World Digital Library

“Young America” is a print, copyrighted by Edward Anthony (1818‒88) in 1862, that was intended as a commentary on slavery, the major cause of the American Civil War (1861‒65) then raging. A counterpart print, “Young Africa: Or, The Bone of Contention”, also copyrighted by Anthony in 1862, shows an African-American child (presumably a slave) of similar age. Both prints were included in an album of mostly Civil War-era portraits by the famous American photographer Matthew Brady (circa 1823‒96) that belonged to Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825‒91), a collector of photography as well as a photographer himself. The album was a gift to the emperor from Edward Anthony (1818‒88), another early American photographer who, in partnership with his brother, owned a company that in the 1850s became the leading seller of photographic supplies in the United States. Dom Pedro may have acquired the album during a trip to the United States in 1876 when he, along with President Ulysses S. Grant, opened the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Brady was born in upstate New York, the son of immigrants from Ireland. Best known for his photographs documenting the battles of the American Civil War, he began his career in 1844 when he opened a daguerreotype portrait studio at the corner of Broadway and Fulton Streets in New York City. Over the course of the next several decades, Brady produced portraits of leading American public figures, many of which were published as engravings in magazines and newspapers. In 1858 he opened a branch in Washington, DC. The album, which also contains a small number of non-photographic prints, is part of the Thereza Christina Maria Collection at the National Library of Brazil. The collection is composed of 21,742 photos assembled by Emperor Pedro II throughout his life and donated by him to the national library. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects. It documents the achievements of Brazil and Brazilians in the 19th century and also includes many photographs of Europe, Africa, and North America.

Elisha Kent Kane (1820–57) was an American Arctic explorer. He studied medicine in his native Philadelphia and in 1843 entered the U.S. Navy as a surgeon. In 1850 he sailed as the senior medical officer and naturalist on an expedition in search of Sir John Franklin (1786–1847), the British naval officer and explorer who had been missing in the Canadian Arctic since 1845. Funded by New York merchant Henry Grinnell and carried out by the U.S. Navy, the expedition explored Lancaster Sound and Wellington Channel and found one of Franklin's camps but no trace of the men. The expedition was led by Lieutenant Edwin Jesse De Haven and consisted of two ships, the brigs Advance and Rescue. In 1853–55 Kane commanded a second expedition, also funded by Grinnell, which also failed to find Franklin. Kane wrote books about both of his Arctic adventures. The image is from an album of mostly Civil War-era portraits by the famous American photographer Matthew Brady (circa 1823‒96) that belonged to Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825‒91), a collector of photography as well as a photographer himself. The album was a gift to the emperor from Edward Anthony (1818‒88), another early American photographer who, in partnership with his brother, owned a company that in the 1850s became the leading seller of photographic supplies in the United States. Dom Pedro may have acquired the album during a trip to the United States in 1876 when he, along with President Ulysses S. Grant, opened the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Brady was born in upstate New York, the son of immigrants from Ireland. Best known for his photographs documenting the battles of the American Civil War, he began his career in 1844 when he opened a daguerreotype portrait studio at the corner of Broadway and Fulton Streets in New York City. Over the course of the next several decades, Brady produced portraits of leading American public figures, many of which were published as engravings in magazines and newspapers. In 1858 he opened a branch in Washington, DC. The album, which also contains a small number of non-photographic prints, is part of the Thereza Christina Maria Collection at the National Library of Brazil. The collection is composed of 21,742 photos assembled by Emperor Pedro II throughout his life and donated by him to the national library. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects. It documents the achievements of Brazil and Brazilians in the 19th century and also includes many photographs of Europe, Africa, and North America.

