Emanu-El Residence Club of San Francisco records, 1894-1969

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Summary

Creators:
Emanu-El Residence Club (San Francisco, Calif.)
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.
Extent:
12.4 linear feet (10 cartons, 5 boxes, 2 oversize boxes)
Language:
Collection materials are in English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Emanu-El Residence Club of San Francisco records, BANC MSS 2010/717, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Background

Scope and content:

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.

Biographical / historical:

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.

Acquisition information:
The Emanu-El Residence Club of San Francisco records were given to The Bancroft Library by the Judah L. Magnes Museum in 2010.
Processing information:

Processed by the Judah L. Magnes Museum staff. Additional processing by The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life Staff in 2011.

Arrangement:

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.

Accruals:

No additions are expected.

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.
Rules or conventions:
DACS

Access and use

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

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.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Emanu-El Residence Club of San Francisco records, BANC MSS 2010/717, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Location of this collection:
University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft Library
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000, US
Contact:
510-642-6481
bancref-library@berkeley.edu
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