Archival & Manuscript Collections

Records of the American Jewish Committee - Buffalo/Niagara Chapter primarily from its final 20 years of operation documenting interfaith and Jewish heritage programming and community awards.

Personal Papers documenting volunteer activities of Annette Blanchard and some family materials. Includes photographs, speeches, newspaper clippings, media, and other material relating to volunteer service and career in B’nai B’rith, as well as a small amount of materials relating to her husband William Blanchard’s Jewish scouting activities.

Personal scrapbook of Arline Gelman recording the activities of the Buffalo, (New York) Chapter of the Brandeis University National Women's Committee, 1986-2004.

Personal papers documenting the lives of Ida and David Bregger on their farm in Darien Center, N.Y., as well as Jewish life on the East Side of Buffalo, N.Y. Material includes loan documentation, photographs, personal correspondence, recipes, ephemera and newspaper clippings.

Materials documenting aspects of work of Chabad of Buffalo with an emphasis on outreach work for Jewish students at University at Buffalo and Buffalo State College as well as the social and education life of a Chabad affiliated school, Torah Teminah, Amherst, NY.

Cleanup and Restoration of the Beth Jacob Cemetery Records document mainly the cemetery inscriptions, and Joshua Finkelstein’s leadership activities of Cleanup and Restoration of the Beth Jacob Cemetery in 2008.

Organizational papers documenting aspects of the congregational life of Congregation Kehilat Shalom. Materials include minutes, newsletters, programs, financial statements, video, ritual Judaica, and clippings.

Collection includes minutes, publications, correspondence, artifacts, framed prints, memorabilia and photographs relating to the Coplon family's involvement in the Rosa Coplon (Jewish Old Folks) Home, Temple Beth El and Temple Beth Zion, and the personal records of David Hascal Coplon, Minnie Greene Coplon, Alva Coplon Barozzi, and the extended Coplon and Greene families.

Arnold and Ruth Fernandez papers, document Temple Beth Zion’s Brotherhood’s and Sisterhood’s administrative and its members’ synagogue activities.

Personal papers documenting aspects of Jewish youth culture. Material includes programs, newspaper clippings, essays, invitations, and ephemera relating to Temple Beth El, Jewish Community Building, sororities and fraternities, Park School Buffalo, and Camp Kawagama in Ontario.

Personal papers documenting aspects of Jewish community in Buffalo and Niagara Falls collected by Charlotte E. Gendler. Material includes minutes, newsletters, programs, photographs, and newspaper clippings relating to Temple Beth David-Ner Israel and other institutions.

Personal papers documenting the personal and career life of local communal leader, Muriel Markel Goodman. Materials include speeches, newspaper clippings, media, and other material relating to her volunteer service and professional careers in the Jewish community within several organizations. Materials relating to the Markel family are also included.

The records of the Niagara Falls chapter of Hadassah, the Women’s Zionist Organization of America, document both organizational and individual activities.

Personal papers documenting aspects of the final few years of an independent Temple Sinai, and merger talks with Temple Beth Am, to form a new combined Reform and Reconstructionist congregation, Congregation Shir Shalom.

Organizational papers documenting aspects of the work and history of the Hebrew Benevolent Loan Association originally known as Gemilut Chasidim [Acts of Loving Kindness] and its work in the development of the Buffalo Jewish community through interest free loans.

The records of Hillel of Buffalo, the center of Jewish life on campus, documents organizational, religious, and cultural activities of students in the greater Buffalo area.

Papers documenting aspects of the work of the Holocaust Resource Center, and predecessor committees associated with the Jewish Federation. An additional series documents refugee aid, and the Haven-Buffalo Jewish Club 1933, a German-Jewish Refugee social club formed in 1933.

Papers documenting aspects of the Jewish community in Buffalo and Niagara Falls through family and organizational donations.

The collection of Jewish Community Center (JCC) of Greater Buffalo and Summer Camps Records contains a wide range of material, dominated by photographs and program-related materials for the JCC, Camp Lakeland and Camp Centerland. Also, contains correspondence, reports, publications, newsletters, and handwritten documents. An additional three other collections are included: annual Jewish community book fair records; Jewish Film Festival and Jewish Repertory Theatre records.

Personal and organizational papers documenting aspects of Jewish community in Buffalo collected and created by Jane Fischman, Renata Lefcourt, and Muriel Selling. Material includes newspaper clippings, newsletters, a scrapbook, displays and photographs.

Scrapbooks documenting aspects of the work of the Jewish Liberal Arts Club, a Jewish social and philanthropic women's club.

Personal papers documenting aspects of the Women's Activity Group of the Jewish Federation of Greater Buffalo and the Education Department. Material includes minutes, programs, photographs and newspaper clippings relating to several conferences and special events aimed towards women.

Papers documenting aspects of the social, religious and cultural life of the Suburban Congregation/Temple Beth Am (Reform) and Temple Sinai (Reconstructionist) synagogues within Buffalo, NY.

Personal papers documenting aspects of émigré and immigrant lives of Hilde and Rudy Miller and their family, friends, and foster family in Germany, England and America. Material includes German, US and UK government documents, personal and legal correspondence and photographs.

Personal papers documenting aspects of local communal leader Morris Mesch. Materials include photographs, newspaper clippings, and other ephemera related to the community Holocaust Memorial Sculpture and volunteer activities and efforts.

Ecumenical materials documenting aspects of the efforts to place a historic marker to recall the events of 1825 when Mordecai Noah, American Jewish diplomat, politician and newspaperman made an attempt to found a refuge for persecuted European Jews on Grand Island, New York.

Student produced materials documenting aspects of the educational life of Ohr Temimim and its predecessor institution, the Jewish Heritage Day School, in Amherst, New York.

The papers of Rabbi Samuel Porrath (1908-1989) document his personal and professional activities in Buffalo and Niagara Falls, New York.

Personal papers documenting aspects of local community leader Rabbi Shay Mintz's work in the Jewish community. Materials include photographs, newspaper clippings, and other material relating to his professional career in several institutions including Shaarey Zedek, Hillel, and the Jewish Book Fair.

Records documenting activities of the Buffalo Board of Rabbis. Includes minutes, correspondence, newspaper clippings and policy documents relating to the activities within the Jewish community, broader Buffalo community. It also contains materials that deal with issues relating to Jewish life within the University at Buffalo.