerning individuals or organizations for which there are less than five items.
Box Folder
1 1 A, General. undated.
1 2 Abrahams, Freda. 1925-1944; undated.
1 3 Abrahams, Israel. 1923-1925.
1 4 Abrahams, Israel. Memorial Volume, Jewish Studies in Memory of Israel Abrahams. 1927-1928; undated.
[correspondence, reviews of book]
1 5 Abrahams, Phyllis. 1925; 1928.
1 6 Adelstein, Gertrude. 1922-1947.
[secretary of JIR]
1 7 B, General. undated.
1 8 C, General. undated.
1 9 Cronbach, Abraham. 1921-1923.
1 10 D, General. undated.
1 11 E, General. undated.
1 12 Eastern Council of Reform Rabbis. 1911-1918, undated.
1 13 Elbogen, Ismar. 1922-1924.
[efforts to get Elbogen and other European scholars to teach at JIR]
1 14 Elbogen, Ismar. 1925-1933; undated.
1 15 F, General. undated.
1 16 Federation of American Zionists. A-B. 1898-1899.
[arranged by city]
1 17 Federation of American Zionists. C-G. 1898-1899.
1 18 Federation of American Zionists. I-L. 1898-1899.
1 19 Federation of American Zionists. M-New Haven. 1898-1899.
Box Folder
2 1 Federation of American Zionists. New York. 1898-1899.
2 2 Federation of American Zionists. Norfolk-P. 1898-1899.
2 3 Federation of American Zionists. R-S. 1898-1899.
2 4 Federation of American Zionists. T-W. 1898-1899.
2 5 Federation of American Zionists. Unidentified. 1898-1899.
2 6 Federation of American Zionists. List of city representatives. 1898-1899.
2 7 G, General. undated.
2 8 Glueck, Nelson. 1948-1949.
[merger of HUC and JIR]
2 9 Goldmann, Nahum. 1934-1936.
2 10 Goldmann, Nahum. 1937-1940.
2 11 Goldmann, Nahum. 1941-1949; undated.
2 12 Goldschmidt, Sigmund. 1912-1918.
2 13 Goldschmidt, Sigmund. 1919-1922.
2 14 Goldschmidt, Sigmund. 1923-1926.
Box Folder
3 1 Gottheil, Emma. 1936; 1939-1941.
[protest of Mrs. Gottheil concerning George Antonius replacing her husband at Columbia University after his death, 1936]
3 2 Gottheil, Richard J. H. 1904; 1910-1915.
3 3 Gottheil, Richard J. H. 1916.
3 4 Gottheil, Richard J. H. 1917-1918.
3 5 Gottheil, Richard J. H. 1919-1922.
3 6 Gottheil, Richard J. H. 1923-1926.
3 7 Gottheil, Richard J. H. 1927-1932.
3 8 Gottheil, Richard J. H. 1933-1936; undated.
3 9 H,I, General. undated.
3 10 Hebrew Union College and the Jewish Institute of Religion.  1921-1949.
[efforts to federate or co-operate]
3 11 Holzhausen, Adolf. 1927-1928.
[publisher of the Israel Abrahams memorial volume]
3 12 J, General. undated.
3 13 Jabotinsky, Vladimir. 1928-1935.
3 14 K, General. undated.
3 15 Kallen, Horace M. 1914-1915.
3 16 Kallen, Horace M. 1915, November 1948.
3 17 Kallen, Horace M. 1914.
[cancellation of speech at HUC]
Box Folder
4 1 Kohler, Kaufmann. 1893; 1901; 1912-1913.
4 2 Kohut, George Alexander. 1924-1929; 1932.
[Israel Abrahams memorial volume] 
4 3 L, General. undated.
4 4 Levine, Joseph M. 1907-1949.
4 5 M, General. undated.
4 6 Montagu, Lily. 1925-1926.
4 7 Morgenstern, Julian. 1945-1947.
[federation of HUC and JIR]
4 8 N,O,P, General. undated.
