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Finding Aid to the Jewish Welfare Federation of San Francisco, Marin County, and the Peninsula Records, 1871-1992
BANC MSS 2010/721
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Table of contents
Collection Title: Jewish Welfare Federation of San Francisco, Marin County, and the Peninsula records
Date (inclusive): 1871-1992
Collection Number: BANC MSS 2010/721
Creator:
Jewish Welfare Federation of San Francisco, Marin County, and the Peninsula
Extent:
Number of containers: 77 cartons, 50 oversize boxes
Linear feet: 116.85 linear feet
Repository: The Bancroft Library
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, California, 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
Abstract: The Jewish Welfare Federation of San Francisco, Marin County, and the Peninsula records document decades of charitable giving
and fundraising for local San Francisco constituent agencies, as well as national and international organizations.
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English
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.
Collection is open for research.
Materials in this collection may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction
of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions,
privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond
that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for
any use rests exclusively with the user.
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. See:
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html .
[Identification of item], Jewish Welfare Federation of San Francisco, Marin County, and the Peninsula Records, BANC MSS 2010/721,
The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
There are no alternate forms of this collection.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Jewish Welfare Federation of San Francisco, Marin County, and the Peninsula--Archives
Federation of Jewish Charities (San Francisco, Calif.)
Jewish National Welfare Fund (Oakland, Calif.)
Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin, and Sonoma Counties
Eureka Benevolent Society (San Francisco, Calif.)
Jewish Ladies' Relief Society (San Francisco, Calif.)
Abraham Haas Loan Fund
United Jewish Appeal
Community Chest (San Francisco, Calif.)
Charities--California--San Francisco Bay Area
Jews--California--San Francisco Bay Area
Photographs.
Clippings.
The Jewish Welfare Federation of San Francisco, Marin County, and the Peninsula records were transferred to The Bancroft Library
from the Judah L. Magnes Museum in 2010.
No additions are expected.
Arranged to the folder level.
Processed by Jeffrey Sahaida in 2013.
By the turn of the 20th Century, Jews in San Francisco, CA had formed more than a dozen charities to tend to the poor, sick,
widowed, orphaned, and elderly. After the San Francisco earthquake of 1906 devastated the city, a call for a local merger
of Jewish charities was issued in order to provide support and revive the community. In 1910, the Federation of Jewish Charities
(FJC) was officially established to manage the joint fundraising for 13 Jewish organizations in San Francisco. In 1922, the
FJC joined the Community Chest of San Francisco, a forerunner of the United Way. The Community Chest administered joint fundraising
for local charities, like the Federation, but for a larger constituency. However, the Community Chest did not provide funds
for religious organizations. As such, in 1925, the FJC established the Jewish National Welfare Fund (JNWF) to manage fundraising
for local religious agencies, as well as national and international organizations.
During the Great Depression, the Federation's priority was to provide relief to its community, as increased numbers were seeking
financial support. The FJC offset costs and allowed more people to move into residential facilities such as Emanu-El Sisterhood,
Hebrew Home for Aged Disabled, and Homewood Terrace. The Federation also acquired funds for the Eureka Benevolent Society
to expand its programs and support families with loans, food, shelter, and other needs.
In the late 1930s, despite individual hardships, San Francisco's Jews responded in force to the repression of and anti-Semitic
acts on Jews abroad. The FJC led initiatives to open borders to European refugees and petitioned government leaders for political
intervention in Nazi Germany. The Federation's constituent agencies also created programs for new German immigrants. Following
Kristallnacht, in November 1938, the Jewish National Welfare Fund began local fundraising for the United Jewish Appeal, which
formed to rescue and aid Jews in Nazi Germany. By 1939, the majority of JNWF's funds were allocated to this mission - providing
general relief through hospitals and soup kitchens; economic rehabilitation via loans; and social reconstruction through religious
and educational institutions. In doing such, Jewish philanthropic priorities shifted from local to global concerns.
By the 1950s, the FJC had provided charitable fundraising for charities through two world wars and through periods of increased
immigration to the United States. As such, costs increased, leaving the Community Chest no longer able to provide requisite
funds. In 1955, the Federation of Jewish Charities and the Jewish National Welfare Fund merged to form the Jewish Welfare
Federation of San Francisco, Marin County, and the Peninsula (JWF). This new organization was now able to singularly address
all programmatic and funding activities for local, national, and international Jewish agencies. The merger allowed the Federation
to become self-sufficient and no longer reliant on the Community Chest for funding for its constituents.
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the Jewish Welfare Federation continued its efforts to raise funds for its international and
local constituents, including campaigns to support United Israel Appeal and for organizations like the San Francisco-based
Bay Area Council for Soviet Jewry, which promoted social activism on behalf of Soviet Jews and Jews around the world.
In 1982, the Jewish Welfare Federation was renamed the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin
and Sonoma Counties (JCF) - reflecting its more than 70 years of social services to the local community. To help ensure the
continuity and vitality of the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish community, the JCF established the Jewish Community Endowment
Fund, which began as a small community fund to receive the bequests of donors. By the early 2010s, the Endowment Fund had
more than $2 billion in total managed assets. The Fund continues to provide support for emergency needs and monies for new
projects that address communal problems locally, nationally, in Israel and around the world.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Jewish Welfare Federation of San Francisco, Marin County, and the Peninsula records consist primarily of administrative
and financial materials of the Jewish Welfare Federation (JWF) and its two predecessor agencies, the Federation of Jewish
Charities (FJC) and the Jewish National Welfare Fund (JNWF). The collection also contains records from its descendent agency,
the Jewish Community Federation (JCF), as well as files from its constituent agencies. The records are divided into four
series:
- Series I: Administrative Files
- Series II: Finance
- Series III: Publicity and Publications
- Series IV: Jewish Community Federation, Planning and Allocations Department Files
The administrative files consist of materials documenting the administrative and organizational functions of the Jewish Welfare
Federation; its two predecessor agencies, the Federation of Jewish Charities and the Jewish National Welfare Fund; and its
constituents. Administrative files include: board of directors' minutes; annual reports; correspondence; topical files; individual
constituent agency files; and background materials relating to various Jewish groups, such as the Eureka Benevolent Society,
the Jewish Ladies Relief Society, and the Abraham Haas Loan Fund.
The finance files consist of organizational and general financial materials, including budgets, contributions, statements,
insurance forms, tax documents, and real estate records of the Jewish Welfare Federation; its two predecessor agencies, the
Federation of Jewish Charities and the Jewish National Welfare Fund; and its constituents.
The publicity files contain newspaper and journal clippings, publications, photographs, campaign scrapbooks, and awards and
honors - all of which document the charitable activities and campaigns of the Jewish Welfare Federation and its predecessors.
The records from the Planning and Allocations Department of the Jewish Community Federation (the descendent agency of the
Jewish Welfare Federation) consist of strategic planning reports and demographic studies data.