Title: The Temple Israel Brotherhood Collection

Creator(s): The Temple Israel Brotherhood

Collection Dates: 1913 – 1997

Bulk Dates: 1955 – 1982

History:

About the Brotherhood: The Temple Israel Brotherhood was established in November, 1913 as a compliment to the already-established Temple Sisterhood. Its goal was to encourage men to participate in the greater Jewish community through social and educational programs. Membership was eventually extended to those who were not members of the temple and, through this effort, the membership grew to 168 by 1917. The group’s membership was especially numerous in between the World Wars.

Among the events that were sponsored by the Brotherhood were lecture series, holiday events, children’s movie nights, a glee club, arts festivals, trips to other countries, and an annual musical. Some of these events were done in tandem with the Sisterhood.

The Brotherhood also helped in fundraising, especially during wars. During WWI and WWII, they raised money for the soldiers and held recreational events for them while they were in town. In the effort to reach out to them while they were stationed elsewhere, G.I. News was published, featuring news from the temple and letters from other soldiers. During the Vietnam era, they sent good will packages to the troops that included lox and bagels.

The following names are presidents that the organization has had over the years.

1913: Lee M. Friedman1914: Felix Vorenberg1915-22: George Moses1923: Alexander M. Berger1924-26: Henry Kuhns1956-57: Franklin H. Fox1957-59: Robert D. Dana1959-61: Paul M. Sidel1962-63: Charles M. Brown1963-64: Frank P. Cohen, George J. Katz1965-66: Sidney Hoffman Jr., Lloyd D. Tarlin1966-67: Solomon Stern, Bernard J. Pearson1967-68: Bernard J. Pearson, Jerome D. Goodman1968-69: Jerome D. Goodman1970: Bernard J. Pearson1970-71: Sumner Rodman1971-72: Sumner Rodman, Will G. Wilton1972-73: Will G. Wilton1973-74: Robert Needleman1976-78: Robert T. Abrams

1978-79: Will Wilton1980-81: Arthur Shatz1983: Herb Panoff1984-86: Robert E. Goloslov1987: Arthur Schatz1988: Arthur Schatz, Gabriel Padawer1989: Gabriel Padawer1990-92: Robert K. Rosenthal1993-96: Roger Lipson1996-97: Arthur Schatz

About the Lt. Herschel L. Guttmann Foundation: Lt. Herschel L. Guttmann (1916-1928), a former member of Temple Israel, died in aerial combat on April 28, 1944 at the age of 28. His plane crashed due to enemy fire as he was about to complete his final mission before he was relieved of duty. A foundation dedicated to racial and ethnic brotherhood was established after his death, and called the Lt. Hirschel L. Gutman Foundation for the Advancement of American Ideals.

The efforts of this foundation included:

Putting together the Springfield Program in 1944, with the goal of using education to minimize religious and racial hatred in the town of Springfield, MA. This was influenced by both racial tensions in the South and the Holocaust in Europe.

A civil education project to make “enlightened” revisions to school textbooks The building of a Human Relations Center at Boston University in 1955.

In 1956, the name of the foundation was changed to include the name of the late founder Paul Simons.

The Simons-Gutman Foundation provided funds for schools and scholarships for underprivileged minority students. Under this organization, money was given to:

Teachers for establishing workshops on inter-group education Twenty-year-old Mildred Fay Jefferson, who became the first black woman to attend Harvard

Medical School Adele Addison, who used the money to further her training, and to gain experience in singing. Charles Latimer, who received a fellowship to a teacher’s college, where he received a doctorate

in intergroup relations. Carol Smith, who received a scholarship to Harvard, Rutgers and New York University. Boston University, where the newly-established Human Relations Center received its first

contribution Mrs. Evelyn Levitan, who received $60.00 for an Ulpan course at the Hebrew College (1974) Jerome Kutnick, who received $100.00 for a course on the American Jewish Community to be

given at Brandeis University Sheilah Korinow, who received $100.00 for a summer course at the Hebrew University

In 1956, The Simons-Gutman Foundation opened the Human Relations Center at Boston University. The facility focused on support of instructions, research and community service in human relations. The fellowship program was designed to train specialists in teaching, research and community leadership in this field. The first fellowships were awarded to Arthur M. Cohen of Brookline and Robert D. Ramsdell of Boston.

