United Service for New Americans (USNA)

Title: United Service for New Americans (USNA)

Inclusive Dates: 1946-1955

ID: RG 246

Extent Information

1) 113' (New Jersey); 2) 6'3" (NYC); 1)225 5"lgl; 2) 5 Bankers boxes

Arrangement

1) Administrative records in numerically-arranged folders; 2) Index cards to case files arranged by case number

Creators

United Service for New Americans (USNA), New York

Administrative/Biographical History

The USNA was organized in New York in 1946 through a merger of the National Refugee Service and the Service to Foreign Born of the National Council of Jewish Women in response to the postwar influx of Jewish refugees into the U.S. The activities of USNA, similar to those of its predecessor organizations, were expanded to deal with the increase in immigration and included stages of integration into American society. USNA worked on resettlement of immigrants throughout the U.S., locating relatives, providing port reception services, shelter, financial aid, placement services, vocational training, and assisting in the Americanization and naturalization process. In 1949 the New York Association for New Americans was established to deal specifically with New York immigration while USNA continued to function on a national level. In 1954, USNA merged with the HIAS to form the United HIAS Service. NYANA remains an independent organization to the present day. USNA officers included Edwin Rosenberg, Joseph E. Beck, William Rosenwald, Walker H. Bieringer.

Subjects (links to similar collections)

Communal Welfare Organizations
Displaced Persons and DP Camps
Immigration and Emigration
Refugees
Social Welfare
Survivors, Holocaust
United Service for New Americans (USNA), New York
United States

Forms of Material (links to similar genres)

Documents - Records

Finding Aid Information

Inventory: English, 248 pp., typed; case file listing

Administrative Information

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Other Formats: MKM 24.1-.64

Description: The bulk of the collection (2230 ft.) consists of individual case files. A smaller fraction (112 ft.) pertains to the activities of USNA departments and includes the following: Records of executive offices and of the administration. By-laws of USNA. Functional charts of the NRS, USNA, and proposed charts for merged organizations. Materials of the Policy Committee. Minutes of meetings of Department and Division heads. USNA conference materials. Reports to the USNA annual meetings. Executive correspondence including files from the offices of Clarence M. Weiner, Beatrice Behrman, Ann S. Petluck, Ann Rabinowitz, Arthur Greenleigh, Fred Fried, Clara Friedman, Ida S. Nameroff. Records of the Migration Department: circulars, memoranda and reports; correspondence of Ann S. Petluck, department director. Topics include: bonds, visa regulations, displaced persons, quotas, immigration policies and problems, Displaced Persons Act of 1948, deportations, U.S. Displaced Persons Commission, Visa Division of the State Department. Correspondence with Immigration and Naturalization Service. Memoranda to and from the Port and Dock Department. Materials on the Oswego refugee shelter; Refugee Relief Act, 1953; President's Committee for Hungarian Refugee Relief, 1956. Government publications, such as manuals or reports by the INS, the Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees (ICR), and UNRRA. Records of the Community Relations Department: field reports, arranged by state. Records of the Religious Functionaries Department: minutes of meetings, studies, reports. Records of the Research Department: manuals used for different stages of refugee work, including those produced by the Relief Disbursement Division, Religous Functionary Division. Studies, statistics relating to immigration on topics such as corporate affidavits, job placement, physicians, budget, home economy. Monthly and other reports of out-of-town agencies to the Division of Statistics and Research. Records of the Service to Foreign Born Division of NCJW Location and Immigration Services, 1946-1951. Individual case files. Files from the office of Ruth R. Becker on the separation of NYANA from USNA. Materials on the establishment of NYANA in April 1949. Records of the Accounting Department and Clerical Services. Financial and accounting records. Files of the office of Gertrude M. Ruskin, Comptroller. Audit reports. Publicity materials: speeches, publicity releases, *USNA News*. Files of Anna G. Kaufman, Publicity Director. Special Information Bulletin, Interpreter Releases. Reference materials: clippings from a wide variety of newspapers relating to immigration and the Jewish problem.