Henry Clay (1777‒1852) was an American statesman, orator, and politician, known as the “Great Pacificator” and the “Great Compromiser” for his efforts to hold together the Union at a time of growing sectional strife. He was born in Hanover County, Virginia, the son of a Baptist minister who died when he was only four. He studied law in Virginia, but moved to Kentucky where he opened a law office in Lexington. In 1803 he was elected to the Kentucky legislature and in 1806 to the U.S. Senate, even though he was younger than the constitutionally mandated age of 30. Concluding that the Senate was too sedate and dignified for the rough-and-tumble debate in which he specialized, he chose to run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, which he won in August 1811. He was immediately elected Speaker of the House, and in that capacity forged the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which postponed the national conflict over slavery for a number of decades. He later served as secretary of state and ran unsuccessfully for the presidency against Andrew Jackson in 1832. In 1799 Clay married Lucretia Hart, shown here. The couple had 11 children, six of whom (all daughters) died at a young age. It was not a happy marriage, however; Lucretia hated life in Washington and remained at their home in Kentucky. The image is from an album of mostly Civil War-era portraits by the famous American photographer Matthew Brady (circa 1823‒96) that belonged to Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825‒91), a collector of photography as well as a photographer himself. The album was a gift to the emperor from Edward Anthony (1818‒88), another early American photographer who, in partnership with his brother, owned a company that in the 1850s became the leading seller of photographic supplies in the United States. Dom Pedro may have acquired the album during a trip to the United States in 1876 when he, along with President Ulysses S. Grant, opened the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Brady was born in upstate New York, the son of immigrants from Ireland. Best known for his photographs documenting the battles of the American Civil War, he began his career in 1844 when he opened a daguerreotype portrait studio at the corner of Broadway and Fulton Streets in New York City. Over the course of the next several decades, Brady produced portraits of leading American public figures, many of which were published as engravings in magazines and newspapers. In 1858 he opened a branch in Washington, DC. The album, which also contains a small number of non-photographic prints, is part of the Thereza Christina Maria Collection at the National Library of Brazil. The collection is composed of 21,742 photos assembled by Emperor Pedro II throughout his life and donated by him to the national library. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects. It documents the achievements of Brazil and Brazilians in the 19th century and also includes many photographs of Europe, Africa, and North America.

Daniel Webster (1782‒1852) was an American lawyer, politician, statesman, and orator. Born in New Hampshire to a farm family, he was educated at Dartmouth College and admitted to the bar in Massachusetts in 1805. He served as a congressman from New Hampshire in 1813‒17 and from Massachusetts in 1823‒27 and in the U.S. Senate in 1827‒41 and 1845‒50. He was secretary of state on two occasions, from 1841 to 1843 and from 1850 to 1852. His most notable achievement as secretary was the Webster-Ashburton Treaty of 1842, which settled the border between Maine and New Brunswick, Canada, thereby defusing the threat of war between the United States and Great Britain. Webster also argued many important cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. The image is from an album of mostly Civil War-era portraits by the famous American photographer Matthew Brady (circa 1823‒96) that belonged to Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825‒91), a collector of photography as well as a photographer himself. The album was a gift to the emperor from Edward Anthony (1818‒88), another early American photographer who, in partnership with his brother, owned a company that in the 1850s became the leading seller of photographic supplies in the United States. Dom Pedro may have acquired the album during a trip to the United States in 1876 when he, along with President Ulysses S. Grant, opened the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Brady was born in upstate New York, the son of immigrants from Ireland. Best known for his photographs documenting the battles of the American Civil War, he began his career in 1844 when he opened a daguerreotype portrait studio at the corner of Broadway and Fulton Streets in New York City. Over the course of the next several decades, Brady produced portraits of leading American public figures, many of which were published as engravings in magazines and newspapers. In 1858 he opened a branch in Washington, DC. The album, which also contains a small number of non-photographic prints, is part of the Thereza Christina Maria Collection at the National Library of Brazil. The collection is composed of 21,742 photos assembled by Emperor Pedro II throughout his life and donated by him to the national library. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects. It documents the achievements of Brazil and Brazilians in the 19th century and also includes many photographs of Europe, Africa, and North America.

