SOURCES FOR RESEARCH ON SOUTH CAROLINA JEWISH HISTORY AND CULTURE
Compiled by Dale Rosengarten and Alyssa Neely
September 2011
Note: The archival section of this bibliography lists a wide range of repositories in South Carolina and a few national collections that contain significant South Carolina materials. When designing a research project on southern Jewish history, it is worth checking for primary sources not only synagogue archives but county historical societies, Jewish federations, public libraries, museums, college and university archives, and state, county, and municipal records. The richest veins of all may be found in private collections.
I. Archival Collections
American Jewish Archives, Cincinnati, Ohio
American Jewish Historical Society, New York, New York
Calhoun County Museum, St. Matthews, South Carolina
Camden Historical Society Archives, Camden, South Carolina
Charleston County Public Library, South Carolina Room, Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston Library Society, Charleston, South Carolina
The Charleston Museum, Charleston, South Carolina
College of Charleston Library, Special Collections, Charleston, South Carolina (includes the manuscript and oral history archives of the Jewish Heritage Collection, hereafter JHC)
Darlington County Historical Commission, Darlington, South Carolina
Georgetown University Libraries Special Collections, Washington D.C. [Leon Keyserling Papers]
Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, South Carolina
Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, Independence, Missouri [Leon H. Keyserling Papers, 1923-1989]
Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Museum, Charleston, South Carolina (manuscript archives housed at the College of Charleston Library, Special Collections)
Irvin Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Ernest F. Hollings Special Collections Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina
James B. Duke Library, Special Collections and Archives, Furman University, Greenville, South Carolina [Max Heller Collection]
McKissick Museum, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina
New-York Historical Society, New York, New York
Princeton University Library, Mudd Manuscript Library [Bernard M. Baruch Papers, 1701-1965]
South Carolina Department of Archives and History, Columbia, South Carolina
South Carolina Historical Society, Charleston, South Carolina
South Carolina Political Collections, Ernest F. Hollings Special Collections Library,
University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina
South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina
Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Sumter County Historical Museum and Genealogical and Historical Research Center, Sumter, South Carolina
Vassar College Libraries, Archives and Special Collections Library [Anita Pollitzer Papers,
1923–1964]
Winthrop University Archives and Special Collections, Rock Hill, South Carolina
II. Synagogues
• Aiken: Adath Yeshurun–contact the congregation
• Anderson: Temple B’Nai Israel– contact the congregation; Sisterhood minute book, 1932– 1939 at JHC
• Beaufort: Beth Israel– contact the congregation; congregation minute book, 1916–1954 at JHC
• Bishopville Hebrew Congregation–not aware of any extant records except the original incorporation certificate, which is at JHC
• Bluffton: Oseh Shalom–contact the congregation
• Camden: Temple Beth El– not aware of any extant congregational records
• Charleston: Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim–records at JHC; Brith Sholom Beth Israel records at JHC (includes Addlestone Hebrew Academy, formerly Charleston Hebrew Institute); Emanu-El–contact the congregation; Hebrew Benevolent Society Papers at JHC; Hebrew Orphan Society Papers at JHC; Chabad of Charleston and the Low Country–contact the center
• Columbia: Beth Shalom–contact the congregation; Tree of Life–contact the congregation; Chabad of South Carolina–contact the center
• Darlington Hebrew Congregation–not aware of any extant congregational records; Darlington Temple Sisterhood minute books, 1928–1980, at JHC
• Dillon: Ohav Shalom–some records for 1950s–1970 at JHC
• Florence: Temple Beth Israel– contact the congregation; Florence Hebrew Benevolent Society records, ca. 1887–1970 at JHC
• Fort Mill: Temple Kol Ami–contact the congregation
• Georgetown: Temple Beth Elohim– contact the congregation
• Greenville: Congregation Beth Israel– contact the congregation; Temple of Israel– contact the congregation; photocopies of scrapbooks at JHC
• Greer: Chabad of the Upstate– contact the center
• Hilton Head: Congregation Beth Yam–contact the congregation
• Kingstree: Temple Beth Or–not aware of any extant records
• Myrtle Beach: Temple Emanu-El–contact the congregation; Congregation Beth El– contact the congregation; Chabad of Myrtle Beach–contact the center; Temple Shalom– contact the congregation
• Orangeburg: Temple Sinai–not aware of any extant records
• Spartanburg: Congregation B’nai Israel– contact the congregation
• Sumter: Temple Sinai–congregational records at JHC; Sumter Society of Israelites cemetery records, 1945–1956, at JHC
• Walterboro: Temple Mount Sinai–not aware of any extant records