Finding Aid to the Emanu-El Residence Club of San Francisco records, 1894-1969
Finding Aid written by Judah L. Magnes Museum staff; revised by The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life staff
The Bancroft Library
© 2011
The Bancroft Library
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
bancref@library.berkeley.edu
Contributing Institution:
The Bancroft Library
Title: Emanu-El Residence Club of San Francisco records
Creator:
Emanu-El Residence Club (San Francisco, Calif.)
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 2010/717
Physical Description:
12.4 linear feet
(10 cartons, 5 boxes, 2 oversize boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1894-1969
Abstract: This collection contains materials relating to the Emanu-El Residence Club for single, working Jewish women. Among the records
are correspondence, minutes, bylaws, photographs, reports, agendas, calendars of events, surveys, financial information, organizational
histories, membership lists, scrapbooks of clippings, reports of head social workers Ethel Feineman and Mary Michels, and
building materials.
Physical Location: Many of the Bancroft Library collections are stored offsite and advance notice may be required for use. For current information
on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Language of Material: Collection materials are in English
Access
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Head
of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000. Consent is given on behalf of The
Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright
owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner. See:
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html.
Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research
and educational purposes.All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted
in writing to the Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-6000. Consent is
given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission
from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner. See:
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html.
Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research
and educational purposes.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Emanu-El Residence Club of San Francisco records, BANC MSS 2010/717, The Bancroft Library, University
of California, Berkeley.
Alternate Forms Available
There are no alternate forms of this collection.
Acquisition Information
The Emanu-El Residence Club of San Francisco records were given to The Bancroft Library by the Judah L. Magnes Museum in 2010.
Accruals
No additions are expected.
System of Arrangement
Arranged into eleven series: Board of Directors; Executive Director Correspondence; Resident Girls Application Cards; Resident
Financial Statements; Resident Correspondence; Resident, Other; Building; Program, General; Scrapbooks; Photographs; and Financial.
Processing Information
Processed by the Judah L. Magnes Museum staff. Additional processing by The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life Staff
in 2011.
Administrative History
The Emanu-El Sisterhood for Personal Service was founded in 1894 as a neighborhood center and settlement house. Within a year
it offered employment assistance, relief, sewing classes, a Working Girls' Club, a boys' club, and bible classes for the Eastern
European Jewish community in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood. Its first officers included Bella Lilienthal, Mrs.
J. Voorsanger, Mrs. M.S. Eisner, Hannah Gerstle, Georgie Davis, and Victoria Lilienthal. Matilda Esberg was also among the
founders. Incorporated in 1902, its mission was "to develop and secure personal service on the part of its members in all
human enterprises and in elevating the moral standard of the people, improving the condition of their homes, teaching them
self-reliance and self-respect, promoting their moral and mental education, and developing technical skill among the young
of both sexes." In 1903, the Sisterhood opened a medical clinic that eventually merged with Mt. Zion Hospital. The 1906 earthquake
and fire devastated the South of Market area and many Jews relocated to the Fillmore-McAllister district; a new Emanu-El settlement
house opened on Golden Gate Avenue. In 1910, Emanu-El Sisterhood President Matilda Esberg conceived the idea of opening a
boarding house for single women who did not have families in the area due to death or migration. Ethel Feineman was director
from 1915 to 1937. Within a decade demand for such housing was so great that the Sisterhood decided to build a residence club
that could house 60 to 70 young working women and students. Designed by Julia Morgan and Dorothy Wormser, the edifice was
built at Page and Steiner streets. At the same time that the Sisterhood decided to focus on housing needs, other organizations,
such as the YM/WHA, were increasingly capable of fulfilling the social and recreational needs of the Jewish community. As
the Sisterhood transitioned into residential services it discontinued its settlement house programs. From 1923 until it was
sold in 1969 to the Zen Center, Emanu-El Residence was home to thousands of young women. While about three-quarters of its
population in the '20s spoke Yiddish, by the 1960s many non-Jews were living at the Residence. Mary Michels was director from
1945 to 1969.
Scope and Content of Collection
This collection contains materials relating to the Emanu-El Residence Club for single, working Jewish women. The collection
is divided into the following series: Board of Directors; Executive Director Correspondence; Resident Girls Application Cards;
Resident Financial Statements; Resident Correspondence; Resident, Other; Building; Program, General; Scrapbooks; Photographs;
and Financial. Particularly notable in the collection are the minutes of Sisterhood and Board of Director meetings, annual
reports, the executive director correspondence, the resident application cards and correspondence and the photographs, which
include images of the Residence building, Passover Seders in the Residence, and theatrical productions. An alphabetical index
of applicant cards in Series 3 is available as a PDF attachment to this finding aid.
Other Finding Aids
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Emanu-El Residence Club (San Francisco, Calif.)--Archives
Emanu-El Sisterhood of San Francisco
Western Jewish History Center. 085
Judah L. Magnes Museum. WJHC 1970.011
Bancroft Library. Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life
Jews, East European--California--San Francisco--Services for
Jews--California--San Francisco--Charities
Jewish women--California--San Francisco--Societies and clubs
Administrative records.
Annual reports.
Financial records.
Minutes.
Photographs.