John Ericsson (1803‒89) was an inventor and engineer whose innovations revolutionized naval warfare. In 1826 he emigrated from his native Sweden to Great Britain, where in 1836 he made significant improvements to the screw propeller. He moved to the United States in 1839. He designed the USS Princeton, the first steam-powered ship with engines and boilers entirely below the waterline. His most famous ship design was for the ironclad USS Monitor, which was completed in 1861 and fought the ironclad Merrimack (sunk April 1861, raised, reconstructed, and recommissioned as the Confederate States Ship [CSS] Virginia in February 1862) to a standoff at the Battle of Hampton Roads (March 8‒9, 1862). The image is from an album of mostly Civil War-era portraits by the famous American photographer Matthew Brady (circa 1823‒96) that belonged to Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825‒91), a collector of photography as well as a photographer himself. The album was a gift to the emperor from Edward Anthony (1818‒88), another early American photographer who, in partnership with his brother, owned a company that in the 1850s became the leading seller of photographic supplies in the United States. Dom Pedro may have acquired the album during a trip to the United States in 1876 when he, along with President Ulysses S. Grant, opened the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Brady was born in upstate New York, the son of immigrants from Ireland. Best known for his photographs documenting the battles of the American Civil War, he began his career in 1844 when he opened a daguerreotype portrait studio at the corner of Broadway and Fulton Streets in New York City. Over the course of the next several decades, Brady produced portraits of leading American public figures, many of which were published as engravings in magazines and newspapers. In 1858 he opened a branch in Washington, DC. The album, which also contains a small number of non-photographic prints, is part of the Thereza Christina Maria Collection at the National Library of Brazil. The collection is composed of 21,742 photos assembled by Emperor Pedro II throughout his life and donated by him to the national library. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects. It documents the achievements of Brazil and Brazilians in the 19th century and also includes many photographs of Europe, Africa, and North America.

Thurlow Weed (1797‒1882) was an editor, publisher, and party politician who exercised great influence in New York State and national politics, in large part through the Albany Evening Journal, a newspaper that he edited for more than 30 years. Weed disliked slavery and the Democratic Party, which he warred against first as a member of the Anti-Masons, then the Whigs, and finally the Republican Party. He was a friend of Secretary of State William Henry Seward and helped to launch the young Horace Greeley on his journalistic career. He accumulated a large personal fortune, and was at times accused of corruption and taking bribes to promote particular causes. The image is from an album of mostly Civil War-era portraits by the famous American photographer Matthew Brady (circa 1823‒96) that belonged to Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825‒91), a collector of photography as well as a photographer himself. The album was a gift to the emperor from Edward Anthony (1818‒88), another early American photographer who, in partnership with his brother, owned a company that in the 1850s became the leading seller of photographic supplies in the United States. Dom Pedro may have acquired the album during a trip to the United States in 1876 when he, along with President Ulysses S. Grant, opened the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Brady was born in upstate New York, the son of immigrants from Ireland. Best known for his photographs documenting the battles of the American Civil War, he began his career in 1844 when he opened a daguerreotype portrait studio at the corner of Broadway and Fulton Streets in New York City. Over the course of the next several decades, Brady produced portraits of leading American public figures, many of which were published as engravings in magazines and newspapers. In 1858 he opened a branch in Washington, DC. The album, which also contains a small number of non-photographic prints, is part of the Thereza Christina Maria Collection at the National Library of Brazil. The collection is composed of 21,742 photos assembled by Emperor Pedro II throughout his life and donated by him to the national library. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects. It documents the achievements of Brazil and Brazilians in the 19th century and also includes many photographs of Europe, Africa, and North America.

Winfield Scott (1786‒1866) was one of four generals during the American Civil War to hold the post of general in chief of the armies of the United States, the others being George McClellan, Henry Halleck, and Ulysses S. Grant. Scott was born in Virginia, graduated from William and Mary College, and then studied law and was admitted to the bar. He joined the army during the War of 1812, in which he was captured by the British, released in a prisoner exchange, and then severely wounded at the Battle of Lundy’s Lane (near Niagara Falls, New York) in July 1814. He won great fame for his exploits in the Mexican War (1846‒48), which included the capture of Veracruz, the defeat of Santa Anna’s army, and a triumphal entrance into Mexico City. When the Civil War broke out, he was the logical choice to head the Union war effort, but he served only until November 1, 1861, when he retired for reasons of age and poor health. The image is from an album of mostly Civil War-era portraits by the famous American photographer Matthew Brady (circa 1823‒96) that belonged to Emperor Pedro II of Brazil (1825‒91), a collector of photography as well as a photographer himself. The album was a gift to the emperor from Edward Anthony (1818‒88), another early American photographer who, in partnership with his brother, owned a company that in the 1850s became the leading seller of photographic supplies in the United States. Dom Pedro may have acquired the album during a trip to the United States in 1876 when he, along with President Ulysses S. Grant, opened the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Brady was born in upstate New York, the son of immigrants from Ireland. Best known for his photographs documenting the battles of the American Civil War, he began his career in 1844 when he opened a daguerreotype portrait studio at the corner of Broadway and Fulton Streets in New York City. Over the course of the next several decades, Brady produced portraits of leading American public figures, many of which were published as engravings in magazines and newspapers. In 1858 he opened a branch in Washington, DC. The album, which also contains a small number of non-photographic prints, is part of the Thereza Christina Maria Collection at the National Library of Brazil. The collection is composed of 21,742 photos assembled by Emperor Pedro II throughout his life and donated by him to the national library. The collection covers a wide variety of subjects. It documents the achievements of Brazil and Brazilians in the 19th century and also includes many photographs of Europe, Africa, and North America.

