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Guide to the Records of the Hebrew National Orphan Home Alumni Association, undated, 1923-2011 (bulk 1957-1997)
 
*I-520

Processed by Carmen Hendershott

American Jewish Historical Society

Center for Jewish History

15 West 16th Street

New York, N.Y. 10011

Phone: (212) 294-6160

Fax: (212) 294-6161

Email: reference@ajhs.org

URL: http://www.ajhs.org

© 2013, American Jewish Historical Society, Boston, MA and New York, NY. All Rights Reserved.
Machine-readable finding aid created by Carmen Hendershott as MS Word document, September-October 2011. Finding aid was encoded by Marvin Rusinek on October 10, 2011. Description is in English.

Descriptive Summary

Creator: Hebrew National Orphan Home Alumni Association
Title: Hebrew National Orphan Home Alumni Association, records
Dates: undated, 1923-2011 (bulk 1957-1997)
Abstract: Contains the files of the Association’s newsletter, The Alumnus; programs of its alumni reunion events; selected meeting minutes; audio-visual material (oral history tapes and a videotape on the HNOH; photographs); paper copies of website pages developed in 1997; a small collection of correspondence; a file of Dental Service annual reports about dental care given the orphans and other material from 1923-1932; scrapbooks; sports uniforms; unpublished writings about growing up in HNOH; scattered publications of other orphan homes, mainly newsletters; and mass media accounts of HNOH, other orphan homes, and issues around orphan life.
Languages: The collection is in English.
Quantity: 3.95 linear feet (4 manuscript boxes, 1 half manuscript box, 1 oversized box)
Identification: I-520
Repository: American Jewish Historical Society
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Historical Note

The Hebrew National Orphan Home Alumni Association was created in 1925, a little more than a decade after the Hebrew National Orphan Home was established. The alumni association was founded to facilitate social contact among men who, as children, had grown up in the home, since co-resident boys were their "family." Extant records contain little evidence of the activities of the alumni association in its early decades. According to Irwin Abrams, who left HNOH in 1925, he and others who had "graduated" from HNOH that year banded together in a social, basketball-playing group that met at the Central Jewish Institute and called themselves the ALYONS (Alumni from Yonkers). He continues: "Later we founded an alumni association consisting of boys who left the home before and after us. At its peak, it numbered about 1000."1 An offshoot of the alumni association, the Harry Lucacher Alumni Society (HLAS) formed officially in 1940 with the alumni association's recognition. HLAS published a newsletter, The Recorder, that same year.

The official alumni association itself commenced publication of an association newsletter, The Alumnus, with a May 17, 1936 issue. This newsletter was the main means by which alumni of the orphan home kept in touch with each other, as it had membership lists, published member correspondence, reminiscences, photographs, and news (including obituaries), and encouraged participation in the alumni reunions. Another important point of contact was the alumni reunion event, for which there is documentation of regular occurrence from 1957-1985.

Finally, the alumni association generated a body of literature on what it was like to be an orphan and grow up in an orphan home. Some of this literature is found in issues of The Alumnus. Two oral history tape cassettes were compiled by alumnus Sam Arcus and were distributed by him in 1997. They were based on interviews with several alumni members to accompany a videotape on life in the HNOH, entitled Our Childhood … Remembered, produced by alumnus Ed Lippman and distributed by him in Fall 1995.2 In the April, 1997 Alumnus issue, Ira Greenberg outlined a table of contents for a proposed book that would cover HNOH history and the alumni role in it. A questionnaire about alumni experiences of life in the home was printed in that issue, and responses were requested and received. In 2001, the book came out, as The Hebrew National Orphan Home: Memories of Orphanage Life, edited by Ira Greenberg with Richard Safran and Sam Arcus. Coincidentally with this effort to develop a concentrated historical record, Marjorie Soloff, daughter-in-law to HNOH orphan alumnus Jacob "Jack" Soloff, developed a website for the HNOH Alumni Association, which includes an historical account of the founding of HNOH, reminiscences of the alumni, and photographs of orphanage life. Though attenuated by the death of many of its members, the Alumni Association of the Hebrew National Orphan Home exists to this day.

Since the Alumni Association of the Hebrew National Orphan Home (HNOH) grew out of the development of HNOH itself, a brief chronology of HNOH is included here, to provide context for the account of the alumni association above.

