The collection documents the activities of the American Jewish Congress' Northern California Division from 1960 through the
mid-1980s. It contains minutes (1960-1982, incomplete), financial records, membership records, annual reports, articles, programs,
newsletters, press releases, clippings, correspondence, briefs and published material, and some photographs.
The American Jewish Congress (AJC) was founded in 1916, and reorganized in 1920 and 1938. The groundwork for the Northern
California Division was laid in the 1930s by Rabbis Saul White of Beth Sholom and Elliot Burstein of Beth Israel when they
organized a boycott of German goods. The Division was officially founded in December 1943. The AJC's mission shifted somewhat
over the years but the core was the promotion of "Jewish rights and freedom" within the U.S. and the support of the "Jewish
Homeland." The organization's Civil Rights stand broadened over the years from a concern for Jewish Rights (American Jewish
Yearbook, 1922) to the "elimination of all forms of racial and religious bigotry" (American Jewish Yearbook, 1995) and was
referred to by one member as a Jewish ACLU. One of the AJC's primary money making activities was the sponsoring of tours
of Israel and Jewish themed tours to other cultural and religious sites around the world.
Number of containers: 10 cartons, 1 box
(Linear feet: 10.4)
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head
of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000. Consent is given on behalf of The
Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright
owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner. See: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html.
Collection is open for research.