The manuscript Libros del saber de astronomía (The books of the wisdom of astronomy) comprises 16 treatises on the science of the heavenly bodies and the instruments used in their study. The work contains translations from the Aramaic and the Arabic made by various people, including Yehuda ben Moshe Hakohen (also seen as Jehuda ben Moses Cohen) and Rabiçag de Toledo (also seen as Rabbi Zag and Isaac ben Sid), always with the direct input from King Alfonso X of Castile and Leon (1221‒84, called Alfonso the Wise) so as to guarantee the use of the most correct Castilian. The translators, from the Toledo school, included Jews, Christians, and Muslims. The work is divided into three broad thematic sections: astronomy (covered in Treatise 1, which describes the celestial spheres and the signs of the zodiac, constellation by constellation); the operation and manufacturing of various instruments for astronomical observations (covered in Treatises 2 through 10 as well as 16); and instruments for measuring time (Treatises 11 through 15). Toledo, Burgos, and Seville are mentioned in the codex, suggesting that these cities were places where the work might have been made. Scholars believe, however, that at the time the work was composed, in 1276‒79, the Alphonsine scriptorium was based in Seville. The codex has all of the characteristics of the books produced by King Alfonso’s scriptorium. It consists of 201 folios on thick but well-prepared parchment, as would be expected from the product of a royal scriptorium. The text was copied by one hand, in a uniform and careful textual Gothic script, in brown ink for the text and red ink for the legends in the chapters. Red paragraph signs mark the beginning of each paragraph; upper-case letters are decorated with details in red. The text is in two columns across all pages, whether or not there are illustrations. The illustrations, executed with the utmost refinement and skill, include the initials at the beginnings of books and chapters; the flourishes that mark the margins of the columns in some parts of the codex and that occur at the end of some paragraphs; various illustrative tables; and the images that illustrate the text itself. The red and blue ink initials and the cartouches, in calligraphic filigree, are especially outstanding and representative of the Gothic and Mudejar influences in the decoration. However, the most representative decorations, 162 of which are full page, are those that illustrate the text with a clear didactic purpose. The codex, originally in the library of Queen Isabella the Catholic and later sold to Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros by King Ferdinand II of Aragon, was included in the first set of works held in the library of the Complutense University. There are nine extant copies of the work, all produced later. These copies help to further knowledge of damaged or lost sections of the original manuscript.

First Shipment of Kosher Meat Sent to Danzig, Poland

In 1919, when hundreds of thousands of Jews were trapped between the warring forces of Poland and Russia, American Jews shipped desperately needed food to these refugees. In this photo, barrels of kosher salted beef are loaded aboard the SS Ashburn in New York harbor to be sent to Danzig (present-day Gdansk, Poland). The Joint Distribution Committee of American Funds for the Relief of Jewish War Sufferers (later the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, both names abbreviated as JDC) was formed in 1914 to send aid, including food, clothing, medicine, funds, and emergency supplies, to the stricken Jews of Europe during the war. The war left in its wake many additional catastrophes—pogroms, epidemics, famine, revolution, and economic ruin—and after the war the JDC continued to play a major role in rebuilding the devastated Jewish communities of Eastern Europe and in sustaining the Jews in Palestine. The image, distributed by the photographic agency Underwood and Underwood, is from the archives of the JDC, which contain documents, photographs, film, video, oral histories, and artifacts recording the work of the organization from World War I to the present. Since its founding, the JDC has provided aid and social care in more than 90 countries.