4 9 New York, New York. City Affairs Committee.  1932-1935.
4 10 New York, New York. Stephen Wise Free Synagogue. 1907-1914; 1944, undated.
4 11 Portland, Oregon. Temple Beth Israel. 1899.
[call to pulpit]
4 12 R, General. undated.
4 13 Rauch, Joseph. 1927-1928; 1941-1942.
4 14 Rosenau, William. 1927.
4 15 S, General. undated.
4 16 Sundayism. 1915-1917.
[correspondence to Wise concerning his comments on Billy Sunday]
4 17 T, General. undated.
4 18 U,V,W,Y,Z, General. undated.
4 19 Weizmann, Chaim. 1918; 1921; 1925-1929.
4 20 Weizmann, Chaim. 1937-1938.
4 21 Weizmann, Chaim. 1940-1948; undated.
Series B. Miscellaneous. 1893-1969. [2 Hollinger boxes]
Scope and Content Note: Much of the material in this series deals with the Jewish Institute of Religion and tributes to Wise on his birthdays and upon his death.
Arrangement Note: Arranged by type of material, i.e., speeches, press releases, etc.
Box Folder
5 1 Jewish Institute of Religion. 1922-1948; undated.
[minutes, memoranda, statements of purpose]
5 2 Memorials. 1949-1969; undated.
5 3 Newsclippings. 1902-1953.
5 4 Press releases. 1933-1948.
5 5-7 Scrapbook. 1924-1948.
[articles, newsclippings]
5 8-9 Speeches, addresses by and about Wise. 1893-1939.
[An appendix listing speeches, addresses, and sermons in folders 8-9 is available.]
Box Folder
6 1 Diamond Jubilee Journal in Honor of the 75th Birthday of Dr. Stephen S. Wise. 1949.
6 2-4 Bank statements and checks. 1925-1927.
6 5 Wise family. 1902-1934.
[correspondence and postcards]
6 6 Miscellaneous. 1920-1928; 1940.
Box Folder
7 1 Diary. 1922.
[Jewish conditions in Western and Central Europe]
7 1-5 Lewisohn, Ludwig 1924-1948; undated.
7 6 Neumann, Emanuel. 1941.
[comment on Judah L. Magnes' statement to the press about Zionism]
7 7 Zionism. A-K. 1942-1948. A-K.
7 8 Zionism. L-Z. 1942-1948.
Series C. Audio Recordings. 1931-1944, undated. [20 phonograph boxes]
This series has been digitized and is available through the AJA catalog.
Arrangement Note: Arranged into two subseries: Subseries 1. Stephen Wise Sermons and Subseries 2. Miscellaneous Speeches.
Subseries 1. Stephen Wise Sermons.
Box Folder
8 1 Memorial Service: Remembrance and Hope. 10 October 1932.
[SR-2]
8 2 Must We Surrender: Our Faith in God? Our Moral Ideals? Our Hope for a World of Justice and Peace? 3 December 1933.
[SR-3]
8 3 Jews Survive and Thrive on Persecution: Is It True? 17 December 1933.
[SR-5]
8 4 The Christian-Jewish Tragedy: A Jewish-Christian Sermon. 24 December 1933.
[SR-6]
8 5 The President: Can We Still Follow Him? 7 January 1934.
[SR-7]
8 6 Jakob Wasserman: His Life As Jew; His Books as German. 14 January 1934.
8 7 Is the American Jew Safe? 21 January 1934.
[SR-9]
8 8 The Rising Fascist Tide: Will It Overwhelm Us? by James Waterman Wise. 28 January 1934.
[SR-10]
8 9 Fears and Worries: Can They Be Controlled? 11 February 1934.
[SR-11]
Box Folder
9 1 Rights and Wrongs of Sterilization and Birth Limitation. 18 February 1934.
[SR-12]
9 2 "Murder Made in Germany"--What of Austria? 23 February 1934.