HNOH: Historic Milestones:
December 12, 1912 HNOH was created on New York City's Lower East Side.
October 14, 1913 Initial payment was made for premises at 57 East 7th Street by Romanian Jews comprising a Committee of the Bessarabian Verband.
June 7, 1914 HNOH opened officially with space for 50 Jewish boys; a second tenement house at 52 St. Mark's Place & 8th Street was also bought.
July 15, 1919 The Tuckahoe Road facility was purchased in Yonkers, N.Y.
July 26, 1920 The Tuckahoe Road facility was opened.
1943 Professional Case Work Service was introduced.
1944 Psychiatric and Psychological Service was introduced; a Remedial Education Program was introduced.
1947 HNOH became Homecrest.
1956 Homecrest became Hartman-Homecrest as the result of a merger of Homecrest with the Gustave Hartman home for children (formerly the Israel Orphan Asylum for girls).
June 27, 1958 The Tuckahoe Road facility closed.
1962 Hartman-Homecrest was merged into the Jewish Child Care Association (JCCA) of New York.
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Scope and Content Note

The records of the Hebrew National Orphan Home Alumni Association represent its social activities in strengthening ties among men who were boys in the Hebrew National Orphan Home. They include minutes of its Alumni Association Advisory Board meetings (9/1955-1965; 9/1972-1976) and its Alumni General Meetings (9/1946-1954; 1961-1963; 9/1972-1976); files of its newsletter, The Alumnus (1957, 1962-1964, 1966-2010 incomplete), and The Recorder, a 1940 newsletter of an offshoot organization, the Harry Lucacher Alumni Society; programs of its alumni reunion events (1951-1953; 1956; 1958-1959; 1962-1963; 1965-1966; 1969-1971; 1974-1982; 1985); correspondence, including a letter to Judge Aaron J. Levy, an early HNOH president, dated 1930 and signed by Franklin Delano Roosevelt; later correspondence (undated; 1981; 1991; 1996-1997); photographs of HNOH facilities and of people associated with it; audio-visual material on HNOH history, assembled in 1997; a file of information dating from 1923-1932, mainly on dental care administered to the orphans at HNOH (including annual reports from 1923-1930) and contributed by a dentist who worked for Dental Services, A.S. Rochlin; basketball and baseball sports uniforms; scrapbooks; and writings about orphan life, HNOH and other orphan homes in the mass media, as well as scattered publications from the alumni associations of other orphan homes and unpublished writings or separate drafts from appearances in The Alumnus and alumni events programs of pieces by HNOH alumni.

Types of material found in the collection include correspondence, documents, newspaper and magazine clippings, photographs, programs, reports, scrapbooks, serials, sports uniforms, tape cassettes, and videotapes.

The collection is in English.

The collection is arranged in three series.

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Arrangement

The collection is arranged into three series as follows:

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The collection is open to all researchers by permission of the Director of Library and Archives of the American Jewish Historical Society, except items that are restricted due to their fragility.

Use Restrictions

Information concerning the literary rights may be obtained from the Director of Library and Archives of the American Jewish Historical Society. Users must apply in writing for permission to quote, reproduce or otherwise publish manuscript materials found in this collection. For more information contact:
American Jewish Historical Society, Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY, 10011
email: reference@ajhs.org

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Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date (if known); Hebrew National Orphan Home Alumni Association, records; I-520; box number; folder number; American Jewish Historical Society, Boston, MA and New York, NY.

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Acquisition Information

Donated by Hebrew National Orphan Home Alumni Association, 1996-1998, 2000-2001, 2005-present (bulk donated 1996-1997).

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Access Points

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Container List

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

 

Series I: Minutes, 1946-1965, 1972-1976.
The Series is in English.
Box 2, Folder 56-61.
Arrangement:

Arranged into two subseries: a. Alumni Association Advisory Board and b. Alumni General Meeting.

Subseries A: Alumni Association Advisory Board, 1954-1965, 1972-1976.
The Subseries is in English.
Box 2, Folders 56-58.
Arrangement:
Scope and Content:
Box Folder Title Date
2 56 Minutes (Alumni Association Advisory Board) 1954
2 57 Minutes (Alumni Association Advisory Board) January 1955-December 1965
2 58 Minutes (Alumni Association Advisory Board) September 1972-December 1976

