Representative Isaac Siegel Papers

Collection

Identifier: P-33

Staff Only

Scope and Content Note

Collection consists primarily of New York State Congressman Isaac Siegal's (1915-1923) correspondence with the United States War Department (1917-1919); the Jewish Welfare Board (later The National Jewish Welfare Board) regarding personnel, especially Jewish personnel in the Armed Forces; with John J. Pershing and Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt; relating to immigration, among which are letters from Louis Marshall; and regarding the observance of Flag Day and Lincoln's Birthday.

Collection also includes a paper on "The Jews in China" in manuscript form, and copies of published articles and a radio address.

Dates

Creation: 1897-1944

Creator

Siegel, Isaac, 1880-1947 (Person)

Language of Materials

The collection is in English and some Yiddish.

Access Restrictions

The collection is open to all researchers, except items that may be restricted due to their fragility, or privacy.

Use Restrictions

No permission is required to quote, reproduce or otherwise publish manuscript materials found in this collection, as long as the usage is scholarly, educational, and non-commercial. For inquiries about other usage, please contact the Director of Collections and Engagement at mmeyers@ajhs.org.

For reference questions, please email: inquiries@cjh.org

Biographical Note

Congressman Isaac Siegel (1880-1947) was born in New York City on April 12, 1880. He graduated from New York University School of Law, and began his legal career at Siegel, Corn and Siegel. In 1907 he married Annie Natelson and they had three children. The Siegels were founders of the Orthodox Institutional Synagogue located at 11 West 116th Street.

Siegel, a Republican, was nominated to Congress after a contested battle with the incumbent candidate in 1915 and served until 1923. In 1917, he voted in favor of declaring war on Germany in World War I, bucking the Republican Party of the time. Siegel wrote legislation to provide twenty Jewish chaplains in the American Expeditionary Forces, who up to that time had few Jewish chaplains in service.

For more information on Siegel's life, see Siegel, Isaac, in Kurt F. Stone's The Congressional Minyan: The Jews of Capitol Hill, pages 466-468, published in 2000 by KTAV Publishing House, Inc. in association with the American Jewish Historical Society.