[SR-13]
9 3 Roosevelt and Hitler: March 4th and March 5th-Two Anniversaries. 4-5 March 1934.
[SR-15]
9 4 The case of civilization against Hitlerism. 7 March 1934.
[Speakers include: Wise, Samuel Seabury, John Haynes Holmes, Hays, Smith, Fiorello LaGuardia, Raymond Moley, Millard Tydings, Bernard S. Deutsch.]
[SR-16]
9 5 My Forty Years Battle in the Ministry: A Pre-Anniversary Address. 11 March 1934.
[SR-17]
9 6 Dr. Wise's Sixtieth Birthday Anniversary Service. 18 March 1934.
[Speakers include: Rabbi Jacob X. Cohen, Rabbi Morton M. Berman, Hon. Joseph M. Levine, Rev. Dr. William Fineshriber, Samuel Seabury, Kohut, Rabbi Sidney E. Goldstein.]
[SR-18]
9 7 What Religion Asks of Us; What We May Ask of Religion. A Post-Anniversary Address. 25 March 1934.
[SR-20]
9 8 A Passover-Easter Sermon. 1 April 1934.
[SR-21]
9 9 What Has Judaism to Say on Poverty, Racial Hatred, International War? 15 April 1934.
[SR-22]
9 10 Must Jews Suffer--And Why? 22 April 1934.
[SR-23]
Box Folder
10 1 Who Are the Real Enemies of the Jewish People? 6 May 1934.
[SR-24]
10 2 What Reason for Believing in the Future Life? 13 May 1934.
[SR-25]
10 3 The Mountains Shall Depart (New Year's morning) 10 September 1934.
[SR-26]
10 4 Israel Faces Itself (Atonement eve) 18 September 1934.
[SR-27]
10 5 The Common Level (Atonement afternoon) 19 September 1934.
[SR-28]
10 6 What I Found in Europe: Will It be War or Peace? 10 October 1934.
[SR-29]
10 7 Power-Does the Jew Seek Power and Why? 14 October 1934.
[SR-30]
10 8 No Armistice! For Merchants of Death or Munitions Manufacturers. 11 November 1934.
[SR-33]
10 9 Advice to Jews: Good and Bad. 25 November 1934.
[SR-34]
10 10 Is the American Jew Safe? 2 December 1934.
[SR-35]
Box Folder
11 1 The Battle Against Prejudice and Ill Will (with Rev. Cadman) 9 December 1934.
[SR-36]
11 2 What Christians Should Remember and Jews Forget! 16 December 1934.
[SR-37]
11 3 Motion Pictures and Morals: Is Censorship or Boycott the Solution? 16 December 1934.
[SR-38]
11 4 The Jews' Right to Differ and Protest. 6 January 1935.
[SR-39]
11 5 The Roosevelt Revolution. 27 January 1935.
[SR-40]
11 6 Robert Nathan's Road of Ages: Satire or Prophecy? 3 February 1935.
[SR-41]
11 7 Does Anti-Semitism Keep Jews Alive? 17 February 1935.
[SR-43]
11 8 How Can Family Life Be Decently Adjusted? 3 March 1935.
[SR-45]
11 9 Why Zionists Cannot Support Jabotinsky and Revisionism. 10 March 1935.
[SR-46]
11 10 The Coughlin-Long-Johnson Controversy: Some Jewish Aspects. 24 March 1935.
[SR-48]
Box Folder
12 1 Must War Be? What Can We Do? 7 April 1935.
[SR-49]
12 2 The Berlin Olympics - The Truth and Some Lies. 3 November 1935.
[SR-50]
12 3 What I Now Know of Palestine. 17 November 1935.
[SR-51]
12 4 Problems in Palestine-Arab, British, Jewish: Can They Be Solved? 8 December 1935.
[SR-54]
12 5 Twenty-one Centuries Later-Israel Still Lives. 15 December 1935.
[SR-53]
12 6 If Jesus the Jew Returned to a Christian World. 22 December 1935.
