Rosenberg Collection of Stockton and Sacramento Jewish History Materials

Processed by Don Walker and Michael Wurtz
Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections
University of the Pacific Library
3601 Pacific Ave.
Stockton, CA 95211
Phone: (209) 946-2404
URL: https://www.pacific.edu/university-libraries/find/holt-atherton-special-collections
© 2008
University of the Pacific. All rights reserved.

Rosenberg Collection of Stockton and Sacramento Jewish History Materials

Collection number: MSS 51

Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections

University of the Pacific Library

Stockton, California

Contact Information

Processed by:
Processed by Don Walker and Michael Wurtz
Date Completed:
1998, 2008
Encoded by:
Michael Wurtz
© 2008 University of the Pacific. All rights reserved.

Descriptive Summary

Title: Rosenberg collection of Stockton and Sacramento Jewish history materials
Dates: 1855-1976
Collection number: MSS 51
Creator: Rosenberg, Bernard D. Rabbi
Collection Size: 5.25 linear feet + 1 oversized flat poster
Repository: University of the Pacific. Library. Holt-Atherton Dept. of Special Collections
Stockton, California 95211
Abstract: 20th century Stockton Rabbi, Bernard Rosenberg, collected genealogical material and records on early Jewish history of Stockton.
Physical location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Languages: Languages represented in the collection: English

Access

Collection open for research.

Publication Rights

Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

Preferred Citation

Rosenberg collection of Stockton and Sacramento Jewish history materials. MSS 51. Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library.

Biography / Administrative History

By 1849 there were over two hundred Jews in the Gold Rush transportation hub city of Stockton. Two years later they formed a benevolent society, Ryhim Ahvooim [Brotherly Love] (1851), and in 1855 formally organized a congregation. This group was nominally orthodox, though some traditional practices were abandoned to conform to life in a growing western town. During its first twenty-one years the congregation was generally headed by cantors with rabbis present only on high holy days or for short periods. From 1890 there was a strong movement within the congregation to adopt Reformed Judaism and eventually the cantor was removed, women were allowed to join the congregation and a rabbi was found who could preach in English (1896).

Scope and Content of Collection

20th century Stockton Rabbi, Bernard Rosenberg, collected genealogical material and records on early Jewish history of Stockton. Much of it came from Ryhim Ahvooim's Board of Trustees Minutes and financial records (1855-1957) and from Stockton's Jewish Cemetery, which was established in 1851 and is the oldest one of its kind in continuous use west of the Rocky Mountains. Also present in the collection are the Minutes and some financial records of Hope Lodge No. 126 of the Independent Order of B'nai B'rith (1869-1929,1976) and similar materials from the Jewish Community Council (1948-1956), its precursor, the Jewish Community Center (1925-1947), and the local Hadassah (1908-1957). There are also clippings, photographs and other materials pertaining to the congregation and construction (1953) of Temple B'nai Israel in Sacramento (1892-1957).

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Ryhim Ahoovim Congregation (Stockton, Calif.)
Independent Order of B'nai B'rith. |b District Hope Lodge No. 126.
Temple B'nai Israel (Sacramento, Calif.)
Jewish Community Center (Stockton, Calif.)
Jews - California - Stockton.
Jews - California - Sacramento.
Cemeteries (Jewish law)


 

Series 1: TEMPLE ISRAEL [CONGREGATION RYHIM AHOOVIM]

 

Box 1

 

Laws of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (1905)

 

Bylaws of the Congregation Ryhim Ahoovim (1912)

 

Congregational Minutes (10/16/1950)

 

Congregational reports Rabbi (1920; 1932-34; 1936-37)

 

President of Congregation reports (1929; 1932-37)

 

Treasurer’s reports & financial statements. (1928; 1931-37; 1950)

 

Property information and 95th anniversary

 

Board of Trustees Minutes (1886-1905) [ledger]

 

Board of Trustees/Board of Officers of the Congregation (1905-1919) [ledger]

 

Annual meetings of the Congregation (1890-1916) [ledger]

 

Box 2

 

Congregation Minutes (1917-1950) [ledger]

 

Dues Book (1909-1915) [ledger]

 

Dues Book (1917-1919) [ledger]

 

Receipt Book (1855-1927) [ledger]

 

Box 3

 

Receipts (1900-1921)

 

Correspondence (1906-07; 1910; 1912; 1916-17; 1919)

 

Misc. notes, scraps, publications

 

Photographs of United Jewish Appeal Dinner (1957)

 

Misc. Programs

 

Series 2: INDEPENDENT ORDER OF B’NAI B’RITH [HOPE LODGE NO. 126]

 

Box 3 (cont.)

 

By-laws (1915); amendments (1923)

 

“Temple Tidings” – Death of Rabbi Harvey Franklin (Jun 4, 1976)

 

Minutes (1869-77) [ledger]

 

Minutes (1898-1906) [ledger]

 

Box 4

 

Minutes Book (1906-1916) [ledger]

 

Minutes (1917-24) [ledger]

 

Minutes (1924-29) [ledger]

 

Minutes of 60th Anniversary Program (2-6-29)

 

Financial records (1909-1919)

 

Treasurer’s Reports (1916; 1918-19)

 

Remittance statements (1918)

 

Misc. receipts (1918-19)

 

Correspondence. w/ Grand Lodge No. 4 (1900-05; 1918; 1921-22; 1929)

 

Club Room Committee (1920-21)

 

Misc. (1917)

 

Withdrawal cards (1918; 1922; 1928)

 

Notes, scraps, resolutions

 

Box 5

 

Minutes of Hope Auxiliary (1926-1931) [ledger]

 

Series 3: JEWISH COMMUNITY COUNCIL/CENTER

 

Box 5 (cont.)

