Archive of minutes, documents and communications regarding Congregation Kehillath Yaakov and the Gemiluth Chessed of Greater New York; both of Washington Heights, NY.

Located at the northern tip of Manhattan island, Washington Heights was the neighborhood of choice for thousands of German-Jewish émigrés fleeing Hitler’s Germany. Proud of their German heritage yet distraught at their home country’s utter rejection of them, these immigrants banded together in many community organizations, seeking to preserve the uniquely German way of life they had known, while navigating the cultural minefield that was 20th-century America. Instrumental to ensuring the adjustment of the newly minted Americans to their adopted homeland, the German Washington Heights was a strictly one-generational phenomenon. As the second generation grew up as proud, comfortable Americans and migrated to the suburbs of New York and beyond, ‘Little Berlin’ gave way to ‘Little Dominica.’ The 30-odd years during which the German-Jewish presence in Washington Heights reached its zenith marks an important epilogue to the narrative of German-Jewish history, while also denoting another beginning of America’s multifaceted tapestry of Jewish life. <<The present lot can be divided into two categories:>> The first are materials pertaining to the Gemiluth Chessed of Washington Heights (later of Greater New York), an umbrella organization focusing on social services on behalf of the entire German-Jewish community in the neighborhood. Contains many documents relating to founding of the group in 1954. The majority of documents relate to the welfare of the community’s elderly, focusing on petitions to add Kosher options in local hospitals and old age homes and culminating in the detailed, years-long effort to establish and fund the Palisades Garden Nursing Home. The second category is a trove of some 325 pages of material related to Congregation Kehillath Yaakov, an Orthodox synagogue in the neighborhood. Dates from 1944 to 1970. Includes: * Minutes, attendance records, speeches and orders of business from general meetings from 1951-70 (150 pages). * Records of the Building Fund Committee including fundraisers and donors (65 pages).* Personal communications made by the board of the synagogue to members on the occasion of life-cycle events (25 pages). * Sermons delivered as well as miscellaneous papers (85 pages). Of particular interest is a gradual shift from the German language to English, occasionally explicitly noted by the speaker, explaining his decision to speak in English as an accommodation to the surrounding culture. Provenance: Family of the late Siegfreid Mai (Fred May).