Subseries B: Alumni General Meeting, 1946-1954, 1961-1963, 1972-1976.
The Subseries is in English.
Box 2, Folders 59-61.
Scope and Content:
Box Folder Title Date
2 59 Minutes (Alumni General Meeting) September 1946-December 1954
2 60 Minutes (Alumni General Meeting) January 1961-January 1963
2 61 Minutes (Alumni General Meeting) September 1972-September 1976
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Series II: Publications, 1940, 1944-2010.
The Series is in English.
Box 1, Folders 1-32.
Arrangement:
Scope and Content:

Subseries A: Internal, 1940, 1951-2010.
The Subseries is in English.
Box 1, Folders 1-25.
Arrangement:
Scope and Content:

The internal files consist mainly of The Alumnus, the newsletter written by HNOH alumni; it contains scattered issues from 1957-2010, which, taken together, comprise nearly half of the material HNOH turned over to AJHS; there is also a single issue of The Homelite, a newsletter put out by the boys in the HNOH orphan home, and a single issue of The Recorder from 1940, explaining the formation of an offshoot society of the HNOH Alumni Association, the Harry Lucacher Alumni Society, to honor the memory of the Depression-era HNOH director, Harry Lucacher, who preceded Reuben Koftoff. Marjorie Soloff developed a website for HNOH which contains valuable information on its history; paper copies of the website's main pages, sent to the alumni HNOH in 1997, are included here.
Box Folder Title Date
1 1 The Alumnus October 1957
   

v.28 (8) 1957 Oct.

  
1 2 The Alumnus 1962-1964
   

1960 - no issues
1961 - no issues
1962:
v.33 (2) Feb.
v.33 (3) March
v.33 (4) April
v.33 (5) May
v.33 (6) June
v.33 (7) Sept.
v.33 (8) Oct.
v.33 (9) Nov.
v.33 (10) Dec. (2c.)
1963:
v.34 (1) Jan.
v.34 (2) Feb. (2c.)
v.34 (3) March
v.34 (4) April
v.34 (5) May
v.34 (6) June
v.34 (7) Sept.
v.34 (8) Oct.
v.34 (9) Nov.
v.34 (10) Dec. (2c.)
1964:
v.35 (8) Oct.

  
1 3 The Alumnus 1965-1967
   

1965:
v.35 (16) Sept.
v.35 (17) Oct.
v.35 (18) Nov.
1966:
v.35 (23) April
v.35 (24) May
v.35 (25) June
v.35 (26) Sept.
v.35 (27) Oct.
v.35 (28) Nov.
v.35 (29) Dec.
1967:
v.35 (30) Jan.
v.35 (31) Feb.
v.35 (32) March
v.35 (33) April
v.35 (34) May
v.35 (35) June
[unnumbered] Oct.
[unnumbered] Nov.
[unnumbered] Dec.

  
1 4 The Alumnus 1968-1969
   

1968:
[unnumbered] Jan.
[unnumbered] Feb.
[unnumbered] March
[unnumbered] April
v.36 (44) May
v.36 (45) June
v.36 (46) Sept.
v.36 (47) Oct.
v.36 (48) Nov.
v.36 (49) Dec.
1969:
v.38 (56) Oct.
[unnumbered] Dec.

  
1 5 The Alumnus, unidentified pieces 1960s
1 6 The Alumnus 1970-1973
   

1970:
v.39 (60) Feb.
[unnumbered] Sept.
v.39 (65) Nov.
v.39 (66) Dec.
1971:
v.40 (67) Jan.
[unnumbered] April
v.40 (71) June
v.40 (73) Oct.
v.40 (74) Nov.
v.40 (75) Dec. (2c.)
1972:
v.40 (77) Feb.
v.40 (78) March (2c.)
v.40 (79) April
v.40 (80) May
v.40 (81) June
v.40 (83) Oct. (2c.)
v.40 (84) Nov.
1973:
v.40 (86) Jan.
v.40 (89) April (2c.)
v.40 (90) May (2c.)
v.40 (91) June
v.40 (92) Sept.
v.40 (93) Oct.
v.40 (94) Nov. (2c.)
v.40 (95) Dec. (2c.)

