Hebrew Mutual Burial Association (Philadelphia, Pa.) Records

 

Circa 1862-1970, bulk 1907-1970

 

SCRC 395

 

Hebrew Mutual Burial Association (Philadelphia, Pa.)

 

0.4 linear feet (1 box + 1 microfilm reel)

 

Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries

 

Materials in English

 

 

The Hebrew Mutual Burial Association was founded in 1856 as the Hebrew Mutual Benefit and Benevolent Society of Brotherly Love. The Association was comprised of members that paid dues with the benefit of having the group take care of the member’s burial and the burials of their immediate family. It was responsible for maintaining the Hebrew Mutual Burial Ground (later known as the Hebrew Mutual Cemetery) near 65th Street and Chester Avenue in Southwest Philadelphia. The Hebrew Mutual Burial Ground was founded by a Dutch congregation, B’nai Israel, in 1857. The Hebrew Mutual Benefit and Benevolent Society of Brotherly Love purchased the grounds when the congregation disbanded in 1879. Hebrew Mutual served as caretaker and had exclusive use of the grounds from its purchase in 1879 until the group dissolved sometime after the last burial in 1970. After falling into disrepair, ownership of the cemetery was granted to the Association for the Preservation of Abandoned Jewish Cemeteries in 2000.

 

The Hebrew Mutual Burial Association Records were created during the course of association business and document the management of the Hebrew Mutual Burial Ground and association membership. Included here are the association’s constitution and by-laws; a directory of the burial grounds that was created prior to the 1930s and served as a register of burial locations from the 1860s to 1970; correspondence discussing plot sales, dues, grounds maintenance, and financial difficulties, the bulk of which are either to or from secretary treasurer Coleman Weinstock; meeting minutes; burial/removal/transit permits for the deceased; membership requests; and checkbooks. The bulk of the documents date from the early twentieth century through the last burial in 1970.

 

Collection is arranged chronologically.

 

 

The “Hebrew Mutual Burial Grounds Directory” is available on microfilm.

 

A record for this collection is available in Temple University’s online library catalog: https://librarysearch.temple.edu/catalog/991036962409803811

 

Collection is open for research.

 

This collection may be housed off-site at the Library Depository, and require up to two business days to retrieve. Please review the finding aid and be prepared to identify specific materials to be retrieved. Contact the Special Collections Research Center in advance of your visit, so that materials may be relocated to the reading room for research. 

 

The Hebrew Mutual Burial Association Records are the physical property of the Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries. The creator has not assigned its rights to Temple University Libraries. Other creators’ intellectual property rights, including copyright, belong to them or their legal heirs and assigns. Researchers are responsible for determining the identity of rights holders and obtaining their permission for publication and for other purposes where stated.

 

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Hebrew Mutual Burial Association (Philadelphia, Pa.) Records, SCRC 395, Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

 

 

Donated by Samuel and Rose Stillman in 1987, 1989, and 2000. Collection previously administered by the Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center, acquired by Temple in June 2009.

 

An internship report, E.R. Hurvich, “B’nai Israel/Hebrew Mutual Burial Ground: A Piece of the Dutch Jewish History of Philadelphia,” 2008, was moved to the Vertical Files on the Jewish Community of Greater Philadelphia, SCRC 225. A Photostat of the constitution of the Hebrew Mutual Aid Association was moved to the Jewish Family Service of Philadelphia Records SCRC 196, Subseries 1.4: Hebrew Mutual Aid Society.

 

Collection processed and finding aid prepared in December 2018 by Casey Babcock, Project Archivist. 

 

This collection is described at the folder level.

 

 

The following headings have been used to index the description of this collection in Temple University’s electronic catalog:

 

Weinstock, Coleman, 1909-1967

 

Hebrew Mutual Benefit and Benevolent Society of Brotherly Love (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Hebrew Mutual Burial Association (Philadelphia, Pa.)

 

Burial--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia

Jewish cemeteries--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia

Jews--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--Societies, etc.

Jews--United States--Social life and customs

 

Philadelphia (Pa.)

 

Administrative records

Bylaws (administrative records)

Correspondence

Directories

Financial records

Microfilms

Minutes

Photocopies 

 

 

1          1          Constitution and by-laws          1907, undated

1          2          Burial/removal/transit permits, State Department of Health (PA, FL, NJ, NY)          1923-1968

1          3          Meeting minutes          July 1930-January 1970

1          4          Membership requests          1938-1951, undated

1          5          “Hebrew Mutual Burial Grounds Directory,” circa 1862-1970     circa 1930-1970

1          6          Correspondence and notes          1944-1968

1          7          Checkbooks          1952-1959

1          8          “Hebrew Mutual Burial Grounds Directory,” transcription          undated