[SR-55]
12 7 Is Dr. Carrel Right? Is Man Immortal? 29 December 1935.
[SR-56]
12 8 The Lindbergh Exodus and American Lawlessness: Why? 5 January 1936.
[SR-57]
12 9 Dramas of Social Revolt--Dead End, Paradise Lost, Let Freedom Ring. 26 January 1936.
[SR-58]
12 10 Are Jewish Fears Justified? An Analysis of the Fortune magazine article "Jews in America." 28 February 1936.
[SR-60]
Box Folder
13 1 Can it Happen Here? Is American Democracy Safe? 8 March 1936.
[SR-61]
13 2 My Forty Years' Battle in the Ministry. 15 March 1936.
[SR-62]
13 3 Is Anything in Life Worthwhile? 29 March 1936.
[SR-63]
13 4 Lewisohn's 'Greatest Jews'; Who Are the Great Jews? 5 April 1936.
[SR-64]
13 5 When Will Jewish Slavery End? A Passover-Easter Sermon. 12 April 1936.
[SR-65]
13 6 Race, Religion, Nation - Who, What Are Jews? 19 April 1936.
[SR-66]
13 7 Bury the Dead: A Ghastly Protest Against War. 3 May 1936.
[SR-68]
13 8 President Roosevelt's Leadership of America--Is It Good or Bad? 17 May 1936.
[SR-69]
13 9 Opening World Jewish Congress from Geneva. 8 August 1936.
[SR-70]
13 10 Not Without Hope (New Year's morning). 17 September 1936.
[SR-71]
Box Folder
14 1 Atonement--With Whom? (Atonement eve). 25 September 1936.
[SR-72]
14 2 I. How Near Is War? 4 October 1936.
[SR-73]
14 3 II. The Truth About Palestine: Britain-Arab-Jew. 18 October 1936.
[SR-74]
14 4 Why the President Triumphed: Now It Can Be Told. 8 November 1936.
[SR-77]
14 5 Intro to Brandeis Memorial--The Immortal Jew: Louis D. Brandeis. 15 November 1936.
[Judge Julian Mack.]
[SR-78]
14 6 In What Can Men Now Believe? A Cry from the Deeps! 6 December 1936.
[SR-80]
14 7 Is the Christmas Message for Christians Only? A Jewish Question! 20 December 1936.
[SR-81]
14 8 Some New Jewish Books--Good and Bad! 10 January 1937.
[SR-82]
14 9 The Hated Hunted Jew: What Shall He Do? 24 January 1937.
[SR-83]
14 10 Four Years of Roosevelt and Hitler: What Have They Brought? 31 January 1937.
[SR-84]
Box Folder
15 1 The LaGuardia Chamber of Horrors - and Its Exhibits. 14 March 1937.
[SR-85]
15 2 Gains or Losses in Religion: Have We Lost or Found Faith? 21 March 1937.
[SR-86]
15 3 The Jew to Jesus-Jesus to the Jew: Passover-Easter. 28 March 1937.
[SR-87]
15 4 Does Divorce Doom Marriage and the Family? 4 April 1937.
[SR-88]
15 5 Spain's European War-The World's Losses and Gains. 11 April 1937.
[SR-89]
15 6 Britain and Palestine Partition: Why Not? 10 October 1937.
[SR-93]
15 7 Our Country and the War in China. 17 October 1937.
[SR-94]
15 8 Why Fear Death? Why Hope for Immortality? 14 November 1937.
[SR-96]
15 9 Does Religion Make for Reaction or Revolution? 12 December 1937.
[SR-97]
15 10 How Not to Win Friends. 19 December 1937.
[SR-98]
Box Folder
16 1 What Says Religion on Democracy, Fascism, Communism? 9 January 1938.
[SR-99]
16 2 Eli, Eli,The Jew Asks - Wohin? 30 January 1938.
[SR-100]
16 3 'Prodigal Parents'- Are Parents Always Wrong? Sinclair Lewis Answers. 6 February 1938.