  
1 7 The Alumnus 1974-1975
   

1974:
v.40 (96) Jan.
v.40 (99) April
v.40 (100) May
v.40 (101) June (2c.)
v.40 (102) Sept, (2c.)
v.40 (103) Oct.
v.40 (104) Nov. (2c.)
1975:
v.40 (106) Jan.
v.40 (107) Feb. (2c.)
v.40 (108) March (2c.)
v.40 (109) April (2c.)
v.40 (110) May
v.40 (111) June
v.40 (112) Sept. (2c.)
v.41 (113) Oct.
v.41 Nov. (2c.)
--No volumes 42-50 -

  
1 8 The Alumnus undated, 1976-1977
   

1976:
[unnumbered] Jan.
v.51 (2) Feb.
v.51 (III) March (2c.)
v.51 (4) April
v.51 (5) May
v.51 (6) June
v.51 (6 sic.) Sept. (2c.)
v.51 (8) Oct. (2c.)
v.51 (9) Nov. (2c.)
v.51 (10) Dec. (2c.)
Dinner Edition Compilation 1976 (excerpts from previous newsletters beginning with v.1 (1) May 17, 1936)
1977:
v.52 (1) Jan. (2c.)
v.52 (2) Feb. (2c.)
v.52 (3) March (2c.)
v.52 (4) April
v.52 (5) May (2c.)
v.52 (6) June (2c.)
v.52 (7) Sept. (2c.)
v.52 (7 sic.) Oct. (2c.)
v.52 (10) Dec. (2c.)
Undated: "Analysis of Journal Ads and Income" handout

  
1 9 The Alumnus 1978-1979
   

1978:
v.53 (4) April (2c.)
v.53 (5) May (3c.)
v.53 (8) Oct.
v.53 (9) Nov. (2c.)
v.53 (10) Dec. (2c.)
1979:
v.54 (1) Jan. (2c.)
v.54 (2) Feb. (2c.)
v.54 (3) March (2c.)
v.54 (4) April (2c.)
v.54 (5) May (2c.)
v.54 (6) Sept. (3c.) (1 c. has a page of photos attached that is lacking in the others.)
v.54 (8) Oct. (2c.)
v.54 (9) Nov. (2c.)
v.54 (10) Dec. (2c.)

  
1 10 The Alumnus 1980-1982
   

1980:
v.55 (1) Jan. (2c.)
v.55 (2) Feb. (2c.)
v.55 (3) March (2c.)
v.55 (4) April (2c.)
v.55 (5) May (2c.)
v.55 (5 sic.) June (2c.)
v.55 (9) Nov. (2c.)
-- No volume 56 -
1981:
v.57 (6) June
v.57 (8) Oct. (2c.)
v.57 (10) Dec.
1982:
v.58 (2) Feb.
v.58 (4) April (2c.)
v.58 (5) May
v.58 (7) June
v.58 (9) Nov. (2c.)
v.58 (10) Dec. (2c.)

  
1 11 The Alumnus 1983-1984
   

1983:
v.59 (1) Jan.
v.59 (2) Feb. (2c.)
v.59 (3) March
v.59 (4) April (2c.)
v.59 (5) May (2c.)
v.59 (6) June (2c.)
v.59 (7) Sept.
v.59 (8) Oct. (2c.)
v.59 (9) Nov. (2c.)
v.59 (10) Dec. (2c.)
1984:
v.60 (1) Jan. (2c.)
v.60 (2) Feb. (2c.)
--Volume misnumbering carries into later volumes. --
v.59 (5) May (2c.)
v.59 (6) June (2c.)
v.59 (7) July (2c.)
v.59 (8) Aug. (2c.)
v.59 (9) Sept. (2c.)
v.59 (10-11) Oct.-Nov. (2c.)
v.59 (12) Dec.

  
1 12 The Alumnus 1985-1986
   

1985: v.60 (1-2) Jan.-Feb. (2c.)
--March 31, 1985 announcement -
v.60 (3-4) March-April (2c.)
v.60 (5) May (2c.)
v.60 (6) June
v.60 (7-8) July-Aug. (2c.)
v.60 (9) Sept. (2c.)
-- Souvenir edition 1985 October 20 (Anniversary Issue // Luncheon Special Edition)
v.60 (10) Oct. (2c.)
v.60 (11-12) Nov.-Dec. (partial issue - pp.1-2 missing)
1986:
v.61 (1-2) Jan.-Feb. (2c.)
v.61 (3-4) March-April (2c.)
v.61 (5-6) May-June (2c.)
v.61 (7-8) July-Aug. (2c.)
v.61 (9-10) Sept.-Oct. (2c.)
v.61 (11-12) Nov.-Dec. (2c.)

