Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta Records

The Atlanta Jewish Federation was formally incorporated in 1967 and is the result of the merger of the Atlanta Federation for Jewish Social Service founded in 1905 as the Federation of Jewish Charities; the Atlanta Jewish Welfare Federation founded in 1936 as the Atlanta Jewish Welfare Fund; and the Atlanta Jewish Community Council founded in 1945. Prior to the merger, each agency acted independently with separate officers but overlapping boards of directors. Edward M. Kahn was the executive director of all three.

In 1912 the Federation for Jewish Social Service was reorganized to oversee the functions of several Jewish communal agencies that had heretofore operated separately. In that year the Montefiore Relief Association founded in 1896, the Free Loan Association, later known as the Morris Lichtenstein Free Loan Association, the Jewish Educational Alliance organized in 1909 and the Morris Hirsch Clinic founded in 1911 came under the Federation umbrella.

Over the years the Federation operated the majority of the social service functions within the Jewish community of Atlanta. Varied activities of the staff and case–workers at the Federation included family counseling, welfare and relief for indigents and transients, and supervising Moas Chitim (distribution of Passover packages to the needy). The Federation also participated in efforts to immigrate Jews to the United States prior to and after World War II, and in the tedious process of procuring restitution for survivors of the Holocaust. Of special interest in this section are the files relating to the displaced children who with the help of the Federation, the Atlanta Section, National Council of Jewish Women who worked with National agencies to were able to be resettled in both Georgia and Alabama.

In 1936 at the behest of Harold Hirsch, the chief counsel for the Coca–Cola Company, the Atlanta Jewish Welfare Fund was established. The newly founded organization quickly took over the fund raising responsibilities of the Federation instituting the first campaign to raise and allocate funds for local, national, and international causes.

The Jewish Community Council was founded in 1945 to cope with problems of antisemitism as well as internal Jewish issues involving social planning, such as the need for new services. The establishment of the Bureau of Jewish Education in 1945, the Jewish Home in 1951, and the Jewish Community Center in 1956 resulted from studies initiated by the Council.