The National Congress of Jewish Deaf Collection
Scope and Contents
This collection is a mixture of NJCD records and material acquired from NCJD affiliate groups. The bulk of the material is from the 1960s through the early 1990s; material earlier than the 1950s consists mostly of news clippings.
NCJD records present include a great deal of material from the NCJD’s biennial conventions, including souvenir program books and artifacts, minutes of board meetings at the conventions, and correspondence and other material related to planning the conventions. Also included is a run of the NCJD’s quarterly newsletter from 1959 to 1994 and papers from leading NCJD members including Albert Berke, Ben Estrin, and Philip Fleischman.
A vertical file of deaf Jewish newsmakers accumulated by the NCJD is also included. There is also extensive material related to Adele Shuart’s 1986 book Signs in Judaism, published by the NCJD, including a copy of the manuscript and a large collection of photographic slides showing the signs being demonstrated.
Material from other Jewish deaf groups mostly includes newsletters and publications, including a set of an early magazine for deaf Jews, The Jewish Deaf, published in the 1910-1930 era. Groups particularly well represented include California’s Temple Beth Solomon, New York’s Temple Beth Or, and the Washington Society of Jewish Deaf.
Dates
- Creation: 1909 - 1988
Biographical / Historical
The National Congress of Jewish Deaf was founded in New York City in 1956. With the support of New York’s Hebrew Association of the Deaf, a group of deaf Jews – including chairman Philip Hanover, secretary Harold Steinman, and treasurer Anna Plapinger – made plans for a convention of deaf Jewish groups around the country. The convention was attended by representatives of deaf groups from Cleveland, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Boston, and even further abroad, including Canada and Israel. At the convention, it was agreed to establish a permanent national group to represent the interests of deaf Jews. Hanover was elected first president and Plapinger became the first treasurer, along with vice president Leonard Warshawsky and secretary Shirley Lerner.
At the second convention, held in Atlantic City in 1958, the group was officially named the National Congress of Jewish Deaf and its constitution and by-laws were approved by the members. After this, conventions were held every two years to share ideas and make plans for the advancement of the Jewish deaf community.
Among the NCJD’s achievements was creating an Endowment Fund to support the education of rabbis interested in serving the deaf, supplement their salary, and assist them in learning sign language if necessary. The NCJD was also instrumental in the founding of the World Organization of Jewish Deaf in 1976 and in 1978, began giving the Anna and Henry Plapinger Award to recognize NCJD members who had demonstrated outstanding leadership.
The NCJD also published prayer books, Haggadahs, and other Jewish religious materials intended specifically for the use of the deaf. In 1986, the NCJD brought out Adele Shuart’s book Signs in Judaism to help standardize the use of signs related to Jewish religious topics.
In 1990, then vice president Alan Hurwitz suggested the foundation of a new group in order to preserve the NCJD’s tax-exempt status. This group, the Jewish Deaf Congress, was approved as the NCJD’s successor organization in 1996 and has taken over the NCJD’s mission.
Extent
15 Linear Feet (23 document cases, 2 slide boxes, 4 boxes of artifacts )
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
This collection includes correspondence, minutes, program books, prayer books, photographs and slides, forms, artifacts, newsletters and other periodicals, newspaper and magazine clippings, display boards, and other materials related to the NCJD and the deaf Jewish community.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The NCJD archives were established in 1984 using space provided by Gallaudet University, and collected materials until the mid-1990s under the management of NCJD/JDC archivists. The archive remained under the JDC’s ownership until the fall of 2012, when they agreed to donate it to Gallaudet’s collection.
- Title
- The National Congress of Jewish Deaf Collection
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Shea, Christopher
- Date
- Original creation March 2013. ArchivesSpace version created January 19, 2024.
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Gallaudet University Archives Repository