The caption for this wire-service photograph states: “The USS Pensacola, now used as a relief ship carrying food and clothing to the destitute countries in the Near East, sailed from New York with a cargo valued at more than two million dollars. The Pensacola is not the first ship to sail for the Near East, two others having preceded it. The relief ships are under the auspices of the American Committee for Relief in the Near East. Photo shows the Pensacola pulling out of the pier at Hoboken to start on the long trip to Constantinople, which is the first stop.” The Joint Distribution Committee of American Funds for the Relief of Jewish War Sufferers (later the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, both names abbreviated as the JDC), a humanitarian relief organization formed at the outset of World War I to address the needs of Jews in British Mandate Palestine and Europe, participated in this nonsectarian relief effort, providing $300,000 toward the cost of the Pensacola’s cargo. The photograph is from the archives of the JDC, which contain documents, photographs, film, video, oral histories, and artifacts recording the work of the organization from World War I to the present.

Outdoor Market in Burned-Out Neighborhood, Poland

The caption for this news photograph reads: “Poles distributing vegetables amid the ruins of town destroyed by shell-fire in one of the battles between Germans and Russians. Thousands of towns and villages in Poland are still in ruins and must be rebuilt. This work will be one of the first tasks of the new Poland. And American steel and other materials will be needed in the work of reconstruction, as well as our financial aid. Owing to the rather remote position of Poland as regards France, England and the United States and to the difficulties in getting materials from German manufacturers until Germany has recovered from the war, the rebuilding of Poland will be less speedy than the reconstruction of the devastated areas in France and Belgium and Italy. 11/19/18” The Joint Distribution Committee of American Funds for the Relief of Jewish War Sufferers (later the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, both names abbreviated as the JDC), a humanitarian relief organization, was a significant contributor to reconstruction efforts, particularly in affected Jewish communities. The image is from photographic agency Underwood and Underwood, a major producer of stereopticon (a kind of magic lantern) slides, which entered the news photography field in 1910. The photograph is from the archives of the JDC, which contain documents, photographs, film, video, oral histories, and artifacts recording the work of the organization from World War I to the present.

Children Eating at Mendele's Kindergarten in Bialystok, Poland

Schools and nurseries were an effective conduit to provide nourishment to children in Poland throughout World War I and the immediate postwar years, a period of rampant hunger. Mendele’s Kindergarten and Community School at the Białystok Jewish Youth Union was most likely part of the Mendele Mokher Seforim Children’s Home and Orphanage, named in honor of the beloved Yiddish-language author. During the interwar period, Białystok had an extensive Jewish primary education system. Many of these schools were funded by overseas Jewish philanthropy. The Joint Distribution Committee of American Funds for the Relief of Jewish War Sufferers (later the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, both names abbreviated as the JDC), a humanitarian organization, supported schools and provided meals, clothing, and shoes to the students. The JDC was created at the start of World War I by American Jewish groups uniting to provide coordinated relief from privation and suffering for Jews abroad. From the time the United States entered the war until its end, funding was sent to community and regional aid organizations in Poland, Lithuania, and other affected countries through a JDC branch in the neutral country of Holland. The photograph is from the archives of the JDC, which contain documents, photographs, film, video, oral histories, and artifacts recording the work of the organization from World War I to the present.

Refugees in a Food Line in Bucharest, Romania

Elderly refugees, such as this 75-year-old woman newly arrived in Bucharest, had the hardest time surviving the rigorous journey to safety during World War I. Romania joined the Allied war effort in late August 1916. Sections of the country became enemy-occupied territory. As in large swaths of Europe, Jewish homes in Romania and the civic institutions supporting community life were destroyed. Civilian populations, treated as enemies, were forced or frightened into flight to places not yet caught up in the turmoil. Initial relief efforts for Romanian Jews impoverished by the war included soup kitchens, the distribution of clothing and shoes for children, and family subsidies for those whose breadwinners had been conscripted into the armed forces or interned as prisoners of war. These efforts were organized by the Joint Distribution Committee of American Funds for the Relief of Jewish War Sufferers (later the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, both names abbreviated as the JDC), created in New York City soon after the start of World War I. As long as the German, Austro-Hungarian, and Russian Empires controlled vast territories and the United States remained neutral, JDC relief work was done through the U.S. State Department and established European philanthropic organizations such as the Jewish Colonization Association in Petrograd (Saint Petersburg) and the Israelitische Allianz in Vienna. Once America entered the war, getting funds and supplies to those living in the regions occupied by the Central powers became much more difficult. Postwar conditions were further exacerbated by the territorial war between Romania and Hungary that followed the armistice of November 1918. The photograph is from the archives of the JDC, which contain documents, photographs, film, video, oral histories, and artifacts recording the work of the organization from World War I to the present.