  
1 13 The Alumnus 1987-1989
   

1987:
v.62 (1-2) Jan.-Feb. (2c.)
-- No further issues published this year -
(p.1: "If you haven't been receiving The Alumnus during 1987, please do not worry! We are … a viable organization!")
1988:
v.63 (1-2) Feb.-Mar. (2c.)
v.63 (3-4) March-April (2c.)
1989:
-- March 1989 Announcement -
v.64 (4) April (2c.)
v.64 (5) May (2c.)
v.64 (6) June (2c.)
v.64 (9) Sept. (2c.)
v.64 (10) Oct. (2c.)
v.64 (11-12) Nov.-Dec. (2c.)

  
Box Folder Title Date
2 14 The Alumnus 1990-1993
   

1990:
Jan. Mailing List [sic.] (2c.) (Last Page: In Memoriam: Our Brother Alumni)
v.65 (2-3) Feb.-March (2c.)
v.65 (4-6) April-June (2c.)
v.65 (7-9) July-Sept. (2c.)
1991:
v.66 Jan. (2c.)
v.66 (2) April (2c.) (Includes letter by and write-up on Manny Bergman)
v.66 (3) July (2c.)
v.66 (4) Oct. (2c.)
1992:
v.67 (1) Jan. (2c.)
v.67 (2) May (2c.)
v.67 (3) Oct. (2c.)
1993:
v.68 (1) June (2c.) (Includes Alumni Mailing List)

  
2 15 The Alumnus 1994-1996
   

1994:
v.69 (1) Jan. (2c.)
-- The Alumnus - Southern Florida Chapter - February, 1994 -
Note: Most Southern Florida Chapter issues and/or news were/was reprinted in issues of The Alumnus. This issue came out as a separate piece.
v.69 (2) April (2c.)
v.69 (3) Oct. (2c.)
1995:
v.70 (1) Feb. (2c.)
v.70 (2) May (2c.)
v.70 (3) Oct. (2c.)
1996:
v.71 (1) Jan. (2c.)
v.71 (2) April (2c.)
v.71 (3) Dec. (2c.)

  
2 16 The Alumnus 1997-1999
   

1997:
v.72 (1) Jan. (2c.)
v.72 (2) April (2c.)
v.72 (3) Oct. (2c.)
v.72 (4) Dec. (2c.)
1998:
v.73 (1) Jan. (2c.)
v.73 (2) April (2c.)
v.73 Oct. (2c.) (Includes insert of Newsday book blurb, "Orphans with Pride")
v.73 (4) Dec. (2c.)
1999:
v.74 (1) Feb. (2 c.)
v.74 (2) April (2 c.)
v.74 (3) Never published
v.74 (4) Never published

  
2 17 The Alumnus, unidentified pieces undated
2 18 The Alumnus 2000-2002
   

2000:
v.75 (1) Feb. (2c.) (p.1: "…No Alumnus has come out in almost a year.")
v.75 (2) April (2c.)
v.75 (2 sic.) May
v.75 (3) Dec. (2c.)
2001:
v.76 (1) Feb. (2c.)
v.76 (2) May (2c.)
v.76 (3) Nov. (2c.)
2002:
v.77 (1) Feb. (2c.)
v.77 (2) April (2c.)
v.77 (3) Sept. (2c.)
v.77 (4) Dec. (2c.)

  
2 19 The Alumnus 2003-2004
   

2003:
v.78 (1) March
v.78 (2) June
v.78 (3) Sept.
v.78 (4) Dec.
2004:
v.79 (1) March
v.79 (2) June
v.79 (3) Sept.
v.79 (4) Dec.

  
2 20 The Alumnus 2005-2008
   

2005:
v.80 (1) March
v.80 (2) June
v.80 (3) Sept.
v.80 (4) Dec.
2006:
v.81 (1) March
v.81 (4) Dec.
2007:
v.82 (1) March
v.82 (2) June
v.82 (3) Sept.
v.82 (4) Dec.
2008:
v.83 (1) March
v.83 (2) June (2c.)
v.83 (3) Sept.

  
2 21 The Alumnus 2009-2010
   

2009:
v.84 (1) March
v.84 (2) June
2010:
v.85 (1) March
v.85 (2) June

  
2 22 The Alumnus 2011
2 23 The Alumnus masters file 1996-2001
   

This file of scattered issues shows layout work and includes original photographs, some in color, that went into the issues. The issues are:
v.71 (3) 1996 Dec.
v.72 (1) 1997 Jan.
v.73 (4) 1998 Dec.
v.74 (1) 1999 Feb.
v.75 (1) 2000 Feb.
v.75 (2) 2000 April
v.75 (2 sic.) 2000 May
v.76 (1) 2001 Feb.

