Historical Note:
Scope and Contents
Arrangement of Materials:
Electronic Format:
General
Conditions Governing Access:
Accruals:
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Preferred Citation:
Processing Information:
Conditions Governing Use:
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives
Title: Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles, Community Relations Committee
Collection, Part 1
Creator:
Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles. Community
Relations Committee
Identifier/Call Number: URB.CRC1
Extent:
14.72 linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1921-1937
Abstract: In response to the spread of organized
anti-Semitism in the United States during the 1930s, leaders of Los Angeles' Jewish
community formed a special defense organization known as the Los Angeles Jewish Community
Committee. The committee later changed its name to the Jewish Federation Council of Greater
Los Angeles, Community Relations Committee. The collection documents the committee's efforts
to combat prejudice and educate the public through cooperation with both Jewish and
non-Jewish groups, from its formation in 1933 through the early 1990s. Part I includes the
years 1921-1937 and consists primarily of administrative records, documentation of fact
finding and community relations activities, and also contains the personal papers of Leon
Lewis, the committee's Executive Director.
Language of Material: English,
German
Historical Note:
In response to the spread of organized anti-Semitism in the United States during the 1930s
spearheaded by domestic groups like the Ku Klux Klan and international ones like the
propaganda arm of Hitler's Third Reich in Germany, leaders of Los Angeles' Jewish community
formed a special defense organization known as the Los Angeles Community Relations
Committee. The committee's purpose was to work with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), B'nai
B'rith, the American Jewish Committee (AJC), the American Jewish Congress, the Council of
Jewish Women, and other Zionist organizations to fight anti-Semitism in the United
States.
Mendel Silberberg, a respected community leader and motion picture industry attorney,
served as the first chairman of Los Angeles Jewish Community Committee, which consisted of
approximately forty representatives from various Jewish organizations. The committee adopted
the strategy set forth by the ADL in 1933 for combating "un-Americanism", which was to
infiltrate and expose pro-Nazi and anti-Semitic organizations and, if necessary, turn the
information over to federal government agencies. The Community Relations Committee met on a
biweekly basis to set policy and report on right wing activities in Los Angeles. It had
subcommittees on research and fact-finding, public relations, legal and legislative matters,
internal Jewish relations, interfaith activities, and education.
The Committee maintained close relationships with other like-minded groups, even sharing
an office suite with the Southern California Anti-Defamation Council during the 1940s. The
Committee collected a massive amount of propaganda literature, primarily from anti-Semitic,
pro-Nazi, and other right wing organizations. Undercover agents and informants were
recruited from the American Legion and Disabled American Veterans, and planted among suspect
groups in the Los Angeles area.
The Americanism Committee of the Los Angeles County Council of the American Legion
presented information gathered by the Community Relations Committee to the House Un-American
Activities Committee (also known as the Dies Committee or HUAC), showing the connections
between local groups including the American German Bund, Friends of the New Germany, and the
German government in Europe. The Committee's work in the 1930s was so effective that both
the AJC and ADL considered it their Los Angeles branch.
The committee also worked closely with national Jewish groups such as the American Jewish
Committee and United Jewish Welfare Fund to fight the Nazi threat, and to coordinate Jewish
civic defense activities nationwide. It provided information on right wing activities to the
FBI, military and naval intelligence, and state and federal government prosecutors. The
evidence they gathered and reports they wrote were used in trials involving naturalization
proceedings, sedition and espionage.
In 1938, Joseph Roos, a newspaperman and screenwriter who had served as a volunteer
informant, joined the Community Relations Committee's staff. He set up a master file system
for the committee's records, and edited the CRC's
News Letter,
which provided "intelligence" news reports and analysis of propaganda to committee,
government officials, teachers, churchmen, influential journalists, and radio commentators
across the United States. Radio broadcaster Walter Winchell and newspaper columnist Drew
Pearson obtained many of their sensational "scoops" about American extremist groups from the
News Letter. Under the News Research Service, Roos also
directed the CRC's Radio Project and produced news releases and newspaper columns. The last
issue of this noteworthy publication went to press on December 7, 1941.
With the United States' entry into World War II, the Committee's intelligence gathering
activities and investigative journalism were superseded by new activities with patriotic
organizations, veterans groups, inter-faith religious organizations, and local schools and
colleges to combat rising bigotry and discrimination. In 1941 the committee changed its name
to the Community Relations Committee (CRC) of the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los
Angeles.
At war's end, the CRC again reorganized itself in an attempt to better serve the larger
Los Angeles community. Some of the most important issues the CRC addressed in the post-World
War II period included resettlement of refugees from Eastern Europe on the West Coast,
de-nazification in Germany, immigration legislation, religion in public schools, communism,
civil liberties, discrimination in housing, fair employment practices, inter-racial
relations, stereotyping in the motion picture industry and religious tolerance. The CRC also
kept in close contact with the motion picture and television industries in an attempt to
limit the cast stereotyping of Jews and other ethnic groups.
Scope and Contents
The
Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles, Community
Relations Committee Collections
are divided into three parts. Part 1 of the
collection documents the Community Relations Committee's efforts to combat prejudice and
educate the public through cooperation with both Jewish and non-Jewish groups, from 1921 to
1937. It provides a wealth of documentation regarding the fight against prejudice by the
Jewish community, and many other individuals and organizations in the Los Angeles area,
nationally, and even internationally. For the period between 1933 and 1937, the CRC
collection documents the formation of a spy network and reporting system that often proved
highly successful in infiltrating and exposing Nazi and other fascist organizations
operating in the Los Angeles area, as well as these groups' national and international
connections. The collection is organized into three series:
Administration (1932-1937),
Fact Finding and Community
Relations
(1921-1937), and
Leon L. Lewis (Personal and Law
Practice)
(1933-1937).
