Guide to the Label A. Katz Papers,
1910s-1969
(bulk 1953-1965)

P-92

Series I: Personal and Professional, 1931-1969.

Arrangement:

Alphabetical.

Scope and Content:

Primarily through clippings, correspondence and speeches this series documents Label Katz’s leadership activities and a small portion of business and personal matters. Much of the material is related to Katz’s B’nai B’rith work.

Clippings about Katz originate from various regional, national and international (including British, South African, Australian and Israeli) press – much of it Jewish press. Titles include the Times-Picayune, Southern Jewish Weekly, New York Times and Intermountain Jewish News. Also in these clippings files are entire issues of periodicals and newspapers, as well as memoranda from the B’nai B’rith Public Relations office, which collected many of these clippings.

Correspondence, alphabetized by last name, often relates to B’nai B’rith affairs and includes correspondence from David Ben-Gurion, Hale Boggs, Michael Comay, Lily Edelman, Levi Eshkol, Hubert H. Humphrey, Lyndon B. Johnson, Robert F. Kennedy, Philip Klutznick, Theodore Kolleck, Russell B. Long, deLesseps S. Morrison, Richard Nixon, Abraham Ribicoff, Dore Schary, Victor H. Schiro, Zalman Shazar and Harry Truman. There are also copies of Katz’s correspondence to Romulo Betancourt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Golda Meir and Pope Paul VI. The “Correspondence regarding John Frank” folders document Katz’s efforts at assisting János Frank, a Hungarian Jewish refugee, with U.S. immigration issues. In addition to correspondence, these folders include Frank’s passports, photographs, and his accounts of his childhood, war experience in camps and the aftermath.

Within the “Speeches” folders are texts of and notes towards speeches, which Katz delivered not only at B’nai B’rith conventions, but also in front of gatherings of the New Orleans Jewish Fund, Joint Defense Appeal, World Zionist Congress, Cleveland Jewish Federation and Welfare Fund, Presidents’ Conference, Tom Paine Forum, American Jewish Conference on Soviet Jewry, Zionist Organization of America and various congregations. His talks frequently touch on Soviet Jewry, Jewish education, Jewish youth, international affairs and the purpose of B’nai B’rith. Some talks also revolve around topics such as the Eichmann trial, intermarriage and desegregation in the South.

Series II: B'nai B'rith, 1939, 1945-1965.

Arrangement:

Arranged in three subseries.

Scope and Content:

This series contains materials generated or received in the course of Label Katz’s work with B’nai B’rith, such as minutes, reports, agendas, correspondence, clippings, press releases, legal memoranda, budgets, manuals and pamphlets. See Series I for more correspondence with major national and international figures and his speeches at B’nai B’rith events, as well as clippings chronicling his activities with B’nai B’rith. For photographs, see Series III.

Subseries 1: Committees and Activities, 1945-1965.

Arrangement:

Alphabetical.

Scope and Content:

This subseries consists of files related to various committees, programs and projects of B’nai B’rith, especially the B’nai B’rith Hillel Foundations and the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization. Materials include minutes, reports, agendas, correspondence, press releases, budgets, manuals and pamphlets.

Subseries 2: Anti-Defamation League, 1953-1965.

Arrangement:

Alphabetical.

Scope and Content:

This subseries consists of subject files related to Label Katz’s involvement with the Anti-Defamation League. Materials include correspondence, clippings, legal memoranda, reports and minutes.

Subseries 3: International Affairs, 1939, 1954-1965.

Arrangement:

Arranged in two sections.

Scope and Content:

This subseries documents Label Katz’s international activities with B’nai B’rith. Represented are his efforts on behalf of Soviet Jewish communities, his meetings with Pope John XXIII in 1960 and Pope Paul VI in 1964, reports of anti-semitism in various countries, B’nai B’rith’s post-WWII claims against Germany, and B’nai B’rith’s reactions to the Eichmann Trial and Rolf Hochhuth’s “The Deputy.” There is extensive correspondence from Saul Joftes, Secretary of the B’nai B’rith International Council, throughout this subseries.

The “Countries” section consists of substantive correspondence with politicians and Jewish community leaders in the named countries, as well as clippings, bulletins, travel materials, minutes, news of anti-semitic incidents, and statistics on the Jewish populations. Countries with greatest representation are Israel, Germany, Cuba and Great Britain.

For photographs of Katz’s international travels, see Series III.

General

Countries

Series III: Photographs, undated, 1910s-[1968].

Arrangement:

Arranged in four sections.

Scope and Content:

This series primarily consists of photographs of Label Katz engaged in B’nai B’rith-related activities in the early 1960s, as well as family photographs. A few photographs also document Katz’s involvement with Federation, JDC, Jewish Welfare Fund and Executives Club of Louisiana. Many photographs are undated and unlabelled throughout this series.

In the course of his B’nai B’rith presidency, Katz met with a number of national and international figures, some of which are represented in folder titles under the “Individuals” section and some of which are in the “Countries” section. The photographs in the country folders were generally taken in the named countries, although in some cases the photos are simply of their national leaders or of an event related to that country. The United States folders include individuals such as Max M. Fisher, Victor H. Schiro, Meyer Mendelvitz, Miriam Weiss, Irving Gerson, M.E. Polson and David Fichman. Also represented are various New Orleans figures, Katz’s visit to the State Department in Washington, DC, and various political leaders and Jewish community events and leaders in Cleveland, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, Cincinnati and Boston. The Israel folders include photographs of David Ben-Gurion, Moshe Sharett, Levi Eshkol, Kirk Douglas at a B’nai B’rith convention, Walter Schelitzer, Ogden Reid, Abba Eban and Theodore McKeldin. Also visually documented are events surrounding B’nai B’rith’s sponsorship of a library in S’de Boker. In Australia, Katz is pictured participating with Eric Woodward in ceremonies installing a new B’nai B’rith district in New Zealand and Australia. In the Netherlands, Katz appears with Otto Frank. At the Vatican, Katz is pictured with Pope Paul VI.

In the family folders most photographs are unlabelled, but definitely include childhood photographs of Katz and photographs of his wife Alice, as well as their children, William, Robert and Walda.

Personal

Individuals

Countries

Miscellaneous