People in a Joint Distribution Committee Transmission Bureau to Send Money to Relatives Overseas

During World War I, Americans who had relatives living in the war zones sought ways to send help to their families. The Joint Distribution Committee of American Funds for the Relief of Jewish War Sufferers (later the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, both names abbreviated as JDC) was formed in 1914 to send aid, including food, clothing, medicine, funds, and emergency supplies, to the stricken Jews of Europe. The war left in its wake many additional catastrophes—pogroms, epidemics, famine, revolution, and economic ruin—and after the war the JDC continued to play a major role in rebuilding the devastated Jewish communities of Eastern Europe and in sustaining the Jews in Palestine. In September 1915 the JDC created a special Transmission Bureau as a vehicle through which families in America could transfer funds to their relatives trapped in the war-torn countries. This project was the work of Harriet Lowenstein, the JDC’s first comptroller, who single-handedly ran the bureau until the scale of the demand required her to hire assistants. The JDC soon opened branch bureaus nationwide to meet the growing needs of people wanting to transfer funds. This branch office for the transmission of individual remittances was located at 98 Second Avenue, New York City, a neighborhood populated by immigrants. The photograph is from the archives of the JDC, which contain documents, photographs, film, video, oral histories, and artifacts recording the work of the organization from World War I to the present.

Justice Calls Your Attention to the Tragedy of the Jew

In a nationwide publicity campaign initiated while World War I was raging, American Jewish leaders brought home to the American public the extent of the suffering abroad and the need for relief efforts of unprecedented scope. The message resonated, resulting in the raising of large sums of money and in garnering support from American Jews and others for wartime relief. The Joint Distribution Committee of American Funds for the Relief of Jewish War Sufferers (later the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, both names abbreviated as JDC) was formed in 1914 to send aid, including food, clothing, medicine, funds, and emergency supplies, to the stricken Jews of Europe during the war. The war left in its wake many additional catastrophes—pogroms, epidemics, famine, revolution, and economic ruin—and after the war the JDC continued to play a major role in rebuilding the devastated Jewish communities of Eastern Europe and in sustaining the Jews in Palestine. Posters played a vital role in informing the American Jewish public about the depth of the crisis. The poster shown here was produced by the American Jewish War Relief Committee, one of the JDC's constituent organizations, and was directed at the residents of New York City. It is from the archives of the JDC, which contain documents, photographs, film, video, oral histories, and artifacts recording the work of the organization from World War I to the present.

This card was issued in 1920 to a Hungarian prisoner of war, Kiksa Biro, by the Vladivostok branch of the Joint Distribution Committee of the American Funds for Jewish War Sufferers (later the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, both names abbreviated as the JDC). The card includes a rare photograph and contains such biographical information as the prisoner’s name, birthplace and date of birth, nationality, home address, family status, and occupation. Through its Vladivostok branch, the JDC aided Jewish prisoners of war in Siberian camps during and after World War I—transmitting mail to their families, seeing to their welfare, and arranging hospital care for the very ill. Some 10,000 Jews were among the 160,000 prisoners of war in Siberia who had served in the German and Austro-Hungarian armies. The nonsectarian Siberian War Prisoners Repatriation Fund, supported chiefly by the JDC and the American Red Cross, was created in April 1920 with the goal of repatriating all prisoners of war from Siberia to their homelands. Ships were chartered for this effort. Almost all prisoners of war who desired to return to their homes were able to do so. This card is one of 1,000 World War I prisoner-of-war cards in the archives of the JDC, which contain documents, photographs, film, video, oral histories, and artifacts recording the work of the organization from World War I to the present.