About the College Program: This Brotherhood-sponsored program worked to reach out to the college-aged Jewish population and college alumni by mailing their news bulletin “Keeping in Touch.” In this publication, college students contributed their essays and opinions. The program sponsored events for this demographic, such as homecomings during winter break and BBQs. Talks and debates were hosted on such subjects as drugs, premarital sex, and American interference overseas. One such talk was entitled, “Should We Still Hate the Germans?” or “I Surely Love My Volkswagon.” The program had only minimal success, as number of people who showed up to these events was not overwhelming.

Analysis: Included in this collection are various papers and ephemera from this organization. This includes:

Correspondences, including some carbon copies List of staff Member directories Reports from the Board of Trustees Minutes from meetings Announcements of sponsored events Newsletters and bulletins Written notes Budgetary information Calendars of events Newspaper clippings Receipts Pamphlets Programs from performances and events Mail-outs Lists of by-laws Invitations to sponsored events

Extent: 1 cubic foot box, 2 half-cubic foot boxes and 1 quarter-cubic foot box (2 cubic feet in total)

Contents: Many of the folders are dedicated to a certain set of years, usually two. However, there are also folders dedicated to the Simons-Gutman Fund that do not have years in their titles.

First Box: Bound book of meeting minutes dated from 1913 – 1926

Second Box: Papers related to the Brother and the Simons-Gutman Foundation Programs I Programs II Programs III Original By-Laws from 1913 Temple Israel Brotherhood Ephemera, circa 1972 Reports Concerning Human Relations Fellows Newspaper Clippings Concerning Foundation Miscellaneous Correspondences, 1946-56 Meetings Minutes and Reports from Directors, 1948-56 Legal Documents from the Brotherhood Brotherhood Newsletters from WWII

Miscellaneous Brotherhood Items Advertisement for dance and supper, program from stage show “Of the People”

Third Box: Binder of meeting minutes and financial reports dated from 1984 – 1997

Fourth Box: Folders dated from the 1940’s to the 1990’s Brotherhood Newspaper Clippings, 1949 Lt. Hirschel L. Gutman Fund, 1950-54 Lt. Hirschel L. Gutman Fund, 1944-49 Brother Special Committee Clerical Work Brotherhood, 1956-57 I Brotherhood, 1956-57 II Brotherhood, 1956-57 III Brotherhood, 1956-57 IV Brotherhood, 1957-58 Brotherhood, 1958-59 I Brotherhood, 1958-59 II Building Plans Committee Dinner Dance Programs, 1959 Brotherhood, 1959-60 I Brotherhood, 1959-60 II Brotherhood, 1960-61 Dinner Dance Programs, 1961 Brotherhood, 1961-62 Brotherhood, 1962-63 I Brotherhood, 1962-63, II Dinner Dance Programs, 1963 Brotherhood, 1963-64 Brotherhood, 1965-66 Brotherhood, 1966-67 Brotherhood, 1967-68 Brotherhood, 1968-69 Brotherhood, 1969-70 Brotherhood, 1970-71 I Brotherhood, 1970-71 II Brotherhood, 1971-72 I Brotherhood, 1971-27 II Brotherhood 1972-73 I Brotherhood, 1972-73 II Brotherhood, 1973-74 I Brotherhood 1973-74 II Simons-Gutman Foundation 1974-77 Programs from Musical, 1975 Brotherhood 1974-75 I Brotherhood 1974-75 II Brotherhood 1976-77 Brotherhood 1977-78 Brotherhood 1978-79

Simons-Gutman Foundation, 1970-80 Brotherhood, 1980-81 Brotherhood 1982-83 Brotherhood, 1982-86 Brotherhood College Program 1967-68 I Brotherhood College Program 1967-68 II Brotherhood College Program 1969-70 Brotherhood College Program 1970-71 Brotherhood, 1990 Brotherhood, 1991-92 Review of ‘52

Notes: There are multiple copies of the correspondences in each folder of the box. Some papers have become brittle and acidic. However, the rest is in fairly good condition, save

for the brown marks where a paperclip used to be and places where staples have been removed.

The newspaper clippings have become acidic and have bled onto other papers. The reason for each folder being dedicated to a pair of years instead of one may be because it is

meant to overlap with the Jewish calendar. There is a gap between the years 1926 – 1944 due to the bound book ending in the former year

and the boxed folders beginning in the latter year. The papers in each folder are in backwards order. The folders are mostly in order but not all of the papers are assigned to their correct folder

based on year. The amount of material starts to taper off after 1982.

Repository:Temple Israel Archives477 Longwood Ave.Boston, MA 02215

Access Restrictions: Available through permission of Temple Israel Archives, Boston.

Language: English

Copyright: Temple Israel Archives Boston

Processed by: Julia Stevens, 2013