[SR-101]
16 4 European Jewry and Palestine in the World Crisis. 27 March 1938.
[SR-102]
16 5 The Truth About Palestine-Arab Threats and Jewish Hopes. 3 April 1938.
[SR-103]
16 6 Where Now Little Jew? Whence Now Big Christian? A Passover-Easter Sermon (Last disc marked J. X. Cohen). 17 April 1938.
[SR-104]
16 7 Is Suffering Good for Man--or Bad? 1 May 1938.
[SR-105]
16 8 Through Gentile Eyes---John Haynes Holmes' Plea for Good Will. 8 May 1938.
[SR-106]
16 9 Opponents of the World Jewish Congress Elections and Referendum--Who and Why? 15 May 1938.
[SR-107]
16 10 Isolation or Security-An American Answer to the Dictators. 22 May 1938.
[SR-108]
Box Folder
17 1 Unruined Altars (New Year's eve). 25 September 1938.
[SR-109]
17 2 Of What Does the World Rob the Jew? (New Year's Morning) 26 September 1938.
[SR-110]
17 3 Refugees of History (Atonement eve). 4 October 1938.
[SR-111]
17 4 Dishonor Without Peace. 9 October 1938.
[SR-113]
17 5 Palestine- Great Britain and the World Conscience. 23 October 1938.
[SR-115]
17 6 What Jews Owe the World: What the World Owes Jews! 30 October 1938.
[SR-116]
17 7 Must This Happen Anywhere! 20 November 1938.
[SR-117]
17 8 Father Coughlin, Jews, and America. 4 December 1938.
[SR-118]
17 9 Which Light Failed--Maccabean Lamp or Christmas Candle? 18 December 1938.
[SR-119]
17 10 Hitler's Mein Kampf and Van Loon's Our Battle. 8 January 1939.
[SR-120]
Box Folder
18 1 Dreyfuss: Sacco-Vanzetti: Tom Mooney- Does Justice Always Prevail? 15 January 1939.
[SR-121]
18 2 Can 'Isms' Take Religion's Place? 22 January 1939.
[SR-122]
18 3 The Defense of Freedom. (Horace M. Kallen). 5 March 1939.
[SR-123]
18 4 The London-Palestine Conference and Arab Appeasement. 12 March 1939.
[SR-124]
18 5 Is War Inevitable--What Can America Do Now? 19 March 1939.
[SR-125]
18 6 Passover and Easter--Jewish and Christian Symbols. 9 April 1939.
[SR-127]
18 7 Are Jews Rich or Poor? Myth and Fact. 16 April 1939.
[SR-128]
18 8 How Safe Are Jews? 7 May 1939.
[SR-129]
18 9 Are Jews Communists and War Mongers? An Answer to Father Coughlin. 14 May 1939.
[SR-130]
18 10 Fiction of Jewish Riches and the Facts of Jewish Poverty. 25 October 1939.
[SR-75]
Box Folder
19 1 Jews and the Election: Who Drags Jews into Politics. 1 November 1936.
[SR-76]
19 2 Where to Lay His Head? The Measureless Tragedy of Refugees. 2 April 1939.
[SR-126]
19 3 A Tale That Is Old (New Year's day). 14 September 1939.
[SR-131]
19 4 Hearts Contrite (Atonement eve). 22 September 1939.
[SR-132]
19 5 Who Can Now Believe in God? 8 October 1939.
[SR-133]
19 6 Untitled Sermon. 15 October 1939.
[SR-134]
19 7 Untitled Sermon. 29 October 1939.
[SR-135]
19 8 Untitled Sermon. 29 October 1939.
[SR-136]
19 9 Witch-Hunting Never Dies—(Salem 1632; Washington 1939). 5 November 1939.
[SR-137]
19 10 Grapes of Wrath—What Can This American Epic Teach Us? 19 November 1939.
[SR-138]
Box Folder
20 1 Crisis in Marriage and Family Life: How Shall We Meet It? 26 November 1939.
