TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Biographical Sketch

Scope and Content Note

Organization

Arrangement

Restrictions

Administrative Information

Series A. Correspondence 1958-1991

Series B. Sermons and Writings 1928-1983

Series C. Personal/Professional 1928-1993

Oversized Items 1955-1984

A Finding Aid to the

Jerome D. Folkman Papers

Biographical Sketch

Jerome D. Folkman was born on September 25, 1907 to Ben and Rose (Tronstein) Folkman. He received a bachelor's degree from University of Cincinnati, as well as a Bachelor of Hebrew Letters and was ordained from HUC in 1928. He received a master's degree from the University of Michigan in 1936 and a Ph.D. from Ohio State University in 1953. Folkman also received an honorary degree from HUC-JIR in 1957.

After completing his studies at HUC, Folkman accepted a position as rabbi at Temple Beth Israel in Jackson, Michigan from 1931-1936. In 1937 he went to Temple Emanuel in Grand Rapids, Michigan where he stayed for ten years. In 1947 Folkman became a rabbi at Temple Israel in Columbus, Ohio where he stayed until his retirement. Folkman became well known for his selfless pastoral work where he often would make the rounds of the local hospitals and nursing homes visiting the sick and dying.

In 1963 Folkman became an Adjunct Professor in the Ohio State University Sociology Department. For the next few decades he taught at Ohio State, Capitol College, Grant Hospital School of Nursing, the Pontifical College of Josephinum, and many others. He also counseled many people and couples both in his capacity as a rabbi and a sociologist.

Folkman was quite active in the Central Conference of American Rabbis and other Jewish organizations; scholarly, ecumenical , and political. Prior to his work with the CCAR, Folkman was the president of the B'nai B'rith Lodge No. 6 in 1943-1944. Folkman also served as a civilian chaplain for the United States Army Air Corps Weather School in 1943. He then was on the CCAR's committees on Marriage, Home, and Family, 1950-1958, and Judaism and Medicine, 1965-1967, as well as holding many other positions within the CCAR. In addition to this work, Folkman was quite active in the affairs of his alma mater and was on the HUC- JIR Board of Governors, 1952-1956, and the UAHC Board of Trustees, 1960-1964. Folkman was also on the boards of countless hospitals and philanthropic organizations.

Awarded several times for his contributions to the Columbus and Ohio community as well as to Judaism in general, Folkman received the Governor's Award from the State of Ohio in 1968 along with countless others. He was honored with the Humanitarian Award by the Orthodox Jewish Community of Columbus in recognition of his service in all areas of his life's work. This award only gives one example of his intra and inter-faith work.

Folkman wrote several books and countless articles during his career. Cup of Life and Design for Jewish Living were both written in 1955. Concerned throughout his life about marriage and the promotion of healthy family life, Folkman wrote Marriage: An Interfaith Guide for all Young Couples (1969) and Marriage has Many Faces (1970).

Folkman married Bessie Schomer in 1930 and had three children, M. Judah, David Hillel, and Joy Folkman Moss. Rabbi Jerome D. Folkman died in 1993.

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Scope and Content Note

The Jerome D. Folkman Papers (1928-1993) contain the correspondence, sermons, and writings of Jerome D. Folkman, a prominent Columbus rabbi and civic leader. Included in this collection are the outlines and transcripts of sermons that Folkman gave throughout his career as well as the many articles that he wrote in his other career as a Sociology professor. This collection is divide into three series, Correspondence, Sermons and Writings, and Personal/Professional.

Important in Series I Correspondence are the files on the Central Conference of American Rabbis (1/4-7) and the files regarding the Columbus Board of Rabbis and Columbus Rabbis (1/10-11). Folkman's work with mental health agencies and boards is exemplified in the files on the Citizens Committee for Community Mental Health (1/9) and the White House Subcommittee on Religious Resources to the President's Special Assistant for Mental Retardation (5/12).

Within Series II. Sermons and Writings, are many examples of Folkman's dedication to the study and improvement of family and marriage relations. Folkman also wrote and spoke of the role of the rabbi to aid people at all stages of life (20/3).

Series III. Personal/Professional holds Folkman's course outlines for the classes that he taught during the 1970s and 1980s (21/2-7). These outlines convey the interesting blending of vocations that Folkman embodied as rabbi, teacher, and counselor.

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Arrangement

See description of individual series.

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Restrictions

Access Information

The papers are open to all users and available in the reading room of the American Jewish Archives.

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Administrative Information

Citations

Footnotes and bibliographic references should refer to the Jerome D. Folkman Papers and the American Jewish Archives.

Provenance

The Jerome D. Folkman Papers were donated in 1993 by David Moss.

Processing Information

Processed by Christine A. Crandall, April 2002

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Box and Folder Listing

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