New Jewish Agenda, Los Angeles Chapter Records,
1979-1991
Processed by August Maymudes
Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research
6120 South Vermont Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90044
Phone: (323) 759-6063
Fax: (323) 759-2252
Email: archives@socallib.org
URL: http://www.socallib.org/
© 2001
Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research. All rights reserved.
New Jewish Agenda, Los Angeles Chapter Records,
1979-1991
Collection number: MSS 033
Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research
Los Angeles, California
Contact Information:
- Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research
- 6120 South Vermont Avenue
- Los Angeles, CA, 90044
- Phone: (323) 759-6063
- Fax: (323) 759-2252
- Email: archives@socallib.org
- URL: http://www.socallib.org/
- Processed by:
- August Maymudes
- Date Completed:
-
December 2001
- Encoded by:
- Teri Robertson
© 2001 Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: New Jewish Agenda, Los Angeles Chapter Records,
Date (inclusive): 1979-1991
Collection number: MSS 033
Creator:
New Jewish Agenda, Los Angeles Chapter
Extent:
5 letter size boxes
3 2/3 linear feet
Repository:
Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research
Abstract: The New Jewish Agenda (NJA), an activist national Jewish community organization, set out to be a progressive voice within
the Jewish community and a Jewish voice within the progressive community. Most active in the decade of the 1980's, the NJA
was committed to working at the grassroots level on programs for the Jewish people in the United States, Israel, and other
Jewish communities that differed from the dominant policies of the Israeli government and the United States national Jewish
establishment. This collection is comprised of the working papers of the Los Angeles chapter and Western Regional office of
the NJA, organized in 1979 and lasting through the early years of the 1990's.
Language:
English.
Administrative Information
Provenance
Donated to the Library in 1996 by the Misha & Sonia Yablon Cultural Center
Access
The collection is available for research only at the Library's facility in Los Angeles. The Library is open from 10 a.m. to
4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Researchers are encouraged to call or email the Library indicating the nature of their research
query prior to making a visit.
Publication Rights
Copyright has not been assigned to the Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research. Researchers may make single
copies of any portion of the collection, but publication from the collection will be allowed only with the express written
permission of the Library's director. It is not necessary to obtain written permission to quote from a collection. When the
Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research gives permission for publication, it is 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 reader.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], New Jewish Agenda, Los Angeles Chapter Records, Southern California Library for Social Studies and
Research, Los Angeles, California.
Organizational History
The Los Angeles Chapter of the New Jewish Agenda (NJA), was formed on June 21, 1981, with the same purposes, by laws and organizational
structure as the national Agenda. The national NJA had been founded in December, 1980 and had central offices in New York
and Washington DC. The aspiration of the NJA was to build a new synthesis of Jewish identity derived from a variety of religious,
cultural and secular backgrounds, committed to building a socially just and peaceful world from the community and grassroots
level. The NJA set out to be a progressive voice within the Jewish community and a Jewish voice within the progressive community.
With the belief that authentic Jewish life demanded serious and consistent attention to Tikun Olam (the just ordering of human
society and the world) the NJA and its chapters sought to apply those Jewish values to a variety of issues including: American
Jewish communal life, mutual responsibility between Israel and diaspora communities, Israeli society and Middle East peace,
American domestic and foreign policy, the role of women and men in Jewish life, Jewish family life, the relations between
Jews and other communities.
The NJA's strength was based on its local chapters and their organizing efforts. Through a mixture of local initiative and
national coordination, the NJA demonstrated a tremendous capacity for organizing outreach, education, and action campaigns
in the American Jewish community. The involvement by a large number of young academics may have contributed to the effectiveness
of the organization. As a result, the NJA had a widespread network of activists and chapters with successful experience in
conducting a range of specific projects concerning dissent in the Jewish community, the Israeli peace movement, Middle East
peace education and Jewish-Arab reconciliation. The records of the Los Angeles Chapter of the NJA stop in the early 1990's
and there is no evidence of continued action by the national organization after that period.
Scope and Content
Materials in the collection include: correspondence, minutes, founding documents, publications of the national and Los Angeles
NJA, reports, some accounting records, notes, clippings and a few photographs. There is a significant amount of material consisting
of copied articles and informational brochures relating to contemporary events and progressive politics and organizations.
The records reflect the work of NJA Los Angeles Chapter staff and activists to develop and strengthen the organization's policies
and the resulting activities, principally from 1984 to 1987. In addition there are media responses and/or critiques of the
activities of the NJA. Also in the collection are records of the Western Regional office of the NJA for the years it was active.
There are some records included of Los Angeles activists participating in national organizational events, but these are not
be construed to be a complete picture of the national organization.
Arrangement
The collection is divided into three series:
1.ORGANIZATION - documents of the NJA, Los Angeles Chapter, Western Regional Committee and national organization;
2. FUNDRAISING - documents of the Los Angeles Chapters applications for grants and funding;
3. PROJECTS - documents relating to specific projects the Los Angeles Chapter developed or in which it participated.
A copy of the collection register is kept in the first box of the collection (1/0).
