Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles Oral History Project Collection, 1979-1981

Summary

Creators:

Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles (Calif.)

Abstract:

The Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles Oral History Project consists of 50 interviews of Jewish immigrants in the Los Angeles area. The goal of the project was to study and evaluate the life experiences of persons who came to the United States during one of the three waves of Jewish immigration - the period from 1900-1945, the years after the Holocaust, and the period of Russian immigration in the late 1970s. The life stories taken during the project reveal a rich folklore of the Jewish people, their countries of origin, war, social change, customs, traditions, and the individual's feelings about Jewish life.

Extent:

3.85 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual, or see the Citing Archival Materialsguide.

Background

Scope and content:

The Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles Oral History Project Collection consists of 50 interviews of Jewish immigrants in the Los Angeles area. The goal of the project was to study and evaluate the life experiences of persons who came to the United States during one of the three waves of Jewish immigration - the period from 1900-1945, the years after the Holocaust, and the period of Russian immigration in the late 1970s. The life stories taken during the project reveal a rich folklore of the Jewish people, their countries of origin, war, social change, customs, traditions, and the individual's feelings about Jewish life.

Interviews were conducted by volunteers trained by the Jewish Family Service. These interviews were then donated to the library in 1981 along with other records from the organization. Interviewees were given the option to maintain their anonymity, in which case they were assigned a number or name by volunteers for identification purposes. The collection is divided into two series: Audio Recordings (1979-1981) and Interview Notes (1979-1981).

Series I, Audio Recordings, consists of oral history interviews recorded onto audiocassettes.

Series II, Interview Notes, consists of field notes taken by interviewers, summaries of the tape contents, and indexes of topics discussed in the interviews.

Biographical / historical:

The Jewish Family Service (JFS) of Los Angeles was originally established in 1854 as the Hebrew Benevolent Society. Founded by a group of Jewish businessmen, the organization provided funeral services and charity to destitute Jews and Gentiles. This was the first relief agency in Los Angeles, and the predecessor of all benevolent societies and charitable institutions in Southern California.

In 1916, the Hebrew Benevolent Society merged with the Ladies' Hebrew Benevolent Society to form the Jewish Aid Society. The new society began referring the growing number of relief cases to public welfare agencies and encouraging indigent families to become self-supporting. A name change in 1929 to Jewish Social Service Bureau reflected a widening range of assistance programs available to families and individuals, including psychiatric counseling and job placement.

Throughout the early 1940s, the organization worked with problems related to family disorganization created by World War II. After the War, the agency concerned itself with the influx of European immigrants especially Holocaust victims, by working with the United Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. This relief program involved the largest expenditure made by any private family agency in Los Angeles, with the exception of the Red Cross. In 1946, the agency changed it's name to Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles.

The 1950's gave rise to a deeper interest in personal counseling, with fees being instituted for the increasing numbers of middle-class clients. A branch office of JFS was established in the San Fernando Valley, and services were extended to West Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Venice. The 1960's brought further expansion, including telephone counseling, crisis intervention, Jewish family-life education programs, outreach service, and the opening of the Freda Mohr Center, a walk-in store-front for the elderly. A new unit was established in 1973 to help newly arrived Russian immigrants.

JFS was the first agency in California to receive certification from the Family Service Association of America. It has been a participating agency in the Community Chest (Los Angeles Area Welfare Federation and United Way of Greater Los Angeles, Inc.), a constituent agency of the Jewish Federation-Council, and a member of the Association of Jewish Family and Children's Agencies and Jewish National Fund Council. JFS also handles casework for the Hamburger Home, the Julia Ann Singer Nursery School and Cedars-Sinai Hospital.

Acquisition information:

Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles, 1981.

Processing information:

Jessica Geiser, 2014

Arrangement:

Series I: Audio Recordings, 1979-1981

Series II: Interview Notes, 1979-1981

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Audiovisual materials
Documents

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research use.

Terms of access:

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.

Preferred citation:

For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual, or see the Citing Archival Materialsguide.

Location of this collection:

California State University, Northridge, Urban Archives

18111 Nordhoff Street

Northridge, CA 91330, US

Contact:

(818) 677-4594

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