  
2 24 The Homelite (published by orphans in HNOH; 1951 June issue) June 1951
2 25 The Recorder (Harry Lucacher Alumni Society; v.1 no.1 1940 issue) 1940

Subseries B: External, 1944-2008, 2011.
The Subseries is in English.
Box 1, Folder 26-32.
Arrangement:

The subseries is arranged as follows:

(1) Newsletters
(a) BHOA Bulletin (BHOA) 1944-1985 incomplete
(b) Crows and Ravens (Pleasantville) 1995
(c) Rose Nadler Schafer Chapter [Newsletter] (Pride of Judea Children's Home) 1994-1997 incomplete
(d) Pride Survey (Pride of Judea Children's Home) 1945
(e) The Rising Bell (HOA) 1985-2008 incomplete

(2) Souvenir Book (Centennial Souvenir Book of the Jewish Orphan Home Alumni (Cleveland, Ohio))

Box Folder Title Date
2 26 BHOA Bulletin (BHOA) 1944-1985 incomplete
2 27 Crows and Ravens (Pleasantville) 1995
2 28 Rose Nadler Schafer Chapter [Newsletter] (Pride of Judea Children's Home) 1994-1997 incomplete
2 29 Pride Survey (Pride of Judea Children's Home) 1945
2 30 The Rising Bell (HOA) 1985-2008, 2011 incomplete
2 31 Unidentified Non-HNOH Pieces undated
2 32 Other Publications of Other Orphan Homes - Jewish Orphan Home (Cleveland, Ohio) - Souvenir Book - 100th Alumni Reunion 1988
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Series III: General, 1923-1997.
The Series is in English.
Box 2, Folder 33-67.
Arrangement:
Scope and Content:

Subseries A: Dental Service Reports and other dental archival material, compiled by A.S. Rochlin, D.D.S., 1923-1932.
The Subseries is in English.
Box 2, Folder 41.
Scope and Content:

This is the only administrtive material from HNOH in this collection; it includes annual reports of the work of the Dental Service from 1923-1930.
Box Folder Title Date
4 41 Dental Service Reports and Other 1920s-Early 1930s Material 1923-1932
   

1927: Conference with Judge Levy Re: Debacle between [Dental] Service and Superintendent Goldenberg
March 18, 1928: To Judge Levy - 25th Wedding Anniversary Celebration at Hebrew National Orphan Home
July 19, 1928: Medical and Dental Outing
Undated: Ladies Auxiliary Material (Expressing appreciation of their work for HNOH)
Annual Reports of the Dental Service 1923-1930
February 3, 1932: Address to the Graduates at Hebrew National Orphan Home by A.S. Rochlin, D.D.S.

  

Subseries B: Unpublished Work, undated, 1930, 1981-1998.
The Subseries is in English.
Box 2, Folders 39-40 and Folder 66.
Scope and Content:
Box Folder Title Date
4 39 Correspondence: Letter of Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Justice Aaron Levy December 3, 1930
4 40 Correspondence 1981-1997 (bulk 1996-1997)
4 66 Writings about Orphanage Life by Former Orphans undated, 1991, 1998

Subseries C: Mass Media coverage of HNOH and other orphanages and care-giving facilities (such as foster homes) for orphans , 1973, 1979, 1993-1995, 1997, 2002.
The Subseries is in English.
Box 2, Folders 64-65.
Scope and Content:

This file includes news clippings focused on HNOH ("HNOH in the News") and, in a file entitled "Orphanage Life in the Media," a front-page article in the December 12, 1994 issue of Newsweek, discussing whether orphanages should be revived; a New York Times article by Nina Bernstein (May 4, 1997) about a change in Federal law enabling for-profit institutions to receive government money for foster home care, and the threat thus posed to child welfare; and an article on Hyman Bogen's book about his childhood in the Hebrew Orphan Asylum, The Luckiest Orphans (1992).
Box Folder Title Date
4 64 Mass Media Coverage: HNOH ("HNOH in the News") 1979, 1997, 2002
4 65 Mass Media Coverage: General ("Orphanage Life in the Media") 1973, 1993-1995, 1997
   

Includes a front-page article in the December 12, 1994 issue of Newsweek, discussing whether orphanages should be revived; a New York Times article by Nina Bernstein (May 4, 1997) about a change in Federal law enabling for-profit institutions to receive government money for foster home care, and the threat thus posed to child welfare; and and an article on Hyman Bogen's book about his childhood in the Hebrew Orphan Asylum, The Luckiest Orphans (1992).

