Beth El Synagogue records, 1881-2012 and undated

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Summary

Creator:
Beth-El Synagogue (Durham, N.C.)
Abstract:
Beth El Synagogue is a Jewish congregation in Durham, N.C. The collection consists of organizational records for Beth El Synagogue including records related to the synagogue's governance, general membership, the Beth El Sisterhood, the Beth El Preschool, synagogue buildings, and other topics. Materials include committee reports; financial reports; correspondence; printed material, including Books of Life, programs from services, newsletters, and other publications about Jewish history; documentation about the operations of Beth-El Preschool; legal papers; financial papers; photographs of the synagogue, congregation, and programs; and subject files documenting changes in the synagogue's constitutions, construction of new synagogue buildings in 1921 and 1957, dedication services, and the careers of rabbis.
Extent:
15 Linear Feet
4.68 Gigabytes
Language:
Materials in English and Hebrew
Collection ID:
RL.11336

Background

Scope and content:

The Beth El Synagogue Records are divided into five series: Administration, Jewish History, Photographs, Printed Materials, and Programming. The Administration series contains documents relevant to the congregation's organizational records, and is divided into four subseries: Beth El Preschool, Board and Governance, Correspondence, and Subject Files. Jewish History primarily consists of historical accounts of Jewish life in Durham and Chapel Hill, and includes personal biographies of several congregant members. Photographs document congregant members and synagogue events. The series also includes formal portraits of congregant presidents and rabbis. Printed Materials includes newspaper clippings from throughout the twentieth century, primarily from the Durham Morning Herald. Also includes a variety of professional publications related to Jewish life. Programming includes copies of the synagogue's newsletter, the Beth El Bulletin, assorted service bulletins, and a dedication book to commemorate the construction of the new synagogue on Markham and Watts Streets in Durham. The collection also includes materials related to the Women's League for Conservative Judaism, and the organization of events to celebrate Jewish traditions.

Biographical / historical:

Mainly comprised of German and Eastern European immigrants as well as Russian-Jewish cigarette rollers, the Durham Hebrew Congregation organized in 1887 and rented a hall on Main Street. James B. Duke had formed a contract with Ukrainian immigrant Moses Gladstein to bring over a hundred workers from New York to roll cigarettes in Duke's tobacco factories. Duke automated the factory in 1884 and dismissed the Jewish workers. Most returned north, but several, including Gladstein, chose to remain and opened stores in Durham. As the population continued to slowly grow, the congregation formally chartered in 1892 and hired a rabbi. In 1905 they purchased a small, wood-framed church on Liberty Street, which became Durham's first synagogue. By 1910 the Jewish population in the area had reached approximately 305.

After the First World War, the congregation built a large, cathedral-style synagogue downtown at the intersection of Holloway and Queen Streets. Upon its dedication in 1921, they took the name Beth El Congregation. The congregation remained Orthodox throughout the 1930s and 1940s, but in 1948 hired a rabbi who was a member of the conservative movement. Despite significant internal tensions, the congregation shed its dominant orthodoxy by the mid 1950s. The congregation broke ground on a new, contemporary "American" synagogue on Watts and Markham Streets in 1957; the old structure became the Bethel Baptist Church with a primarily African American congregation. Durham took over and demolished the building in the late 1960s for urban renewal. The location is now the northwest corner of WTVD, the local ABC news affiliate for Durham.

By its centennial year, 1987, the congregation was known as Beth El Synagogue, and had not only successfully created a strategy to accommodate both its modern leanings and orthodox heritage but also helped create other Jewish congregations such as Judea Reform. Beth El had also embraced women as ritual and lay leaders in the 1970s, and the creation of the adjacent Freedman Center in 1987 allowed the congregation to further expand its community service and social action programs. Today, as part of a Jewish population of approximately 8,000 in the Durham-Chapel Hill community, Beth El defines itself as "a vibrant, dynamic community led by a volunteer board, enriched with the teachings of many dedicated community members."

Acquisition information:
The Beth El Synagogue Records were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in 1998, 2014, and 2021.
Processing information:

Processed by Paul Sommerfeld, November 2016; Laurin Penland and Matthew Farrell, June 2020; Ofelia Lopez, November 2023.

Accessions described in this collection guide: 1988, 2014-0116, and 2021-0122.

Arrangement:

The collection arrived partially sorted and has been divided into five series: Administration, Jewish History, Photographs, Printed Materials, and Programming.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

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Restrictions:

Collection contains electronic records that must be requested and accessed in our reading room. Contact Research Services with questions.

Access note. Collection contains fragile audiovisual/photographic formats that may need to be reformatted before use. Contact Research Services for access.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Beth El Synagogue Records, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.