Date:    Wed, 17 Jul 1996
From:    James H Gross (larklane@juno.com)
Subject: PHILA HIAS CASE FILES
Article updated  July 1996. 


OBJECTIVE:
To find copies of Phila case files on relatives compiled by HIAS

For those of you who don't know what HIAS or case files are, I am
including 2 definitions.

Definition #1: What is HIAS?

     The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, was started in 1889 by Eastern
European Jews in NY. It was known as the Hebrew Sheltering House, or
 Hachnosas Orchim in hebrew. The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society began
with a Lower East Side landsmanshaft,the Voliner Aid Shelter, concerned
with a burial in Randall Island's potter's field of a Jewish immigrant,
friendless and withough relatives, who died in the Ellis Island hospital.
The men of the landmanshaft organized a society to oversee burial of such
persons in Jewish cemeteries.

     HIAS became one of a few groups serving as Ellis Island
representatives, eventually merging with the Hebrew Sheltering House
Association about 1908. It acquired the name HIAS in 1902 and became known
as the UNITED HIAS SERVICE in 1954, when it merged with United Services for
New Americans. It also absorbed the migration services of the American
Jewish Joint Distribution Committee.



    In the 1st decade of this century, HIAS was the prime defender
 of the interests of Jewish immigrants en route to America and
upon their arrival here, except the work on behalf of
unaccompanied girls carried on by the Council of Jewish Women.


References:

Ronald Sanders, "Shores of Refuge," Henry Holt:New York, 1988.

Avoyaynu Vol# 2,No# 3, 10/1986


1/10/95 Jewishgen Posting by Norman Greenfeld,
        entitled "HIAS"     (NG253@ALBANY.ALBANY.EDU)


Definition #2: What are case files?

     Case files are compiled notes put together by HIAS volunteers and
caseworkers. These were generally put together at one or more time
 periods. A file was usually opened when the immigrant requested
assistance. This assistance could have been financial, help with
 naturalization paperwork, or perhaps in getting a visa for a family
member in post WWII Europe.  Followups to initial requests may also have
been added to the folders.

DIFFICULTIES: Physical records held by the PJAC at the Balch Institute.
 Due to their interpretation of  privacy regulations, the PJAC  state
that they are prevented from letting anyone view them.  However, they WILL
allow you to view & copy a file if they receive a phone call from HIAS.
This call from HIAS is interpreted as being verbal permission by HIAS and
apparently satisfies their concern with the privacy regulations.  To this
day I do not understand nor have seen a printed copy of these regulations.


NEEDED:


(1) Two aspirins.
(2) Request to Mrs. Baker, the director, that a search be made through the
    old card files held at the office of HIAS. This is due to their new
    policy of not allowing anyone to look in person.

    226 South 16TH  St Phila,Pa (215-735-1670),

(3) I strongly suggest that you ask her to make a copy of the card and
mail it to you.  This can assist the PJAC, at the Balch Institute in finding the file
and is also good to have for your paper trail.

(4)Have the HIAS office call the PJAC and speak to Don.
   HIAS must apparently give PJAC verbal permission for PJAC to let you see the files.
   This is per PJAC's interpretation of the privacy rules. You might be
   interested in knowing that the  American Jewish Historical Society, in
    Waltham Mass,  has similar files but places NO such restrictions on
    them...

(5) Go to the Balch Institute and copy the file.
     Or write to the Balch Institute and ask them to copy it and mail it
     to you.  (I have never done it by mail)

     Balch Institute
     PJAC
     Attn: Donald Davis
     18 South 7th Street
      Phila, Pa 19141
      (215-925-8090)

   For those of you who are not experienced with the Byzantine protocol
of obtaining old records from some Jewish archives, you will quickly learn.
It has been my experience that some research facilities are helpful while
others are mediocre at best. For more reading on fustrating experiences
I recommend Lawrence Tappers article entitled, " A Call to Arms" in the
publication "Avotaynu", Vol XI, No. 1, Spring 1995, pg 3.


   In regards to the Balch Institute, Lilly Schwartz was the archivist of
the PJAC (Phila Jewish Archives Colection), which is a small, self
contained reference library within the regular Balch library. As she is 
now deceased, it is now run by a very helpful fellow named Donald Davis.
 It is funded and answerable only to the Federation of Jewish Agencies in Phila.  
The problems that I had with Lilly Schwartz, seem to involve time and
money. At the time of my request,  it was my understanding that 
Mrs Schwartz was overworked and that she found the HIAS case
file requests to be very time consuming.  I cannot answer the question as
to why the PJAC has possession of these case files if there is
nonsufficient manpower to facilitate maintenance and support for these
records.  Apparently, limited funding limited Lilly's time to do complete
searches. In past phone conversations, she had complained to me of
the sheer bulk and volume of the files. I think that awareness of their
limited funds and manpower will help you the researcher be aware that
a "timely response" may take some time. As Donald is now in charge of
the PJAC, perhaps things will change for the better.