  

Subseries D: Audio-Visual Material, undated, 1925, 1931-1932, 1949, 1952, 1997, 2002?.
The Subseries is in English.
Box 2, Folders 38 and 62.
Scope and Content:
Box Folder Title Date
3 38 A/V Material 1997
   

Includes a videotape, Our Childhood…Remembered, produced by Ed Lippman, and two tape cassettes, labeled "HNOH Oral History"; these are taped interviews of some HNOH orphan alumni, compiled and edited by Sam Arcus to accompany the videotape. A note taped to the audiocassettes is dated 1997.

  
Box Folder Title Date
4 67 Photographs undated, 1925, 1931-1932, 1949, 1952, 1997, 2002?

Subseries E: HNOH website, 1997.
The Subseries is in English.
Box 2, Folders 62-63.
Scope and Content:
Box Folder Title Date
4 62 HNOH Website Backup Copy 1997 1997
   

(including a letter from Sam Myers providing details on the development of the website)

  
4 63 HNOH Website Master Copy, sent by Marjorie Soloff, its developer to The HNOH Alumni Association in 1997 1997

Subseries F: Events: Alumni Reunion Events, 1945, 1950s-1980s.
The Subseries is in English.
Box 2, Folders 33-37.
Scope and Content:

Note 1: Types of Alumni Reunion Events as Indicated by Program Titles:

1950s:
-- Alumni Day: 1951, 1952, 1953
-- Alumni Dinner: 1956
-- Alumni Dinner and Dance: 1958 (Annual Dinner and Dance in Honor of Louis Resnick), 1959

1960s:
-- Alumni Dinner: 1962 (Thanksgiving Testimonial Dinner)
-- Alumni Dinner & Dance: 1963, 1965 (Past Presidents Dance & Dinner), 1966, 1969

1970s:
-- Alumni Dinner & Dance: 1970, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977
-- 1971: Testimonial Dinner & Dance Honoring Irving Tarr
-- 1975: 50th Anniversary Dinner & Dance [1925-1975]
-- 1977: Testimonial Dinner Dance Honoring Reuben Koftoff
-- Alumni Reunion Luncheon: 1978, 1979
-- 1979: Testimonial to Lewis Charles

1980s:
-- Alumni Reunion Luncheons: 1980, 1981, 1982, 1985
--1985: Honoring Lou Ambers [sic.; should be "Amber"] & Charles "Chick" Baker and Celebrating Our 60th Year

Note 2: Two copies are available for the following years of alumni reunion event programs: 1962, 1970, 1971, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, and 1985.

Note 3: Exact dates of alumni reunion events and notes on images and other material of interest in the reunion programs are indicated in the item notes in the reunion event folders below. An asterisk [*] before an item indicates that it contains one or more group photos of the alumni when they were boys in the home; two asterisks [**] before an item indicates that it includes one or more photos of officers in the alumni association.
Box Folder Title Date
3 33 Alumni Reunion Events (photograph only) 1945
3 34 Alumni Reunion Event Programs 1950s
   

1951 May 27th
*1952 May 18th
*1953 Month, Day Not Available
1956 Dec. 9th
*1958 Dec. 14th (Includes photos of Frank Merriwell & Louis Resnick and a group photo of girls in the Israel Orphan Asylum)
1959 Dec. 13th

  
3 35 Alumni Reunion Event Programs 1960s
   

1962 Nov. 18th
1963
1965 Dec. 11th
1966 Dec. 10th (Includes 1924 band photo & photos of past presidents captioned with their names and years in office)
1969 June 15th (Includes group photo of presidents without identification; 4 bar mitzvah photos from 1940-1945; and 2 pp. of HNOH history, divided into 4 eras, with each era written by an orphan who was there at that time)

  
3 36 Alumni Reunion Event Programs 1970s
   

* ** 1970 June 13th
* ** 1971 June 12th (Includes photos of incoming & outgoing presidents, & a photo of Herman and Clara Silverman)
1974 June 8th (Includes picture of president, Bernard Fuchs)
1975 June 14th (Includes picture of president, Bernard Fuchs)
** 1976 June 26th (Includes photos of outgoing (Herman Silverman) and incoming (Milton Davidson) presidents, and of Claire Fiance, beloved surrogate mother at the HNOH, on an "In Memoriam" page; in the "gold page" section mid-program is a list of changing names of the orphanage, as well as the tribute to Fiance)
** 1977 June 14th (Includes photo of Reuben Koftoff)
** 1978 Sept. 24th
1979 Oct. 7th (Includes photo of Lewis Charles; group photos are from the 30th anniversary Open House Party on February 10th, 1960)