 

Jewish Community Council – Constitution, Manual and Guide for Use of Officers

 

Jewish Community Center Minutes Directors of Center (1925-45) [ledger]

 

Board of Directors of Center (1944-48)

 

Jewish Community Center Correspondence of Board of Directors (1931; 1947)

 

Jewish Community Center Financial records: receipts & disbursements (1951)

 

Jewish Community Center Misc. notes, scraps, programs

 

Temple Israel, Stockton---List of Congregation Presidents (1905-56)

 

Ku Klux Klan letter to Mrs. N. Burstein, Stockton (1924) [parody letter probably written by visiting Rabbi Harvey Wessel]

 

Robert Tat. “The effect of inter-marriage on Jewish identity in Stockton” (1968)

 

Misc. notes, list of Rabbis

 

Temple Israel, Stockton---Genealogical correspondence & notes

 

Biographical sketch of Rabbi Henry Lowenthal, San Francisco

 

Series 4: TEMPLE B’NAI ISRAEL, SACRAMENTO; WESTERN JEWISH HISTORY MISCELLANY, JEWISH PUBLICATIONS

 

Box 6

 

Temple B’nai Israel, Sacramento: Minutes (1904)

 

Temple B’nai Israel, Sacramento: Correspondence---David Lubin (1900)

 

Temple B’nai Israel, Sacramento: Correspondence ---Robert Burns McAulay (1957)

 

Temple B’nai Israel, Sacramento: Misc. photographs, clippings, etc.

 

Temple B’nai Israel, Sacramento: Misc. programs (1892-1935)

 

Temple B’nai Israel, Sacramento: Temple construction & dedication photographs (1953)

 

Kate B. Carter. ‘The Jews in early Utah” (1952) from [Hidden] Treasures of Pioneer History

 

Notes showing Jewish donors to construction of Sacramento Catholic cathedral (1874)

 

Temple Beth Israel, Tacoma, Washington. Golden Jubilee (1942)

 

Temple Israel at 50, Long Beach, California (1974)

 

History and dedication of Temple B’nai Israel (Sacramento) scrapbook

 

Emanu-El (1903-1925)

 

The Jewish Layman (Jan, Mar 1933)

 

B’nai B’rith Magazine (Nov 1923; Aug-Sep 1934)

 

The Montividean (7-16-55)

 

“Israel: The new face of an old people,” San Francisco Examiner (10-4-64)

 

The Jewish Voice (San Jose State)

 

Reprint from a Bicentennial Festschrift for Jacob Rader Marcus (1976)

 

“The Use of Genealogy in Western Jewish Historical Research.” Brand Book Number Four San Diego Corral of the Westerners (1976)

 

American Jews in the West (July, 1974)

 

“Ketubot from early California” by Robert E. Levinson (1975) Michael, On the History of the Jews in the Diaspora (1975)

 

Series 5: STOCKTON HADASSAH RECORDS AND MISCELLANY

 

Box 7

 

Minute Books (1927-32; 1941-44) [two ledgers]

 

Treasurer’s Account Books (1908-29) [two ledgers]

 

“Sisterhood of Temple Israel” Minute Book (1948-57) [ledger]

 

Box 8

 

Stockton Hadassah Account Books (1911-20) [two ledgers]

 

Rabbi Wise’s trip to California (1877)

 

Congregation Ada Yeshurm records

 

Congregation Ada Yeshurm records (1920-1930)

 

Minutes of congregation (1910-1920)

 

Congregation Ahavas Aachim records

 

Series 6: TEMPLE ISRAEL CEMETARY RECORDS

 

Box 9

 

Cemetery rules, 1st set

 

Cemetery financial and maintenance

 

Cemetery Committee Reports

 

Cemetery Deed

 

Cemetery operations and procedures

 

Cemetery dedication & photos

 

Cemetery commission for the preservation of pioneer Jewish cemeteries

 

Cemetery scrapbook and misc. notes

 

Cemetery newspaper clippings

 

Temple Israel Cemetery plaque dedication, Stockton (1961)

 

Series 7: TEMPLE ISRAEL RECORDS, FAMILY HISTORIES, AND EARLY HISTORIES OF STOCKTON JEWISH SETTLEMENTS.

 

Box 10

 

Annual report, 1958-1959

 

By laws, 1960s-1970s

 

Membership, 1970s

 

Committees, 1970s

 

Rabbi Rosenberg’s testimonial dinner, 1976

 

Scrapbook, 1970s

 

Bea Schwartz biography

 

Bea Schwartz correspondence

 

Bea Schwartz photos of Temple and community center, 1961

 

Bea Schwartz family correspondence 1938-1939

 

Levy Family history

 

Berg Family history

 

Blumenthal Family history

 

Corran Family history

 

Friedberger Family history

 

Levinsky Family history

 

Louis Family history

 

Early Jewish history in California

 

Early Jewish history in Stockton

 

Early history Stockton Jewish Settlement

 

Memorial services

 

Publications; Archives

 

Hebrew Documents

 

Ritual information/ food faire

 

Box 11

 

Temple Israel Scrapbook (photocopy)