Baron de Hirsch Agricultural School Alumni Association Records Collection Guide
- Collection GuideFinding aid for the collection.
Collection number: U0086
For further details on the collection please utilize the finding aid. Please note this collection is not currently digitized. To view the collection, please make an appointment to visit Special Collections.
About the Collection
Baron Maurice de Hirsch was a German financier who undertook efforts to help Jewish refugees from Eastern Europe and Russia resettle and establish farming communities in America, Canada, Argentina, and Brazil during the late nineteenth century. In 1891, he established a fund of around $2.9 million dollars to help refugees resettle in the Americas, with portions of the fund going towards the establishment of the Baron de Hirsch Agricultural School in Woodbine, New Jersey.
Officially opened in 1894, the Agricultural School’s first students came from the nearby Woodbine Farmer’s Colony. Students learned regular school subjects like arithmetic, English, and the sciences and also were taught about agriculture. They gained hands-on experience through farming activities at the school. However, due to the poor soil conditions in Woodbine and trouble with enrollment, the school closed permanently in 1917. Today, the location of the school houses the Woodbine Developmental Center.
Around 1911, Maurice Fels, a Philadelphia benefactor of several of the Jewish farming communities’ schools, began to gather information for a report on Hirsch Agricultural School alumni, including information about where they were employed and any further education they had pursued. He corresponded extensively with former alumni, sending out questionnaires and compiling a report for the school’s executive committee. This collection includes materials from Fels’ research for his report, including his correspondence with alumni, various drafts of his reports to the executive committee, and other research material he compiled. Also within the collection is a copy of a speech given by Harry Lubin at the first annual Baron de Hirsch Agricultural School Alumni Association Banquet in 1912.
Collection processed by Daniel Tidcombe, January 2024.
Related Resources
- Alliance Colony Heritage Collection (U0068)The Alliance Colony was first established in 1882 by Jewish families fleeing oppression in Russia. It is considered the first successful Jewish farming colony in the United States. This collection consists of land records, historical photographs and information (journals, synagogue records, etc.), and family information from the original settlers and their descendants.
- The Federation of Jewish Agencies Scrapbooks (U0099)Consisting of 31 scrapbooks, this collection showcases the rich history of the Jewish Communities of South Jersey, particularly in Atlantic County. Consisting of newspaper clippings, letters, invitations, ads, propaganda, etc. - it gives a comprehensive concept of Jewish South Jersey culture from the 1940s to the 1980s.
- Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey Records (U0067)Scrapbooks, photographs, programs relating to activities conducted by the membership of the Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey, dating from approximately 1949 to 1997. Included is information about the fundraising for the construction of the Jewish Community Centers and the humanitarian efforts to assist survivors of World War II.
- Adventures in Idealism: A Personal Record of the Life of Professor Sabsovich byPublication Date: 2021
- Fun Things Happened Along My Way byPublication Date: 2018(Donated by Ernie Jellinek)
- History of the Baron de Hirsch Fund: The Americanization of the Jewish Immigrant byPublication Date: 1935
- Immigrants to Freedom: Jewish Communities in Rural New Jersey since 1881 byPublication Date: 1971(Donated by Anita Schultz)
Jewish Agricultural Colonies in New Jersey, 1882-1920 by ISBN: 0815626630
The Jewish Colonies of South Jersey by ISBN: 9781947889941- Social Aspects of the Jewish Colonies of South Jersey byPublication Date: 1921(Donated by Jay Einstein)
- Structure and Functioning of the American Jewish Community byPublication Date: 1974(Donated by Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey)
- Yoval: A Symposium Upon the First Fifty Years of the Jewish Farming Colonies of Alliance, Norma, and Brotmanville, New Jersey byPublication Date: 1932
- Living on the Land Oral Histories (Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History)"This collection contains oral history interviews conducted for a temporary exhibition called Living on the Land that was on view at the Museum in 1979. In the late nineteenth century, millions of Jewish refugees fled Russia to find new homes due to rising persecution. Most moved to cities and found work in garment trades, manufacturing, or commerce, but some families became farmers in agricultural communities around the world. The interviews in this collection offer insight into the history and culture of the Jewish farming communities of southern New Jersey through the perspectives of those who lived there, including descendants of the earliest founders of Alliance and other towns. Living on the Land featured excerpts from these interviews in wall text, a slide show, and audio clips."
Copyright Notice
Stockton University does not own the rights to all of the items within this collection. Any researcher seeking to duplicate items within this collection are responsible for reaching out to the proper organizations to obtain permission or copyright on their own.