Guide to the The Jewish Chronicle Records, 1930-2012, Bulk 1962-2012

Arrangement

Repository
Heinz History Center
Title
The Jewish Chronicle Records
Creator
The Jewish Chronicle (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
Collection Number
MSS 906
Extent
25.5 linear feet (25 boxes)
Date
1930-2012, Bulk 1962-2012
Abstract
In January 1962, the United Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh (UJF), now the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, announced that it had purchased Pittsburgh's two weekly Jewish newspapers, the Jewish Criterion and The American Jewish Outlook.In their place, a weekly newspaper was to be published by a newly formed non-profit publishing company, the Pittsburgh Jewish Publication and Education Foundation. This new newspaper would report on local, national, and international events and subjects of interest to the Pittsburgh Jewish community. The first Chronicle was produced on March 8, 1962. The Jewish Chronicle Records includes several sets of materials. One set includes materials documenting the business of publishing the newspaper and includes board of trustees meeting minutes, business correspondence, financial reports, manuscripts, letters to the editor, by-laws, business charter, editorial and personnel policies, and reader surveys, as well as materials documenting the relationship between the Chronicle and the UJF. Another set comprises photographs that appeared in the newspapers and the documents used to create content. This collection of photographs of identified Pittsburghers is notable because of the many images included. Many of the photographs are marked with the dates on which they were published in the Chronicle. Other materials include an incomplete run of the Jewish Criterion on microfilm and artwork that was submitted to the Chronicle.
Language
The material in this collection is in English.
Author
The guide to this collection was written by Kelly J. Smith.
Publisher
Heinz History Center
Address
1212 Smallman St.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15222
library@heinzhistorycenter.org
URL: https://www.heinzhistorycenter.org

History

In January 1962, the United Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh (UJF), now the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, announced that it had purchased Pittsburgh's two weekly Jewish newspapers, the Jewish Criterion,and The American Jewish Outlook. In their place, a weekly newspaper was to be published by a newly formed non-profit publishing company, the Pittsburgh Jewish Publication and Education Foundation. This new newspaper would report on local, national, and international events and subjects of interest to the Pittsburgh Jewish community. The first Chronicle was produced on March 8, 1962.

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the staff and board of trustees worked to make the Chronicle financially sound by changing printing companies, hiring a national advertising salesman, negotiating a new franchise agreement with the UJF, and finding ways to expand the subscription base, which peaked at 15,000 in the 1970s. By 1986, the newspaper was self-supporting through subscriptions.

Responding to the needs of the community, the Chronicle published the first Sight Saver edition in 1975. The four-page, large-print edition summarized the news and provided information about services for senior citizens in Pittsburgh. The first edition of its kind to be published by an American Jewish newspaper, the Sight Saver edition won a Smolar Award for Excellence in American Jewish Journalism. The last Sight Saver edition was published in 1980.

The Chronicle has published other editions and supplements, including Jewish Life, a biennial publication that lists and profiles Pittsburgh Jewish organizations; J…Jewish Pittsburgh Living, a quarterly lifestyle magazine; and thejewishchronicle.net, the online version of The Jewish Chronicle.

After renting space in the YMWHA building on South Bellefield Street in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood for twenty years, the Chronicle purchased a building at 5600 Baum Boulevard in 1985 where it remained until 2010. Changing technologies and staff needs led the board to the decision to sell the building and begin renting space in Congregation Beth Shalom's Halpern Education Wing in the Squirrel Hill section of Pittsburgh.

Since its founding, the Chronicle has had three executive editors: Albert Bloom (1962-1983), Joel Roteman (1984-2001), and Lee Chottiner (2001-).

Three people have filled the general manager position: Albert Golomb (1962-1967), Albert Zecher (1984-1993), and Barbara Befferman (1993-2011). Jim Busis was hired as interim CEO in 2011.

Eight people of have filled the assistant editor position: Edward Steiner (1962-1965), Joel Roteman (1966-1984), Iris Samson (1984-2001), Stephanie Siegel (2001-2004), Susan Jacobs (2004-2008), Mike Zoller (2008-2009), Eric LIdji (2009), Justin Jacobs (2010).

Scope and Content Notes

The Jewish Chronicle Records includes several sets of materials. One set includes materials documenting the business of publishing the newspaper and includes board of trustees meeting minutes, business correspondence, financial reports, manuscripts, letters to the editor, by-laws, business charter, editorial and personnel policies, and reader surveys, as well as materials documenting the relationship between the Chronicle and the UJF.

Another set comprises photographs that appeared in the newspapers and the documents used to create content. This collection of identified photographs of Pittsburghers is notable because of the many images included. Many of the photographs are marked with the dates on which they were published in the Chronicle.

Other materials include an incomplete run of the Jewish Criterion on microfilm and artwork that was submitted to the Chronicle.

Arrangement

  1. The collection is arranged into three series: administration, content, and Jewish Criterion. The administration series is arranged into four subseries: board of trustees, business, editorial, and management. The content series is divided into three subseries: written content, topical, and oversize. The Jewish Criterion" series has no subseries.

Conditions Governing Access

None

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of The Jewish Chronicle in 2011 and 2013, Accession numbers 2011.0015 and 2013.0127.

Preferred Citation

The Jewish Chronicle Records, 1930-2012, MSS 906, Rauh Jewish Archives, Thomas and Katherine Detre Library and Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Kelly J. Smith in 2013.

Conditions Governing Use

Property rights reside with the Senator John Heinz History Center. Literary rights are retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. For permission to reproduce or publish, please contact the Thomas and Katherine Detre Library and Archives of the Senator John Heinz History Center.

Related Materials

United Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh Records, MSS 287 RGII: Minutes

Separated Materials

To the library: Pittsburgh History, Winter 1992/1993; Pittsburgh map, undated; Jewish Life,Fall 1991 and 2010; J...Jewish Pittsburgh Living, v1 issues 1-4 and v2 issues 1-4; The Jewish Chronicle, v36 no. 6 and 37, v37 no 6.

To the museum: The Jewish Chronicle sign from the building at 5600 Baum Boulevard

Materials related to the national Soviet Jewry movement were donated to the Archive of the American Soviet Jewish Movement at the American Jewish Historical Society. The materials have been processed as The Jewish Chronicle Soviet Jewry Collection, undated, 1963-1988, 1990-1993, I-523.

Subjects

    Corporate Names

    • Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh
    • The Jewish Chronicle (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • Pittsburgh Jewish Publication and Education Foundation (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • The American Jewish Outlook
    • Jewish Criterion
    • Outlook Publishing Company (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
    • Pittsburgh Public Schools
    • United Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh

    Personal Names

    • Bloom, Albert
    • Zecher, Albert
    • Befferman, Barbara
    • Roteman, Joel
    • Samson, Iris

    Geographic Names

    • Pittsburgh (Pa.)

    Other Subjects

    • Israel-Arab Border Conflicts, 1949
    • Arab-Israeli Conflict
    • Jewish organizations--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh
    • Intermarriage
    • Discrimination in employment--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh
    • Jewish marriage customs and rites
    • Jews--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh
    • Jews--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh--Statistics
    • Jewish newspapers--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh
    • Artists--Pennsylvania--Pittsburgh
    • Pittsburgh (Pa.)--newspapers

Container List