Jewish Educational Alliance (Savannah, Ga.) Records

The Jewish Educational Alliance (Savannah, Ga.) Records consist of scrapbooks, board records, financial records, committee records, building construction and renovation records, men's club records, photographs, scrapbooks, slides, videotapes, and audio cassettes dating from 1920 to 2007. The collection documents the early history of the JEA and its growth and development over time. There are undated materials throughout the collection which are located in the front of their respective folders.

The records are arranged into eight series:

SERIES 1: Administrative records

This series contains scholarship applications, reports, rosters, surveys, constitutions, endowment records, guidelines, resumes, manuals, membership records, correspondence, newcomer papers, certificates, charts and trust agreements.

SERIES 2: Building records

This series consists of contracts, committee documents, fund campaign materials, and correspondence related to construction and building renovations. While there are some documents concerning former property of the JEA in downtown Savannah, most of the materials relate to the current building at the corner of Abercorn Street and DeRenne Avenue. These materials are arranged in chronological order.

SERIES 4: Committee records

This series contains committee papers to include agendas, minutes, membership records and other committee related information. Building Committee records are located in Series 3. Finance and Budget Committee records are located in Series 5.

SERIES 5: Financial records

This series contains audits, budgets, and financial statements as well as several cash books and bank books. It also includes committee meeting minutes, accounting papers and financial staff papers.

SERIES 6: Meeting records

This series primarily contains meeting minutes from the Board of Governors, which often include interfiled annual, financial, and committee reports as well as other documents relevant to business discussed by the Board. Due to the original arrangement of the materials, these items could not be separated without the loss of information and have therefore been kept intact. This series also includes other meeting minutes and meeting reminders.

SERIES 7: Men’s Club records, 1959-1988

This series consists of club minutes, executive committee minutes, treasurer’s reports, miscellaneous financial records, and correspondence relating to club activities, members and political issues including the Immigration Bill and the State of Israel. The materials are arranged chronologically. Undated materials are located at the front of their respective folders.

SERIES 8: Program records

This series contains materials for programs and events related to the JEA. It may include, program guides, theatre critiques, planning records and sales receipts. There are also children’s books and other program related materials.

SERIES 9: Scrapbooks, 1920-1986

This series contains 113 scrapbooks arranged chronologically with some overlaps and gaps. Eight of the scrapbooks are identified in front as the “property of William Pinsker,” JEA Executive Director from 1920 to 1930. Most of the materials in the early scrapbooks relate to sports and entertainment activities. Later scrapbooks contain more varied information including announcements of births, deaths, confirmations, marriages, business enterprises, social organizations and civic activities. Prominent Jewish citizens have their careers and involvement in the community documented as well. The newspaper clippings in the scrapbooks are from the Savannah Morning News, the Savannah Evening Press, and the Southern Israelite, a regional Jewish newspaper published in Atlanta. The scrapbooks have been kept intact whenever possible. However, clippings in scrapbooks #57-67 were loose, so these volumes were photocopied and filed in boxes. Also, loose oversize pages were filed separately in an oversize folder.