Series 1:
Board of Directors and Executive Director,
1894-1969
Physical Description:
1 linear feet
Carton 1, folder 1-25
Scope and Contents
This series contains constitution and by-laws (1902-1962); minutes from meetings of the Sisterhood (1907-1920), its Board
of Directors meetings(1941-1969), Executive Committee meetings (1929-1945), and House Council meetings (1966); meeting agendas
(1949-1961); Board membership lists; Annual Reports (1894-1909 and 1935-1965); Board Correspondence (1943-1969); a file on
Board Luncheons (1944-1969); a postcard announcing public lectures at the Sisterhood's Polyclinic (1904); and a handwritten
history of the organization penned by Mrs. A.L. Lengfeld in 1939.
carton 1, folder 1-21
Board of Directors files,
1894-1969
Series 2:
Executive Director Correspondence,
1910-1969
Scope and Contents
This series contains incoming letters to Executive Director Ethel Feineman mostly from former residents (1910-1923) and correspondence
to and from Executive Director Mary Michels (1948-1969).
carton 1, folder 22-25
Executive Director correspondence,
1910-1969
Series 3:
Resident Girls Application Cards.
circa 1910-1969
Physical Description:
3.75 linear feet
Cartons 6-7, Carton 8, Folders 1-17
Scope and Contents
This series contains cards with personal and employment information about the residents from the 1920s through the 1940s.
carton 6
Application cards, A-G
1910-1969
carton 7
Application cards, H-R
1910-1969
carton 8, folder 1-17
Application Cards, R-Z
1910-1969
Series 4:
Resident Financial Statements,
1930-1969
Physical Description:
4.25 linear feet
Carton 8, Folders 18-20; Cartons 9-10; Boxes 1-2
Scope and Contents
This series contains ledger sheets from the 1930s and from the 1950s recording payments and charges to the residents.
carton 8, folder 18-20
Resident financial statements, A-G
1930-1940
carton 9
Resident financial statements, T-Z
1930-1940
carton 9
Resident financial statements, A-D
1951-1959
carton 10
Resident financial statements, E-Z
1951-1959
carton 10
Resident financial statements, A-H
1960-1969
box 1
Resident financial statements, J-Z
1960-1969
box 2
Resident financial statements, A-Z, assorted
1960-1969
Series 5:
Resident Correspondence,
circa 1950-1969
Physical Description:
2.5 linear feet
Carton 1, Folders 26-31; Carton 2, Folders 1-16
Scope and Contents
This series contains incoming and copies of outgoing correspondence between Mary Michels and prospective residents.
Arrangement
The correspondence is arranged alphabetically by applicant surname.
carton 1, folder 26-31
Resident correpondence, A-E
approximately 1950-1969
carton 2, folder 1-16
Resident correspondence, F-Z
approximately 1950-1969
Series 6:
Resident, Other,
1917-1969
Physical Description:
0 needs updating
Carton 2, Folders 17-21; Carton 3, Folders 1-11
Scope and Contents
This series contains files pertaining to the residents including monthly reports from Ethel Feineman from 1917 to 1920, statistics
about and lists of the residents from the 1940s to the 1960s, and a petition from residents about the quality of the food
in 1938.
carton 2, folder 17-21
Resident, other
1917-1969
carton 3, folder 1-11
Resident, other
1917-1969
Series 7:
Building,
1918-1965
Physical Description:
.75 linear feet
Carton 3, Folders 12-22
Scope and Contents
This series contains information about the building campaign, building plans, and maintenance related materials. Of special
note are a drawing of a pantry shelf and a file of correspondence to the Sisterhood from Julia Morgan (1923).
carton 3, folder 12-22
Building files,
1918-1965
Series 8:
Program, General,
1918-1965
Physical Description:
1.5 linear feet
Carton 3, Folders 23-41; Carton 4, Folders 1-15
Scope and Contents
This series is comprised of information about the Residence's programs including the celebration of holidays, the Soup to
Nuts Cookbook written during the depression as a fundraising tool, and lecture programs. Included in this series are miscellaneous
office files including surveys of other residence clubs, news clippings, brochures, and evaluation and planning documents
(including a 1916 Report of a survey of Jewish communal conditions for the San Francisco Young Men's Hebrew Association).
Series 9:
Scrapbooks,
1921-1967
Physical Description:
1 linear feet
Carton 4, Folders 16-18, Box 3, Folder 1; Oversize Box 2, Folder 3
Scope and Contents
The series is comprised of a scrapbook of clippings from 1941-1967; a 50th anniversary scrapbook (1946), which includes congratulatory
correspondence and other materials; a folder of scrapbook pages with reflections on the history of the Emanu-El Sisterhood.
Oversize Box 2, Folder 3 includes pages from a scrapbook from 1921-1923 and a copy of The Jewish Times from 1923 featuring
a story on the new Residence building.
oversize_box 2, folder 3
Scrapbooks
1921-1923
Scope and Contents
Pages from a scrapbook from 1921-1923 and a copy of The Jewish Times from 1923 featuring a story on the new Residence building.
Series 10:
Photographs.
circa 1910-1956
Physical Description:
1 linear feet
Box 3, Folders 2-10; Oversize Box 2, Folders 1-2
box 3, folder 2-10
Photographs,
circa 1910-1956
Scope and Contents
Photographs of the Residence building (circa 1930); portraits and group photos of residents (circa 1914-1943); a folder of
photographs of Seders and parties at the Residence Club (circa 1916-1956); a folder of photographs of Residence Club theatrical
presentations (circa 1929); photographs separated from scrapbooks (circa 1940s-1950s).
oversize_box 2, folder 1-2
Residence Club Seders (circa 1914-1923) and oversize group photographs,
circa 1914-1940
Series 11:
Financial,
1916-1969
Physical Description:
2 linear feet
Carton 4, Folders 19-39; Carton 5; Boxes 4-5; Oversize Box 1
Scope and Contents
This series contains a variety of financial information including financial reports, investment information, gifts and contributions,
and budget materials, and volumes of financial records. Oversize Box 1 includes a cash book (1917-1923) and a purchase register
(1916-1918). Carton 5 houses two financial journals (1925, 1968) and two accounts receivable volumes (1964-1968).
oversize_box 1
Cashbook and purchase register,
1916-1923
