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Doris H. Goldstein Papers

 Collection
Identifier: P-887

Scope and Content Note

The papers of Doris H. Goldstein represent the activities of the American Soviet Jewry Movement activist from Atlanta, GA. The collection contains notes, photos and memorabilia from two trips to the USSR to meet with the Soviet Jews, a DVD recording of the program presented at an Atlanta rally on behalf of Soviet Jewry in 1987, local press coverage of Doris H. Goldstein’s activism, her correspondence and memos of the Atlanta Jewish Federation regarding Jews in the Soviet Union. Materials include memorandums, correspondence, clippings, photographs, a DVD and a scrapbook.

Dates

  • Creation: 1979, 1981, 1987-1988, 2009

Creator

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

Historical Note

The Papers of Doris H. Goldstein represent one collection housed within the Archive of the American Soviet Jewry Movement (AASJM). These papers reflect the effort, beginning in the 1960s through the late 1980s, of thousands of American Jews of all denominations and political orientations to stop the persecution and discrimination of Jews in the Soviet Union. The American Soviet Jewry Movement (ASJM) is considered to be the most influential Movements of the American Jewish community in the 20th century. The beginnings of the organized American Soviet Jewry Movement became a model for efforts to aid Soviet Jews in other countries, among them Great Britain, Canada, and France. The movement can be traced to the early 1960s, when the first organizations were created to address the specific problem of the persecution and isolation of Soviet Jews by the government of the Soviet Union.

Mrs. Doris H. Goldstein (1935- ) was a member of the Board of Directors and a chairperson of the Soviet Jewry Committee of the Atlanta Jewish Federation, and served on the executive committee of the National Conference on Soviet Jewry.

Mrs. Goldstein became aware of the plight of the Soviet Jewry from reading Elie Wisel’s book The Jews of Silence. She was inspired to take active part in the Soviet Jewry Movement by the activities of the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry.

In 1979 Mrs. Goldstein and her husband Dr. Martin Goldstein took the opportunity to travel to the USSR with a group of American dermatologists. The real purpose of the trip for the Goldsteins was to meet Soviet Jews. They visited Moscow, as well as the Asian part of the Soviet Union—the cities of Tashkent, Bukhara, Samarkand in Uzbekistan, and Dushanbe in Tajikistan. During the trip they met many Refuseniks, including Abe Stolar and Gregory Goldstein. The ample and valuable information gathered by the Goldsteins during their travels made them an authority on the issue of the Soviet Jewry in the Atlanta Jewish community and was reviewed in the local press. Mrs. Goldstein was named the chairperson of the Soviet Jewry Committee of the Atlanta Jewish Federation.

The committee sponsored an annual Simchat Torah Rally on behalf of Soviet Jews and introduced a special Women’s Plea for Soviet Jewry Committee. Partnered with ORT in their Bar/Bat Mitzvah Twinning program, sponsored Soviet Jewry poster contest in Jewish schools, and promoted Adopt-A-Refusenik program with the local organizations and synagogues. Among the successful outreach activities the committee was the interreligious Soviet Jewry Congressional petition campaign, held in cooperation with the Church Women United. The campaign yielded several thousand signatures collected at shopping malls, community gatherings and via door-to-door neighborhood walks. The petition was accepted by Rep. Wyche Fowler (D GA), who became a strong Congressional supporter of Soviet Jewry.

In 1987 Mrs. Goldstein visited the USSR once again. This time she was accompanying Rep. Connie Morella (R MD), who chaired the House Coalition for Soviet Jewry, on her trip organized by the National Conference on Soviet Jewry. Mrs. Goldstein and Rep. Morella visited Moscow and Leningrad, meeting Soviet government officials and American diplomats, as well as many Refuseniks, including Ida Nudel, Lev Shapiro and Vladimir Slepak.

Extent

0.25 Linear Feet (1 half manuscript box, 1 oversize folder)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

The papers of Doris H. Goldstein represent the activities of the American Soviet Jewry Movement activist from Atlanta, GA. The collection contains notes, photos and memorabilia from two trips to the USSR to meet with the Soviet Jews, a DVD recording of the program presented at an Atlanta rally on behalf of Soviet Jewry in 1987, local press coverage of Doris H. Goldstein’s activism, her correspondence and memos of the Atlanta Jewish Federation regarding Jews in the Soviet Union. Materials include memorandums, correspondence, clippings, photographs, a DVD and a scrapbook.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into a single series.

Acquisition Information

Donated by Doris H. Goldstein in 2009.

Related Material

The Papers of Doris H. Goldstein is one individual collection within the Archive of the American Soviet Jewry Movement (AASJM) located at the American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS). Other Soviet Jewry Movement collections at AJHS include the records of Action for Soviet Jewry (I-487), the National Conference on Soviet Jewry (NCSJ; I-181 and I-181A), the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews (I-410, I-410A), Medical Mobilization for Soviet Jewry, the papers of Joel Ackerman (P-787), Julia Mates Cheney (P-806), Jerry Goodman (P-863), Laurel and Alan J. Gould (P-866), Carolyn W. Sanger (P-870), Si Frumkin (P-871), Elaine Pittell (P-873), Sanford A. Gradinger (P-880), Shaul Osadchey (P-882) and Leonard S. Cahan (P-883).

Individual accounts of activities within the Soviet Jewry Movement are preserved in the UJA Oral History Collection (I-433), which includes accounts from members of the following organizations: the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews, Bay Area Council on Soviet Jews (BACSJ), Seattle Action for Soviet Jews, Houston Action for Soviet Jews, Chicago Action for Soviet Jews, Colorado Committee of Concern for Soviet Jews and the National Conference on Soviet Jewry. Interviewees include accounts by Lillian Forman (BACSJ), Ann Polunsky, Morey Schapira, Myrtle Sitowitz, Deborah Turkin, David Waksberg, Sylvia Weinberg and Dolores Wilkenfeld. In addition, posters related to the Soviet Jewry Movement can be found in the Jewish Student Organizations Collection (I-61).

Additional materials from other collections include records dealing with the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry (SSSJ) located within the North American Jewish Students Appeal (NAJSA, I-338) and the records of the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council (NJCRAC, I-172). Related records are also located at the AJHS in Newton Centre, MA including memorabilia and ephemera of the New England Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry (I-237) and the Records of the Student Coalition for Soviet Jewry – Brandeis University (I-493).

Title
Guide to the Doris H. Goldstein (1935- ) Papers, 1979, 1981, 1987-1988, 2009 *P-887
Status
Completed
Author
Processed by Andrey Filimonov
Date
© 2010
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Description is in English.
Sponsor
Digitization of the Papers of Doris H. Goldstein (P-887) was made possible through a generous grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

Revision Statements

  • May 2015: Added dao links by Eric Fritzler.
  • November 2020: RJohnstone: post-ASpace migration cleanup

Repository Details

Part of the American Jewish Historical Society Repository

Contact:
15 West 16th Street
New York NY 10011 United States