[SR-139]
20 2 Jesus' Beatitudes and the Jew Accursed. 10 December 1939.
[SR-140]
20 3 Candle in the Dark: How Can Mourners Find Comfort? 17 December 1989.
[SR-141]
20 4 The Nazarene: Sholem Asch's Great Interpretation. 24 December 1939.
[SR-142]
20 5 Palestine and the World Jewish Crisis. 7 January 1940.
[SR-143]
20 6 A Jewish Maginot Line—How Shall It Be Built? 14 January 1940.
[SR-144]
20 7 The President's Proposal to the Pope—Is it Unamerican? 21 January 1940.
[SR-145]
20 8 What Do Jews Believe—and Why? 4 February 1940.
[SR-146]
20 9 Man's Hope of Immortality: Superstition? Dream? Reason? 18 February 1940.
[SR-147]
Box Folder
21 1 Untitled Sermon. 3 March 1940.
[SR-149]
21 2 Special Service and Birthday Celebration. 17 March 1940.
[Speakers include: Wise, Rabbi Sidney E. Goldstein, Rabbi Jacob X. Cohen, Fisher, Whitelaw, Gardner, Henry Slonimsky, Levine, John Haynes Holmes.]
[SR-150]
21 3 The Jew Says "No!" A Purim sermon. 24 March 1940.
[SR-151]
21 4 Will the Smiths Ever Meet the Cohens?. 31 March 1940.
[SR-152]
21 5 Jew and Protestant. 7 April 1940.
[SR-153]
21 6 Hitler's Invasion of Scandinavia. 14 April 1940.
[SR-154]
21 7 A Passover Sermon: A Year of Better Bondage; What of Next Year? 21 April 1940.
[SR-155]
21 8 Christians Only! Why Not Jews? 5 May 1940.
[SR-156]
21 9 Native Son- One Race Pleads for Another. 12 May 1940.
[SR-157]
21 10 But If Lot (Daniel III, 18) (New Year's eve). 2 October 1940.
[SR-159]
Box Folder
22 1 New Year's day service. 3 October 1940.
[SR-160]
22 2 Chosen to Serve vs Choosing to Enslave (New Year's day). 3 October 1940.
[SR-160]
22 3 What Can Americans Now Do for England?. 6 October 1940.
[SR-161]
22 4 How Can the Prophets Help Us Now? (Atonement eve). 10 November 1940.
[SR-162]
22 5 Hitlerism Unites Free Peoples: How Shall America Now Lead? 19 May 1940.
[SR-158]
22 6 Pastor Hall: The Church at Last Speaks for Freedom. 20 October 1940.
[SR-163]
22 7 An American's Duty on Election Day. 27 October 1940.
[SR-164]
22 8 Is Racial and Religious Bigotry Dangerous To Our Country? 3 November 1940.
[SR-165]
22 9 Is Your Life a Success or Failure--And Why? 17 November 1940.
[SR-166]
22 10 Does Anti-Semitism Keep Jews Alive? 24 November 1940.
[SR-167]
Box Folder
23 1 The Hebraic Heritage--and the Disinherited Jew. 1 December 1940.
[SR-168]
23 2 Nazi and Nazarene- The Eternal Conflict. 15 December 1940.
[SR-169]
23 3 Foremost of Jewish Women: Henrietta Szold, An Eightieth Birthday Tribute. 22 December 1940.
[SR-170]
23 4 What Must We Fear-What Can We Hope for 1941? 5 January 1941.
[SR-171]
23 5 Monday's Inauguration: Roosevelt and Churchill vs. Hitler and Mussolini. 19 January 1941.
[SR-172]
23 6 Why No United Appeal--Who is Responsible? 2 February 1941.
[SR-173]
23 7 Good and Evil in Jews or Jews at Their Best and Worst. 16 February 1941.
[SR-174]
23 8 The New World Order: What Kind? 2 March 1941.
[SR-175]
23 9 Memories, Experiences, Hopes After Forty-Five Years in the Ministry. 16 March 1941.