    As the PJAC  is overworked,  you must be very polite and be patient
regarding their response time.  Based on my experience, not all of the files
are correctly filed.  So, even if you get a copy of an index card from HIAS
as I did, this will NOT guarantee that they will find anything.  And, if
her search fails to uncover the file(s), then you will not get anything.
As I previously mentioned there is no appeal process and Dr.  Preseisen,
the PJAC director at the time, was not interested in hearing my complaints.
When I attempted to contact him, he advised me that he was not responding
as per his legal counsel. He never did give me the name & number of his
attorney. To give you an idea of how uncooperative they can be, at one
point, the PJAC even sent me letters accusing me of libel.  And finally,
due to archival policy, you are not allow to look for the papers
yourself...



    Part of my exasperation with this HIAS- PJAC procedure stems from
earlier visits. I  first used HIAS's resources in 1993 when they were at
their old location on Walnut Street.  They had let me look thru all the
card files and make photocopies of any cards I desired.  I then used the
copies as proof that the files existed.  Again, I had to argue and plead to
get the actual case files.Ultimately, I was only able to get the file for
my grandfather.


     When I made another visit to the HIAS office in late December 1994,
I found that they had moved to their new location at 226 South 16Th Street,
where the Jewish Federation building is located.  I was refused entry by a
rude guard and was forced to call the HIAS office from a payphone out in
the freezing weather.  The secretary put me on hold twice and then told me
that entry was refused on orders from Mr Klotz, the HIAS director.


    I  had called him (Mr Klotz) back the next day and he informed me that
 his policy had changed due to "undisclosed" complaints.  I asked him if he
 would initiate a search if I sent a written request.  He replied yes and
requested that I send him the name of the person being searched, as well as
their known address(es).



     My request, sent the beginning of January 1995, was answered in
March. I called Bob Klotz and verified that he had my letter.  I do not
know if my experience is typical of their turn around time.  The interested
researcher should make a copy of their letter and follow it up with a
letter or phonecall if a timely response is not received.


    Even after a bumpy time with the Balch and Lilly Schwartz, I sent her
a donation as a thank you.  I also sent a donation to HIAS.  Yes, I sent
them money as I finally figured out how to play the game.  In retrospect, I
don't think either institution is really geared for these types of
genealogical requests. I guess that one must have infinite patience and be
eternally understanding. I for one was too impatient and unaware of their
staffing and funding limitations. I wish someone had shown ME this article!
This writeup is shared to help other genealogists find records for their
relatives.  If I have offended anyone with my comments, I apologize. These
words chronicle my experiences.


    Several articles in Chronicles (JGS of Phila) have touched upon
Balch. They include articles by Milt Botwinick, Avotaynu, Elaine Kolinsky,
and Harry Boonin.



1997 info:
My 1997 attempt to obtain info on the closed case files resulted
in closed doors. My 1/27/97 letter to HIAS, requesting copies of index cards
for several of my relatives, was FINALLY replied to on 10/31/97. They are now
telling me to contact Lily Schwartz at the Balch. Only problem is that based
on my past experience, I know that Lily's files are not organized well.
And, Lilly Schwartz just informed me, in her letter of 11/10/97, that she is
now  charging ($10 first name,$5 each additional) to look for possible case
files. Well, the only way a person can request a search is if they KNOW the
files did exist. The only way to be sure of that is to look, or have HIAS
look in their index card file. And apparently HIAS isn't going to bother
doing that anymore. So, the index cards are wasting away in the HIAS offices
and the case files are wasting away at the Balch (PJAC).

9/1998: The new director of HIAS ,Mrs Baker, is much easier to work with. 
She allows access to the files on Thurs & Fri, depending on her availability.
Researchers must make an appointment in advance.

1/2000 Mr Donald Davis is now the head archivist. He is a very nice fellow.
 Apparently sometimes it is necessary to outlive grumpy archivists or wait 
 til they retire. It is a shame when researchers have to hope for such events. 

-----------
Subject: Re: HIAS in the early 1900s.
From: SMSDIAMOND@aol.com
Date: Fri, 21 May 1999 11:19:16 EDT
X-Message-Number: 5

In light of the recent postings regarding HIAS in Canada, I asked
Janice Rosen, Archivist of the Canadian Jewish Congress National
Archives to comment on the situation regarding Canadian records.
She has replied and has asked me to post the following message on
her behalf.

The original post by Hilary Henkin asked:

> I  have family who were helped in their 1910 immigration by an
> Aid Society -  Could this have been the HIAS?

Ms. Rosen responds:

"HIAS was founded in 1902 in New York but, according to their book
of institutional history, (_Visas To Freedom - The History of HIAS_
M. Wischnitzer, 1956.) they did not begin to operate in Europe
until 1915, after starting out being a sheltering home for
immigrants to NY.  The Canadian branch of JIAS was founded during
the first Plenary of Canadian Jewish Congress in March 1919.

A family that was assisted before that date may have had help from
the Baron de Hirsch Institute, which operated out of Montreal in
Canada and had offices in Paris and London and, as I recall,
other large European cities.

The CJC Baron de Hirsch records are very sketchy for that period
and do not give lists of immigrants helped. In terms of immigration
and genealogy tracing, I think of 1900-1920 as kind of the "Dark
Ages" of Canadian Jewish archival collections.

Janice Rosen (janicer@cjc.ca)
Canadian Jewish Congress Archives/ CJC web site
1590 Ave. Docteur Penfield,
Montreal, Que. H3G 1C5, Canada
Tel:(514)931-7531 fax: (514)931-0548

Posted by Stanley Diamond, Montreal

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