'ALLIED IN THE FIGHT' on Display at Center for Jewish History

A new exhibit on display in The David Berg Rare Book Room at the Center for Jewish History recounts the efforts made by American Jews and African Americans to fight for the fundamental American promise of equality before and during the Civil Rights era. "Allied in the Fight: Jews, Blacks and the Struggle for Civil Rights" explores shared projects, organizational efforts, and, for a time, how many members of the African American and Jewish communities became allied against injustice.

As seen through photos, letters, film and other rare, archival materials from selected collections of American Jewish Historical Society, Leo Baeck Institute, and Yeshiva University Museum, "Allied in the Fight" strives to address Black-Jewish collaboration and the complicated nature of Jewish contributions to the Civil Rights movement in America.

Notable objects in the exhibit include: a letter from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to Paula Pappenheim, correspondence between Eleanor Roosevelt and activist Justine Wise Polier, a manuscript of the Freedom Seder Haggadah and a photograph of the American Jewish Congress' bus at the March on Washington.

"Allied in the Fight: Jews, Blacks and the Struggle for Civil Rights" has been supported by a generous grant from The David Berg Foundation.