[SR-176]
23 10 The President Speaks for Freedom, Faith, Democracy. 23 March 1941.
[SR-177]
Box Folder
24 1 Hitler's Starved Peoples-Shall America Feed Them? 30 March 1941.
[SR-178]
24 2 And Now: Mussolini. 16 October 1938.
[SR-114]
24 3 Christianity's Palm Sunday--A Jew's Interpretation. 6 April 1941.
[SR-179]
24 4 Faith and Freedom- A Passover-Easter Sermon. 13 April 1941.
[SR-180]
24 5 Ambassador Dodd's Diary: Revelations of Appeasement by Jews in Germany. 20 April 1941.
[SR-181]
24 6 Watch on the Rhine: The Theatre and the Fifth Column. 4 May 1941.
[SR-182]
24 7 Palestine - Is It in Danger Because of Nazi Threat? 11 May 1941.
[SR-183]
24 8 The Tragedy of France - Betrayed and Betraying. 25 May 1941.
[SR-184]
24 9 An American Prophet: Louis D. Brandeis. 12 October 1941.
[SR-185]
Box Folder
25 1 If Hitler Won! 19 October 1941.
[SR-186]
25 2 Where Is God Now? 2 November 1941.
[SR-188]
25 3 Must the Prophet Be Unsafe: The Tragic Fate of Prophecy. 9 November 1941.
[SR-189]
25 4 Eichelberger, Clark M. Mass Murder in Nazi-occupied Countries: America Protests! 16 November 1941.
[SR-190]
25 5 Wise, James Waterman. The Jew in a Warring World. 23 November 1941.
[SR-191]
25 6 Churchill and Goebbels on the Jewish Future. 30 November 1941.  [last disc with 12/7/41 sermon]
[SR-192]
25 7 Jewish Heroes, Jewish Cowards, Jewish Traitors. Sermon. 7 December 1941.
[SR-193]
Subseries 2. Miscellaneous Speeches.
Scope and Content Note: The majority of speeches are not given by Stephen Wise.
Box Folder
26 1 Cohen, J. X. The Dimming of an American Ideal. 9 December 1931.
[SR-1]
26 2 Durant, Will. The Roosevelt Resolution. 10 December 1933.
[SR-4]
26 3 Wise, James Waterman. Communism Today and Tomorrow. 28 October 1934.
[SR-31]
26 4 American Jewish Congress Women's Division tea in honor of Eleanor Roosevelt. 28 February 1934.
[SR-14]
26 5 Wise, James Waterman. Jews in the Soviet Union. 4 November 1934.
[SR-32]
26 6 Lowenstein, Hubertus. Hitlerism as World Menace. 10 February 1935.
[SR-42]
26 7 Berman, Morton Mayer. "Salvation," Sholom Asch's latest and greatest book. 24 February 1935.
[SR-44]
26 8 Cohen, J. X. Jewish Current Events. 13 March 1935.
[SR-47]
26 9 Service in memory of the late Bernard S. Deutsch. 1 December 1935.
[Bernard S. Deutsch (1884-1935) was past president of American Jewish Congress. Speakers include: Fiorello La Guardia, Joseph M. Levine, Louis Lipsky, and Horace M. Kallen]
[SR-52]
26 10 Berman, Morton Mayer. Need Jews Be Communists? 2 February 1936.
[SR-59]
Box Folder
27 1 Public Forum on Palestine. 20 April 1936.
[SR-67]
27 2 80th Birthday Party for Judge Louis D. Brandeis. 8 November 1936.
[not digitized]
27 3 Brandeis Memorial - Brandeis the Lawyer. 15 November 1936.
[SR-78]
27 4 Europe Now. 29 November 1936.
[SR-79]
27 5 Thomas Mann. 18 April 1937.
[SR-90]
27 6 Lewisohn, Ludwig. Trumpet of Jubilee. 25 April 1937.
[SR-91]
27 7 Free Synagogue Thirtieth Anniversary Dinner. 27 April 1937.
