Lou H. Silberman Papers

Manuscript Collection No. 103

1934-1972. 2.8 Linear ft.

ACCESS AND PROVENANCE

The LOU H. SILBERMAN PAPERS were donated to the American Jewish Archives by Rabbi Silberman in July and December, 1980.

Property rights have been assigned to the American Jewish Archives. All literary rights to materials authored by Dr. Silberman are held by him. Literary rights to materials authored by others are held by the individual author or his/her heirs. Questions concerning rights should be addressed to the Director of the American Jewish Archives.

The LOU H. SILBERMAN PAPERS are open to all users. The original manuscript collection is available in the reading room of the American Jewish Archives.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH top

Lou Hackett Silberman was born in San Francisco, California on June 23, 1914 to Lou Harry and Myrtle (Mueller) Silberman. He attended the University of California at Los Angeles from 1931-1933, then transferred to and graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 1934 with an A.B. degree. Silberman then attended Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio, earning a B.H.L. degree in 1939, and M.H.L. degree and ordination as a rabbi in 1941, and a D.H.L. degree in 1943. Silberman later studied for a year at the University of Basel in 1959.

From 1941 to 1943, while he was working toward his D.H.L. degree, Silberman was an instructor of medieval Biblical exegesis at Hebrew Union College. Following the completion of his studies at HUC, Silberman moved to Dallas, Texas where he served as assistant rabbi at Temple Emanu-El until 1945. From Dallas he moved to Omaha, Nebraska to become rabbi at Temple Israel. He remained at Temple Israel until 1952 when he left the rabbinate to begin a new career in education as a professor of Jewish literature and thought at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

In 1955 Silberman was promoted from associate professor to the position of Hillel professor of Jewish literature and thought. Other offices Silberman held at Vanderbilt include, twice being director of graduate studies in the Biblical field, 1960-1965 and 1967-1969; and chairman of the department of religious studies, 1970-1977. Silberman was visiting professor at a number of colleges, including the Oriental Institute of the University of Vienna in 1965-1966; Carleton College in 1972; Emory University in 1973; and the University of Chicago Divinity School in 1978. He was Rosenstiel fellow at Notre Dame University in 1972, a Touhy lecturer of interreligious studies at John Carroll University in 1973, and a visiting scholar at the Postgraduate Center of Hebrew Studies at Oxford University in 1978.

Silberman alos belinged to the Society of Biblical Literature and Exegesis (president of the Southern section 1959-1960), the American Academy of Religion, the Central Conference of American rabbis, the Association for Jewish studies, and B'nai B'rith.

Silberman authored numerous publications dealing with such topics as the Dead Sea Scrolls, rabbinic literature, and contemporary theology. He contributed to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the Encyclopaeda Judaica and was an editorial advisor for the Encyclopedia International.

Silberman married Helen Sue Epstein on June 14, 1942. They had two children: Syrl Augusta and Deborah.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE top

The LOU H. SILBERMAN PAPERS (1934-1972) describe the career of Lou H. Silberman, educator and rabbi. The collection includes correspondence, sermons, prayers, notes, various addresses and notebooks. The bulk of the material in the collection spans the years 1940-1970. The Papers are divided into two series:

A. CORRESPONDENCE

B. SERMONS, ADDRESSES, AND NOTES.

The CORRESPONDENCE series (1934-1972) consists of slightly more than three Hollinger boxes of correspondence and some clippings, newsletters and reports. The correspondence is arranged alphabetically by the name of the person or organization. Letters are arranged chronologically within each folder.

Note: Access to some of the more important subjects and individuals may be made through the Box and Folder List and the Subject Tracings at the end of the inventory.

The SERMONS, ADDRESSES, AND NOTES series (1937-1966) consists of slightly less than four Hollinger boxes of sermons, addresses, prayers, notes, bar mitzvah speeches, life cycles, addresses, notebooks and miscellaneous items. The sermons are arranged alphabetically by title and the untitled sermons in this series may be found in the Appendix at the end of the inventory. The notebooks are from Silberman's student years at Hebrew Union College and are arranged alphabetically according to the labels given them by Silberman. All other materials in this series are arranged chronologically.

BOX AND FOLDER LISTING top

Box  Folder    Contents

SERIES A. CORRESPONDENCE

1    1         B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundation 1967-1968
     2         C-W, General
     3         Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR)
                    1950-1972, n.d.
     4         CCAR [Commission on Theology] 1960-1961, n.d.
     5         CCAR [Liturgy Committee] 1948; 1950
     6         Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds
                    [Committee on College Youth and Faculty Programs]
                    1967-1972
     7         Dallas, Tex. - Temple Emanu-El 1943-1944
     8         Hebrew Union College (HUC) 1934-1942
     9         HUC [Newsletters and Plays] 1936-1939
     10        Morgenstern, Julian 1943-1952, n.d.
     11        National Community Relations Advisory Council (NCRAC)
                    1960-1961
     12        NCRAC 1964

2    1         NCRAC 1965
     2         NCRAC Mr-Je, 1966
     3         NCRAC Jl-S, 1966
     4         NCRAC O-D, 1966
     5         NCRAC Ja-S, 1967
     6         NCRAC O-D, 1967
     7         NCRAC [Marvin Schick] 1967
     8         NCRAC Ja-Mr, 1968

3    1         NCRAC Ap-Ag, 1968
     2         NCRAC S-D, 1968
     3         NCRAC Ja-Ap, 1969
     4         NCRAC My-D, 1969
     5         NCRAC 1970
     6         NCRAC 1971
     7         Omaha, Neb.-Temple Israel 1945-1951, n.d.
     8         Union of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) 1943-1955

4    1         UAHC [American Jewish Cavalcade] 1947-1948
     2         UAHC [Biennial] 1969-1970
     3         UAHC [Commission on Synagogue Music] 1944-1955

SERIES B. SERMONS, ADDRESSES AND NOTES

     4         A
     5         B
     6         C
     7         D-E
     8         F
     9         G
     10        H
     11        I
     12        J-K

5    1         L-M
     2         N-O
     3         P-Q
     4         R
     5         S
     6         T
     7         U-W
     8         Y-Z

6    1         Untitled Sermons, 1938-1952, n.d.
     2         Untitled Sermons, n.d.
     3         Bar Mitzvah Speeches 1944-1945, n.d.
     4         Life Cycle Addresses 1940-1960, n.d.
     5         Notes
     6         Prayers
     7         Miscellaneous 1937-1966, n.d.
     8         Theology IV Notes n.d.
     --        Notebooks

7    --        Notebooks
     1-2       Notes [Miscellaneous]

SUBJECT TRACINGS top

Note: The following list of subjects and individuals is a selective index to many of the topics and individuals in the LOU H. SILBERMAN PAPERS. It is selective in that it only attempts to draw attention to the more significant items in the collection. It does not attempt to list every subject or individual nor does it try to indicate all places that a listed subject or individual appears in the collection. When used in conjunction with the Box and Folder List, the Subject Tracings should help the researcher locate topics. References are to boxes and folders: e.g., 2/2 means Box 2, Folder 2.

American Jewish Committee 2/1
American Jewish Congress 2/5
Anti-Semitism 3/2

Church-State Relations 3/1, 5
Civil Rights 1/12
Colleges 1/6

Feinstein, Abraham 4/8

Hebrew Union College 1/10; 4/2

Kaplan, Mordecai 4/12
Kohler, Kaufmann 5/2

Morgenstern, Julian 1/8, 9; 3/8

Racism 5/1

Synagogue Music 4/3
Szold, Henrietta 5/5

Wise, Isaac Mayer 4/8

Zionism 4/11

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