Guide to the Papers of Estelle Newman,
1983, 2004, 2006
*P-960
Processed by Andrey Filimonov
American Jewish Historical Society
Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street
New York, N.Y. 10011
Phone: (212) 294-6160
Fax: (212) 294-6161
Email: reference@ajhs.org
URL: http://www.ajhs.org
© 2013, American Jewish Historical Society, Boston, MA and New York, NY. All Rights Reserved.
Electronic finding aid was encoded in EAD 2002 by Andrey Filimonov in March 2013. Description is in English.
Descriptive Summary |
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| Creator: | Newman, Estelle |
|---|---|
| Title: | Estelle Newman Papers |
| Dates: | 1983, 2004, 2006 |
| Abstract: | The collection contains papers of the American Soviet Jewry movement activist Estelle Newman. The materials focus on the trip to the USSR taken by Newman, her husband, and their teenage daughter in 1983, during which they met with and delivered material aid to many Soviet Jewish Refusenik families in Moscow, Leningrad, Uzbekistan, Georgia, and Siberia. The collection features hundreds of photographs taken during the trip including pictures of Refuseniks in their homes, scenes of Jewish life in the communities visited, and street scenes in the Soviet Republics. A detailed trip report and news clippings related to the Refuseniks visited by the Newmans are also included. |
| Languages: | The collection is in English and Yiddish. |
| Quantity: | 1 manuscript box. (1/4 linear foot) |
| Identification: | *P-960 |
| Repository: | American Jewish Historical Society |
Historical Note
The Papers of Estelle Newman represent one collection housed within the Archive of the American Soviet Jewry Movement (AASJM). These papers reflect the effort, beginning in the 1960s through the late 1980s, of thousands of American Jews of all denominations and political orientations to stop the persecution and discrimination of Jews in the Soviet Union. The American Soviet Jewry Movement (ASJM) is considered to be the most influential Movement of the American Jewish community in the 20th century. The beginnings of the organized American Soviet Jewry Movement became a model for efforts to aid Soviet Jews in other countries, among them Great Britain, Canada, and France. The movement can be traced to the early 1960s, when the first organizations were created to address the specific problem of the persecution and isolation of Soviet Jews by the government of the Soviet Union.
An upper-middle class Jewish family from Long Island, Malcolm and Estelle Newman and their teenage daughter Alissa, decided to participate in the Soviet Jewry movement by visiting the Soviet Union and delivering moral support and material aid to the Soviet Jewish Refusenik families in the USSR. They got in touch with the Long Island Soviet Jewry Committee to receive addresses of Refuseniks and instructions on the best strategies of contacting them without attracting the attention of Soviet authorities. In July of 1983 the Newmans visited or attempted to visit members of Jewish communities in Moscow, Leningrad, Uzbekistan, Georgia, and Siberia. The journey was documented in hundreds of photographs that include pictures of Refuseniks in their homes, scenes of Jewish life in the communities visited and street scenes in the Soviet Republics and a detailed trip report.
Return to the Top of PageScope and Content Note
The collection focuses on the trip to the Soviet Union taken by Estelle, Malcolm, and Alissa Newman in 1983 to visit Soviet Jews. The collection includes hundreds of photographs taken during the trip, featuring Refuseniks in their homes, scenes of Jewish life in the communities visited, and street scenes in the Soviet Republics. A detailed trip report and news clippings related to the individuals visited during the trip are also included.
The collection consists of one manuscript box.
Return to the Top of PageArrangement
The collection is arranged into a single series.
Return to the Top of PageRestrictions
Access Restrictions
The collection is open to all researchers by permission of the Director of Library and Archives of the American Jewish Historical Society, except items that are restricted due to their fragility.
