Collection Guide
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Emanu-El Residence Club of San Francisco records
BANC MSS 2010/717
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Table of contents
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
Collection is open for research.
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.
[Identification of item], Emanu-El Residence Club of San Francisco records, BANC MSS 2010/717, The Bancroft Library, University
of California, Berkeley.
There are no alternate forms of this collection.
The Emanu-El Residence Club of San Francisco records were given to The Bancroft Library by the Judah L. Magnes Museum in 2010.
No additions are expected.
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.
Processed by the Judah L. Magnes Museum staff. Additional processing by The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life Staff
in 2011.
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.
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.