Guide to the Papers of Aviva Ben-Ur
1923-2009

ASF AR-7

Processed by Rachel S. Harrison as part of the Leon Levy Archival Processing Initiative, made possible by the Leon Levy Foundation.

American Sephardi Federation

Center for Jewish History

15 West 16th Street

New York, NY 10011

Phone: (212) 294-8350

Fax: (212) 294-8348

Email: info@AmericanSephardiFederation.org or
Rbelinfante@ASF.CJH.org

URL: http://www.americansephardifederation.org

©2010 American Sephardi Federation. All rights reserved.

Center for Jewish History, Publisher.

Electronic finding aid was encoded in EAD 2002 by Rachel S. Harrison in March 2010. Description is in English.

Biographical Note

Aviva Ben-Ur is an Associate Professor in the Department of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Adjunct to the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and the Department of History. She earned her Ph.D. from Brandeis University in 1998 and her M.A. and M.Phil. degrees from Columbia University in 1992 and 1994, respectively. Her doctoral dissertation was entitled Where Diasporas Met: Sephardic and Ashkenzai Jews in the City of New York-A Study in Intra-Ethnic Relations, 1880-1950. She began teaching as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst in Fall 2000. Her published books include Sephardic Jews in the United States: Where Diasporas Met, Remnant Stones: The Jewish Cemeteries of Suriname: Epitaphs and A Ladino Legacy: The Judeo-Spanish Collection of Louis N. Levy. She was awarded a 2007 American Council of Learned Societies fellowship to conduct research for her book Jewish Identity in a Slave Society: Suriname, 1660-1863, which has not yet been published. She translated and analyzed response and Hebrew and Ladino medieval literature for Andree Aelion Brooks’ book, The Woman Who Defied Kings: The Life and Times of Dona Gracia Nasi, a Jewish Woman Leader During the Renaissance. Her articles and reviews have appeared in journals such as Journal of Southern History, American Jewish History, American Jewish Archives, Jewish History, Journal of Jewish Studies, and Studies in Bibliography and Booklore.

In addition to the American Council of Learned Societies fellowship, she has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities; the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; the Fulbright Program; the University of Washington, where she was the Hazel D. Cole Fellow in Jewish Studies 1999-2000; and the John Carter Brown Library, among others. She has taught at the National University of Ireland, Galway; the University of Washington; and Queens College.

She has served on the Advisory Boards of Sephardic House, the Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Religious Heritage, and on the Academic Councils of both the American Sephardi Federation and the American Jewish Historical Society. She has been a Fellow of the University of Massachusetts Five College Center for Crossroads in the Study of the Americas, a Lilly Teaching Fellow, and the recipient of both a University of Massachusetts Center for Teaching Course Enhancement Grant and Faculty Research Grant.

Scope and Content Note

This collection contains cassettes of oral histories of New York Sephardim, four copies of galley proofs for Remnant Stones: The Jewish Cemeteries and Synagogue of Suriname: Epitaphs from 2007 and 2008 with some edits by Aviva Ben-Ur and Rachel Frankel, correspondence between Professor Ben-Ur and various scholars of Sephardic studies, photocopies of historical essays about Sephardic topics, newsletters and other printed materials including maps, poems, and theater scripts. The materials have been arranged chronologically according to accretion. The first folder of materials for each accretion contains a cover letter from Professor Ben-Ur detailing that accretion’s contents.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in one series.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

This collection is open to researchers.

Use Restrictions

There may be some restrictions on the use of the collection. For more information, contact:
American Sephardi Federation, Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011
email: info@AmericanSephardiFederation.org or Rbelinfante@ASF.CJH.org

Related Material

The American Sephardi Federation and the YIVO Library have several books by Aviva Ben-Ur, including The Ladino (Judeo-Spanish) Collection of the Library of Agudas Chassidei Chabad: A Descriptive Bibliography, A Ladino Legacy: The Judeo-Spanish Collection of Louis N. Levy, Remnant Stones: The Jewish Cemeteries and Synagogue of Suriname: Epitaphs, Sephardic Jews in America: A Diasporic History, and Where Diasporas Met: Sephardic and Ashkenazic Jews in the City of New York: A Study in Intra-Ethnic Relations, 1880-1950. In addition, there are many books covering her areas of interest and research topics, including Ladino, American Jewish history and works by and about Mair Jose Benardete.

Separated Material

There is no information about materials that are associated by provenance to the described materials that have been physically separated or removed.

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form:

Identification of item, date (if known); Papers of Aviva Ben-Ur; ASF AR-7; box number; folder number; American Sephardi Federation.

Acquisition Information

Papers presented to the American Sephardi Federation by Aviva Ben-Ur in several accretions in 2006, 2008 and 2009.

Access Points

• Individuals:

  • Ben-Ur, Aviva
  • Benardete, M. J. (Maír José), 1895-

• Organizations:

  • American Sephardi Federation

• Subjects:

  • Ladino language
  • Sephardim
  • Sephardim--History

• Places:

  • New York (N.Y.)

• Document Types:

  • Audiocassettes
  • Brochures
  • Correspondence
  • Manuscripts
  • Maps

Container List