Series I,
Administration, documents the JCC's relationship with
sponsors, other Jewish community organizations, and the motion picture industry. It includes
correspondence, minutes, publications, editorials, and reports of the Jewish Community
Committee (JCC) and its related support groups. The series is divided into five subseries
which are each arranged in alphabetical order covering the period 1933 to 1937. Subseries
A,
Hollywood Committee (1933-1937), documents the relationship
between the JCC and Jewish executives in the motion picture industry, as well as the
monetary support the Hollywood Committee provided to the JCC. The most extensive file is for
Henry Herzbrun of Paramount Productions, who was the Hollywood Committee's liaison member to
the JCC. Other prominent people whose participation is documented in the collection include
Eddie Cantor, Carl Laemmle, Sr. of Universal Pictures, David O. Selznick, and Irving
Thalberg of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Subseries B,
Los Angeles Jewish
Community Committee
(JCC) (1933-1937), includes incomplete files of minutes, as
well as correspondence between committee members and the executive secretary. Subseries
C,
Los Angeles Jewish Community Committee - Executive Office
(1933-1936), includes indexed files for some of Leon L. Lewis's correspondence for the first
year of committee operations. Subseries D,
Los Angeles Jewish Community
Committee - Supported Groups
(1932-1937), documents the cooperative community
relations activities the JCC undertook with Jewish and non-Jewish groups. Subseries E,
Los Angeles Jewish Community Committee - Parent/Funding Organizations
(1933-1937), documents relationships with Los Angeles Jewish organizations that
provided direct funding and administrative support to the JCC.
Series II,
Fact Finding and Community Relations, documents JCC
activities that include the gathering and dissemination of information regarding fascist and
anti-Semitic groups and individuals, responding to community complaints of specific acts of
discrimination, and contributing information to court proceedings and legislative hearings.
The series is divided into six subseries each of which is arranged alphabetically. Subseries
A,
Complaints, Inquiries and Investigations (Complaints)
(1933-1937), consists of materials pertaining to the investigations of individual complaints
received regarding anti-Semitism and discrimination. Subseries B,
Court
Cases and Legislative Hearings (Cases and Hearings)
(1932-1937), consists of
materials that document the JCC's participation in legal and legislative issues on the state
and federal level. Most notable are files created by the JCC that provided information and
testimony by its informants in a legal battle to oppose Nazi control of the Los Angeles
German-American League [or Alliance, also known as the Stadt Verband]. The subseries also
contains extensive documentation of investigations conducted by the House Un-American
Activities Committee [HUAC], commonly referred to as the McCormack Committee during this
period. Subseries C,
Informant Files (1932-1937),
consists of correspondence with and reports by informants working
undercover for the JCC. It also includes documents and printed matter collected by
informants while in the field. Subseries D,
Investigated Groups and
Individuals
(1921-1937), consists of correspondence, reports, and printed matter of
groups and individuals suspected of fascist, communist, and/or anti-Semitic activities. The
files reflect those instances when an investigation absolved groups or individuals of right
wing allegations. Subseries E,
Jewish Groups and Individuals
(1931-1937), consists of correspondence, reports, and printed matter that document
cooperation as well as disagreement within the Jewish community on issues and tactics of the
JCC. Subseries F,
Secular/Interfaith Cooperating Groups and
Individuals
(1933-1937), consists of correspondence, reports, and printed matter
that documents JCC cooperation with the non-Jewish community.
Series III,
Leon L. Lewis (Personal and Law Practice), is
comprised of the personal papers of Executive Director Leon Lewis and includes Lewis'
reports, correspondence, memoranda, and speeches. For several years the JCC used the offices
of Lewis's law practice before getting their own offices, consequently Lewis's personal
papers were intermingled with those of the JCC. The series is arranged in alphabetical order
by personal name.
Arrangement of Materials:
Series I: Administration, 1932-1937
Subseries A: Hollywood Committee, 1933-1937
Subseries B: Los Angeles Jewish Community Committee (JCC), 1933-1937
Subseries C: Los Angeles Jewish Community Committee – Executive Office, 1933-1936
Subseries D: Los Angeles Jewish Community Committee – Supported Groups, 1932-1937
Subseries E: Los Angeles Jewish Community Committee – Parent/Funding Organizations,
1933-1937
Series II: Fact Finding and Community Relations, 1921-1937
Subseries A: Complaints, Inquiries and Investigations (Complaints), 1933-1937
Subseries B: Court Cases and Legislative Hearings (Cases and Hearings), 1932-1937
Subseries C: Informant Files, 1932-1937
Subseries D: Investigated Groups and Individuals, 1921-1937
Subseries E: Jewish Groups and Individuals, 1931-1937
Subseries F: Secular/Interfaith Cooperating Groups and Individuals, 1933-1937
Series III: Leon L. Lewis (Personal and Law Practice), 1933-1937
Electronic Format:
Digital reproductions of items in this collection are available electronically as a part of
the
In Our
Own Backyard
exhibit.
Related Material
General
Other Information:
Initial inventory of this collection was funded in part through a gift from Sol Lesser, a
member of the Jewish Community Committee. The J. Paul Getty Trust provided an additional
grant to continue processing the collection.
Conditions Governing Access:
The collection is open for research use.
Accruals:
1983, 1987, 1997, 2005
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Jewish Federation Council, 10/29/1979.
Preferred Citation:
For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual,
or see the
Citing Archival Materials
guide.
Processing Information:
Robert G. Marshall, Sharon Howe, Katherine Cannarozzi, Wenceslao Quiroz, and Autumn
Hayner
Conditions Governing Use:
Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of
this collection has not been transferred to California State University, Northridge.
Copyright status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials
protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires
the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any
use rests exclusively with the user.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Documents
Photographs