Series 1.
Organization,
1979-1991
Physical Description:
18 folders
Scope and Content Note
This series covers activities and programs which relate to the organization as a whole: specifically the chapter founding
meetings, meetings of the Western Regional Committee and National Steering committee meetings, and documentation of the first
national convention of the NJA at Ann Arbor, Michigan in July 1985. Each folder contains a variety of materials including
correspondence, financial reports, copies of articles, clippings, and brochures.
Box-folder 1/1
NJA Los Angeles Chapter founding conference,
1981
Box-folder 1/2
Western Regional Committee,
1983-1985
Box-folder 1/3
1st National Convention, Ann Arbor,
July 1985
Box-folder 1/4
National Steering Committee,
1984
Box-folder 1/5
National Steering Committee, reports and work plans,
1984
Box-folder 1/6
National Steering Committee,
1985
Box-folder 1/7
National Steering Committee meeting,
October 1985
Box-folder 1/8
National Steering Committee,
1986
Box-folder 1/9
Press Releases and Media Coverage,
1982-1985
Box-folder 1/10
NJA Newsletters,
1981, 1982, 1985
Box-folder 1/11-2/4
General correspondence and literature [7 folders],
1982-1986, 1990-1991, n.d.
Box-folder 2/5
L.A. community organizations literature,
n.d.
Series 2.
Fund Raising,
1982-1986
Physical Description:
7 folders
Scope and Content Note
The fund raising activities, from both individuals and organizations, are well documented. Each folder contains a variety
of materials including correspondence, financial reports, copies of articles, clippings, and brochures.
Box-folder 2/6-2/7
General correspondence and literature [2 folders],
1982-1986, n.d.
Box-folder 2/8
Marshall Meyer Fundraiser,
1984-1985
Box-folder 2/9-2/10
Grant proposals and grant literature [2 folders],
1985, n.d.
Box-folder 2/11
Liberty Hill grant application and correspondence,
1984-1985
Box-folder 3/1
Donor/Contributor lists, schedules, receipts,
1982-1985, n.d.
Series 3.
Projects,
1983-1990
Physical Description:
27 folders
Scope and Content Note
Within a year or so of it founding the Los Angeles Chapter concentrated its resources and activities on "projects", each lasting
six months or longer. The Central American projects of the 1980's include the Sanctuary movement for refugees from Central
America, peace actions relating to Unites States intervention in the civil wars of El Salvador, Nicaragua and Guatemala, and
awareness and responsibilities to Jewish communities in Central America. The materials for the entertainment fundraiser Ellis
Island/El Norte include a script of the evening's performance, which was headlined by Ed Asner. The Feminist/Women's Issues
projects have documentation covering the UN Decade for Women Conference Forum 1985, Nairobi, Kenya, specifically the activities
of the NJA in the conference and the Los Angeles Chapter attendees. The Beverly/Fairfax projects were neighborhood organizing
action, and include: the proposed development of a Metro Rail station in the area, proposals for the redevelopment of the
Farmers Market commercial area, and information on methane gas explosions that erupted from the nearby La Brea tar pits. A
considerable amount of clippings were gathered from the national Bar-On/Milhem tour and the events that took place for the
Los Angeles stop on that tour. Each folder contains a variety of materials including correspondence, financial reports, copies
of articles, clippings, and brochures.
Box-folder 3/2-3/5
Los Angeles Community Projects,
1984-1985, n.d.
Box-folder 3/2
Community Seders & Haggadah,
1984-1985, n.d.
Box-folder 3/3-3/5
Beverly-Fairfax community development [2 folders],
1984-1985, n.d.
Box-folder 3/6-4/5
National Projects,
1983-1986, n.d.
Box-folder 3/6
Nuclear disarmament,
1983-1985
Box-folder 3/7
Jewish Culture,
1983-1985
Box-folder 4/1-4/2
Economic Justice [2 folders],
1983-1984, n.d.
Box-folder 4/3
Black-Jewish Relations,
1983-1985, n.d.
Box-folder 4/5
Feminist/Women's issues,
1984-1985
Box-folder 4/6-5/10
International Projects,
1981-1990, n.d.
Box-folder 4/6-4/10
Central America [5 folders],
1983-1985, n.d.
Box-folder 5/1
Ellis Island-El Norte,
1986
Box-folder 5/2
Nicaragua,
1983-1984, n.d.
Box-folder 5/3
El Salvador,
1983-1984, n.d.
Box-folder 5/4-5/6
Middle East peace [2 folders],
1981-1990, n.d.
Box-folder 5/7
Arab-Israeli/Arab-Jewish Relations,
1983-1985, n.d.
Box-folder 5/8
Bar-On/Milhelm US tour,
1984
Box-folder 5/9
South African Apartheid,
1984-1987, n.d.
