Guide to the Papers of Bernard C. Ehrenreich
(1876-1955)
n.d., 1871-1971

*P-26

Processed by Deborah Friedman

American Jewish Historical Society
Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street
New York, NY 10011

Phone: (212) 294-6160
Fax: (212) 294-6161
Email: info@ajhs.org

URL: http://www.ajhs.org

© 2003 American Jewish Historical Society, Newton Centre, MA and New York, NY. All rights reserved.

Center for Jewish History, Publisher.

Machine-readable finding aid created by Deborah Friedman as an MS-Word document. Nov. 1994. PDF document created by Adina Anflick. December 19, 2001. Electronic finding aid converted to EAD 2002 by Tanya Elder. Oct. 2003. Description is in English.

Biographical Note

Rabbi Bernard Calonius Ehrenreich
(1876-1955)

A rabbi and scholar, Bernard Calonius Ehrenreich was born in Kis Szeben, Hungary on June 11, 1876 to an orthodox family. At the age of three Bernard, along with two other siblings, immigrated to the United States.

Educated as a child in the public school system, Ehrenreich had a flair for learning and a desire to continue his education. In 1900, he received both a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from New York University as well as a rabbinical degree from the Jewish Theological Seminary. Known as an organizer throughout his years as a young scholar, Ehrenreich helped found the first Jewish college fraternity, Zeta Beta Tau (Zion Bemispat Tipadeh) in 1898. The fraternity served as a forum for the exchange of ideas and information and was committed to Zionist causes.

His first pulpit, in 1900, was in Atlantic City, New Jersey, at Congregation Beth Israel. Ehrenreich stayed there a year before moving on to Congregation Adath Jeshurun in Pennsylvania. He continued serving his congregations while furthering his education at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1902, he married Irma Bock, and together they had two children, Louis Sigmund and Rosemarie.

In 1906 Rabbi Ehrenreich took the pulpit of Congregation Kahl Montgomery in Montgomery, Alabama. Zionism and progressivism pervaded his thoughts and he performed his work with a keen interest and optimism.

Already known for his ability to bring together people, Rabbi Ehrenreich led the community in a wide range of activities. Among the organizations he was involved in were the Federation of American Zionists, Jewish Welfare Board, Montgomery Chamber of Commerce, Graduate Menorah Society and American Jewish Congress.

Although his civic duty and link to the community were prevalent in his many activities he never relinquished his commitment to the individual. His interaction with the soldiers of Camp Sheridan was a cornerstone in his life. The dedication and love that he gave to hundreds of boys in the camp is readily seen in the correspondence contained within the collection. These boys also helped Ehrenreich realize a much earlier dream, and he started Camp Kawaga in Wisconsin. This camp, started in 1915, became a summer camp for boys to enrich their lives and awaken their minds.

Rabbi Ehrenreich spent his life working toward the betterment of others. He strived for the ability to join people together and acknowledged the importance of the individual. Echoing throughout his sermons and teachings are messages of Zionism and reform. The people that Ehrenreich influenced is incalculable and when he died on March 11, 1955, he died a successful man having accomplished on one lifetime what many only dream.

References

Data was compiled from archival documents in the Papers of Rabbi Bernard C. Ehrenreich; Who’s Who in American Jewry (1980); Jews of the South by S. Proctor, L. Schmier and M. Stern (pp. 45-63).

Additional Offices/Honors/Organizations

Central Conference of American Rabbis. Member.
Federation of American Zionist Federation. Recording Secretary.
Graduate Menorah Society. Founder.
International Order of B’nai B’rith. Member.
Israeli Bond Drive, Montgomery, Alabama. Chair.
Jewish Chautauqua Society. Member.
Jewish Welfare Board, Camp Sheridan, Montgomery, AL. Welfare Worker (World War I).
Masons. Member.
Montgomery Chamber of Commerce. Vice-Chair.
Romanian Anti-Semitism. Official Representative protesting at a convocation.

Scope and Content Note

The Papers of Rabbi Bernard C. Ehrenreich contains documents and paraphernalia spanning approximately seven decades.

The collection is valuable to those researching Zionism; Progressivism; boys’ camps; Montgomery, Alabama’s Jewish community; Christian-Jewish relations in the South; soldiers’ correspondence from World War I and World War II; National Jewish Welfare Board; National American Woman Suffrage Association; Intercollegiate Menorah Association; Federation of American Zionists; Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity; and postcards displaying various Jewish images.

Material includes correspondence, memoranda, minutes, ledgers, newspaper clippings, speeches, photographs, postcards, scrapbooks, telegrams, pamphlets, and other publications and handwritten notes. Of special interest is the scrapbooks documenting Ehrenreich’s career, from 1898-1952 that contains newspaper clippings, his published articles and addresses, correspondence, programs, telegrams, memorabilia, and photographs (Box 1, Folders 1 and 2; see also Box 2, Folder 5 and Box 3, Folder 1, 3 and 5 for biographical information). Other unique items include correspondence from Jewish soldiers (World War I: Box 3, Folders 14-15; Box 4, Folders 1-2 and World War II: Box 3, Folder 4); letters from parents and campers at Camp Kawaga (Box 1, Folder 4); Irma Ehrenreich’s women’s suffragette movement material (Box 3, Folder 2), documents pertaining to Jewish life in Montgomery, Alabama (Box 1, Folders 1 and 2; Box 2, Folder 6 and 12); a photograph of World War I soldiers at a Seder in Montgomery, Alabama (Box 1, Folder 5); and Ehrenreich’s collection of postcards portraying Jewish subjects (Box 3, Folders 6-13).

The majority of the collection is in English. The postcard collection contains some German (Box 3, Folders 6-7) as well as French and Yiddish (Box 3, Folder 12). In addition, there is a Yiddish newspaper clipping (Box 1, Scrapbook), an extract of German letter from the Actions Comite in the Federation of American Zionists (Box 2, Folder 7), and a Latin college diploma (Oversized Folder).

Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The collection is open to all researchers by permission of the Executive Director of the American Jewish Historical Society, except items that are restricted due to their fragility.

Use Restrictions

Information concerning the literary rights may be obtained from the Executive Director of the American Jewish Historical Society. Users must apply in writing for permission to quote, reproduce or otherwise publish manuscript materials found in this collection. For more information contact:
American Jewish Historical Society
Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street
New York, NY 10011

Related Material

Related materials can be found in the Papers of the Ehrenreich Family, P-096 and in the Papers of the Gottheil Family, P-049.

Administrative Information

Provenance

The Papers of Bernard Ehrenreich were donated to the Society by his wife, Irma Bock Ehrenreich (date unknown) and his daughter, Rosemary E. Krensky (1967.004).

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form:

Identification of item, date (if known); Papers of Bernard C. Ehrenreich; P-26; box number; folder number; American Jewish Historical Society, Newton Centre, MA and New York, NY.

Container List

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.