 
3 37 Alumni Reunion Event Programs 1980s
   

** 1980 October 26th (Includes a group photo captioned "Alumni Day 1950")
** 1981 Dec. 6th
** 1982 Nov. 7th
* 1985 Oct. 20th (Includes photos & some biographical information on honorees, Lou Amber and Charles "Chick" Baker)
Insert 1: Page complimenting the work of active members of the Alumni Association
Insert 2: Charles Baker's address at the reunion luncheon

  

Subseries G: Individuals, undated, 1952, 1958, 1971, 1975, 1977-1980, 1983, 1985, 1987-1988, 1991, 1993, 1996.
The Subseries is in English.
Box 2, Folder 42-55.
Scope and Content:
Box Folder Title Date
4 42 Individuals -- Administrators -- Koftoff, Reuben 1977
4 43 Individuals -- Alumni -- Amber, Lou 1985
4 44 Individuals -- Alumni -- Baker, Charles "Chick" 1952, 1985
4 45 Individuals -- Alumni -- Bergman, Manny 1991
4 46 Individuals -- Alumni -- Boisen, Jerry February 1, 1996
4 47 Individuals -- Alumni -- Charles, Lewis 1979
4 48 Individuals -- Alumni -- Cherubin, Charles E. 1987
4 49 Individuals -- Alumni -- Greenberg, Ira undated
4 50 Individuals -- Alumni -- Gordon, Irving 1993
4 51 Individuals -- Alumni -- Gurfein, Murray I. undated, 1980
4 52 Individuals -- Alumni -- Resnick, Louis 1958
4 53 Individuals -- Alumni -- Rivkin, Stan undated, 1975, 1977-1978
4 54 Individuals -- Alumni -- Safran, Richard ("Rick") 1983, 1985, 1988, 1991, 1993
4 55 Individuals -- Alumni -- Tarr, Irving 1971

Subseries H: Scrapbooks, 1926, 1932-1936, 1939-1940.
English.
Box 5, Folder 68 (2 scrapbooks).
Scope and Content:

The two scrapbooks in this folder were donated to the HNOH Alumni Association by alumnus Chick Baker in 1998. One of them documents his career as a basketball director of cage games at the Brooklyn Paramount Theatre, and, in the World's Fair, as director of the "Eastern girls tournament … at the Court of Peace" (undated newspaper clipping; source unknown). Most of the newspaper clippings which make up this scrapbook lack a source and are undated; the few clippings that are dated were published in 1939-1940. The other scrapbook focuses on the Hebrew National Orphan Home, and includes newspaper clippings and photographs dating mainly from the 1930s, especially from 1935-1936.. There are photographs of interiors of the orphan home, including a dormitory, the game room, and the library. Most of the photos, however, are of sports teams and players. Some of them include handwritten identifications of the players near the photo, such as one identifying Chick Baker in the Westchester Light Senior Champs in 1926 (p.38 of the scrapbook); one identifying members of the 1932 basketball team (p.9); one identifying various sports players (p.17) and one identifying a group of baseball players in 1935. There is also a group photo without player identification of the 1933 Westchester County baseball champions (p.30). Most of the newspaper clippings do not include the source or the date, but there are dated clippings from 1932, 1935, and 1936. At the end of this scrapbook, there is an undated clipping from the Daily Worker, "Jim Crow Licked in B'klyn Tourney" indicating that Chick Baker refused to allow discrimination against African-American teams in his basketball games at the Paramount.
Box Folder Title Date
5 68 Scrapbook about Chick Baker 1939-1940
5 68 Scrapbook about HNOH 1926, 1932-1936

Subseries I: Sports Uniforms, undated.
1 oversized OS1 box.
Scope and Content:

This box includes sports uniforms used by HNOH orphans when playing baseball and basketball. There are five garments: a pair of purple cotton basketball shorts with gold stripes; a sleeveless purple cotton basketball shirt with a yellow Star of David on it; a sleeveless black cotton basketball shirt decorated with the Star of David (which has an "H" in the center of the star); a sleeveless teal blue wool basketball shirt with yellow "HNOH" lettering on it; and a long-sleeved gray wool baseball top with purple "HNOH" lettering on it.
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