[Speakers include: Levine, Louis Nizer, Louis Lipsky, Ludwing Lewisohn, John Haynes Holmes, Fiorello LaGuardia, Julian Mack, Brauer, Levy, Wise.]
[SR-92]
27 8 Goldstein, Sidney E. Must History Repeat Itself? 5 October 1938.
[SR-112]
27 9 Should We Re-Elect La Guardia? The Issues at Stake! 1941 October 26.
[SR-187]
Box Folder
28 1 WOR -- Louis Bamberger's Funeral and Memorial Service. 1944 March 13.
[SR-214]
28 3 Human Rights: Japan Attacks—America Defends. 14 December 1941.
[SR-194]
28 4 Churchill-Roosevelt War and Peace Plans: Can We Accept Them? 4 January 1942.  [last disc with 11 January 1942]
[SR-195]
28 5 Patience vs. Inaction: "Though It Tarry, Wait for It". 11 January 1942.
[SR-196]
28 6 Are Your Personal Relations Good or Bad—What is the Secret?. 8 February 1942.
[SR-197]
28 7 The World Crisis: What Can Americans Now Do?. 8 March 1942.
[SR-198]
28 8 Jew, Judge Jerome Frank and Christian, Prof. Reinhold Niebuhr on the Future of the Jews. 15 March 1942.
[SR-199]
28 9 Farewell to Carnegie Hall Pulpit: A Summary of Its Teachings—Jewishness True and False. 22 March 1942.
[Includes Kaddish and Adoration.]
[SR-200]
28 10 Farewell to Carnegie Hall Pulpit: The Failures and Successes of the Free Synagogue. 29 March 1942.
[SR-201]
28 11 Passover and Easter: Their Common Meaning and Their Common Message. 5 April 1942.
[SR-202]
28 12 Beginning All Over Again—What We Stand For. 10 April 1942.
[SR-203]
28 13 The Case Against the Jew vs. The Case against the Saturday Evening Post. 17 April 1942.
[SR-204]
Box Folder
29 1 Cohen, J. X. Safeguarding Democracy on the Home Front—Halting Discrimination to Help Win the War. 1 May 1942.
[SR-205]
29 2 "The Moon is Down": John Steinbeck's Book and Play. 8 May 1942.
[SR-206]
29 3 How Can Defeatism Be Defeated?. 22 May 1942.
[SR-207]
29 4 Why Did God Make America?. 13 November 1942.
[SR-208]
29 5 Observations and Experiences in Mexico. 20 November 1942.
[SR-210]
29 6 Untitled speech. 27 November 1942.
[SR-211]
29 7 Some Rabbis Betray Israel! Another "Tale of Two Cities". 25 December 1942.
[SR-212]
29 8 Cohen, J. X. Enough for All—A Postwar Preview. 12 March 1943.
[SR-213]
29 9 Freedom from Fear and Want: What Does Such Freedom Mean? 1942 October 9.
[SR-209]
29 11 Radio Talks at WJZ in New York. undated.
[Includes: Colby, Fiorello LaGuardia, Bernard S. Deutsch, Julian Mack, Rosenberg, Wise.]
[SR-19]
29 12 Radio Talks at WOR in New York. undated.
[Includes: Colby, Deutsch, Fiorello La Guardia, Mack, Fosdick, Holmes.]
[SR-19]

Search Terms

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

Persons and Families

Gottheil, Richard J.H. -- (Richard James Horatio), -- 1862-1936 -- Correspondence
Lewisohn, Ludwig, -- 1882-1955 -- Correspondence
Wise, Stephen Samuel -- 1874-1949

Institutions

Federation of American Zionists
Jewish Institute of Religion (New York, N.Y.)
Stephen S. Wise Free Synagogue (New York, N.Y.)

Subjects

Zionism

Genres and Forms

Jewish sermons, American

Occupations

Rabbis -- New York (N.Y.)