Use Restrictions
Information concerning the literary rights may be obtained from the Director of Library and Archives of the American Jewish Historical Society. Users must apply in writing for permission to quote, reproduce or otherwise publish manuscript materials found in this collection. For more information contact:
American Jewish Historical Society, Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, New York, N.Y., 10011 email: reference@ajhs.org
Return to the Top of PageRelated Material
The Papers of Estelle Newman is one individual collection within the Archive of the American Soviet Jewry Movement (AASJM) located at the American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS). Other Soviet Jewry Movement collections at AJHS include the records of Action for Soviet Jewry (I-487), the National Conference on Soviet Jewry (NCSJ; I-181 and I-181A), the Jewish Defense League (I-374), the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews (I-410, I-410A), Houston Action for Soviet Jewry (I-500), Bay Area Council for Soviet Jews (I-505), Seattle Action for Soviet Jewry (I-507), The Jewish Chronicle Soviet Jewry Collection (I-523), B'nai B'rith Klutznick National Jewish Museum Soviet Jewry Movement Collection (I-529), Chicago Action for Soviet Jewry (I-530), Religious Action Center for Reform Judaism (I-538), United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism (I-543), the papers of Joel Ackerman (P-787), Julia Mates Cheney (P-806), Jerry Goodman (P-863), Laurel and Alan J. Gould (P-866), Carolyn W. Sanger (P-870), Leah Lieberman (P-869), Si Frumkin (P-871), Elaine Pittell (P-873), Sanford A. Gradinger (P-880), Shaul Osadchey (P-882), Leonard S. Cahan (P-883), Doris H. Goldstein (P-887), David H. Hill (P-888), Margery Sanford (P-889), Pinchas Mordechai Teitz (P-891), David Waksberg (P-895), Pamela B. Cohen (P-897), Moshe Decter (P-899), William Korey (P-903), Morey Schapira (P-906), Charlotte Gerber Turner (P-907), Myrtle Sitowitz (P-908), Kathleen M. Hyman (P-911), Babette Wampold (P-912), Rabbi David Goldstein and Shannie Goldstein (P-918), Leslie Schaffer (P-923), Arthur Bernstein (P-925), Dolores Wilkenfeld (P-927), Sylvia Weinberg (P-928) , Irwin H. Krasna (P-934) , Constance S. Kreshtool (P-935), Betty Golomb (P-938), Grace Perlbinder (P-942), Mort Yadin (P-943), Ann Polunsky (P-886), Lillian Foreman (P-945), Marilyn Labendz(P-946), Abraham Silverstein(P-947), Bert Silver (P-949), Billie Kozolchyk (P-950), John Steinbruck (P-951) and Victor Borden (P-959).
Additional materials from other collections include records dealing with the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry (SSSJ) located within the North American Jewish Students Appeal (NAJSA, I-338) and the records of the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council (NJCRAC, I-172). Related records are also located at the AJHS in Newton Centre, MA including memorabilia and ephemera of the New England Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry (I-237) and the Records of the Student Coalition for Soviet Jewry – Brandeis University (I-493).
Return to the Top of PagePreferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form:
Identification of item, date (if known);
Estelle Newman Papers;
*P-960 ; box number; folder number; American Jewish Historical Society, Boston, MA and New York, NY.
Acquisition Information
Donated by Estelle Newman in 2006 and 2007.
Return to the Top of Page-
Subject Topics:
- Antisemitism
- Human rights
- Jews, Soviet
- Refuseniks
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Subject Places:
- Soviet Union
- United States
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Document Types:
- Clippings
- Photographs
- Reports
Container List
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.
Papers of Estelle Newman, 1983, 2004, 2006. |
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| The series is in English and Yiddish. | |||
| 1 manuscript box. | |||
Arrangement:Alphabetical. |
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Scope and Content:See the collection Scope and Content Note. |
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| Box | Folder | Title | Date |
| 1 | 1 | Photographs: Bukhara, Uzbekistan | 1983 |
| 1 | 2 | Photographs: Bukhara, Uzbekistan | 1983 |
| 1 | 3 | Photographs: Irkutsk, Siberia | 1983 |
| 1 | 4 | Photographs: Leningrad | 1983 |
| 1 | 5 | Photographs: Leningrad (Petergof and Hermitage) | 1983 |
| 1 | 6 | Photographs: Moscow | 1983 |
| 1 | 7 | Photographs: Refuseniks in Moscow, Leningrad and Tbilisi | 1983 |
| 1 | 8 | Photographs: Samarkand, Uzbekistan | 1983 |
| 1 | 9 | Photographs: Tashkent, Uzbekistan | 1983 |
| 1 | 10 | Photographs: Tbilisi, Georgia | 1983 |
| 1 | 11 | Trip Report, News Clippings | 1983, 2004, 2006 |
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