Crowded Living Conditions for Jewish Refugees

This photograph shows a group of refugees, including young children and elderly people, sharing one room in a building in Friedrichstadt (present-day Jaunjelgava), Latvia. Friedrichstadt had been a shtetl in the Pale of Settlement. Prior to World War I, the Jewish population of the town was 3,200 out of a total population of 6,500; by the war’s end it had dropped to 800 out of a total population of 2,000. The Joint Distribution Committee of American Funds for the Relief of Jewish War Sufferers (later the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, both names abbreviated as the JDC), a humanitarian relief organization, sent one of its inspectors to investigate conditions in Friedrichstadt in December 1920. His report noted that 90‒95 percent of private homes had been destroyed. Residents who had fled during the war had begun to return home; these refugees had nowhere to live. The report describes “32 people huddled together with their baggage and all in a room, 15 feet long and 10 feet wide [4.57 meters by 3.05 meters]… the air was suffocating and heavy. . . . Two of the [children] were sick with scarlet fever, and one died on the very day when this investigation was made.” The JDC was founded by American Jews in New York City to help destitute Jews in Europe and Palestine affected by World War I. The photograph is from the archives of the JDC, which contain documents, photographs, film, video, oral histories, and artifacts recording the work of the organization from World War I to the present. The JDC has operated as a global humanitarian organization in more than 90 countries since 1914.

Men Load a Joint Distribution Committee Vehicle onto a Bridge during a Field Trip in Poland

The Russian Civil War (1918−20) made travel through disputed territories difficult and dangerous. Even if cities and towns were reachable by train (where they were still operating), humanitarian relief workers had to travel to hundreds of isolated villages and to move quickly between them. Roads and bridges could not be counted on. Most motor vehicles of the day were open to the elements, required hand-cranking to start the engine, and reached top speeds of 65−70 kilometers per hour. The Joint Distribution Committee of American Funds for the Relief of Jewish War Sufferers (later the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, both names abbreviated as JDC) was formed in 1914 to send aid, including food, clothing, medicine, funds, and emergency supplies, to the stricken Jews of Europe during the war. The war left in its wake many additional catastrophes—pogroms, epidemics, famine, revolution, and economic ruin—and after the war the JDC continued to play a major role in rebuilding the devastated Jewish communities of Eastern Europe and in sustaining the Jews in Palestine. This photograph of a JDC automobile shows how many hands were needed to get the vehicle across a river on a crude, damaged wooden bridge during a field trip to Rovno, Dubno, and Polonnoye (in present-day Ukraine, at that time part of Poland). The JDC sent relief workers as soon as entry to the war zone was possible. This photograph, from a relief worker's field trip in 1920, is in the archives of the JDC, which contain documents, photographs, film, video, oral histories, and artifacts recording the work of the organization from World War I to the present.

Childen Wearing Makeshift Coats from Flour Sacks outside an Orphanage in Grodno, Poland

These children in Grodno, Poland (present-day Hrodna, Belarus) were among tens of thousands of Jewish war orphans who between 1914 and 1920 had lost one or both parents on the battlefield, in military hospitals, or from epidemics, starvation, and other war-related causes. The Joint Distribution Committee of American Funds for the Relief of Jewish War Sufferers (later the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, both names abbreviated as JDC) was formed in 1914 to send aid, including food, clothing, medicine, funds, and emergency supplies, to the stricken Jews of Europe during the war. When the war ended, the JDC launched a general plan to care for Jewish war orphans, providing room and board, clothing, education, medical attention, and social welfare. At first, limited supplies of clothing led to the use of improvised outfits, made from the sacks used to transport American flour. This wire-service photograph is from the archives of the JDC, which contain documents, photographs, film, video, oral histories, and artifacts recording the work of the organization from World War I to the present.

Children outside a Public Soup Kitchen in Rowne, Poland

This photograph shows a group of poor Jewish children, barefoot and holding their pots, waiting to receive food at a soup kitchen in Rowne, Poland (present-day Rovno or Rivne, Ukraine). Even after the destruction and dislocation of World War I came to an end, the situation for Jews in Eastern Europe remained bleak. Civil war in Russia and the Russo-Polish War of 1919‒20 caused further hardship; for Jews, there was additional danger from numerous pogroms. Famine and disease were widespread and the economy was in ruins. Children were especially vulnerable, with several hundred thousand orphaned. The Joint Distribution Committee of American Funds for the Relief of Jewish War Sufferers (later the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, both names abbreviated as the JDC), a humanitarian relief organization, leveraged its resources by working with local and regional groups to help provide food, clothing, medical care, and education to the needy. The photograph is by Max J. Colton, a physician who was part of the first JDC medical team. Colton took this photograph and others to document the work of the medical unit and the communities in which it worked. The JDC was founded by American Jews in New York City to help destitute Jews in Europe and Palestine affected by World War I. It has operated as a global humanitarian organization in more than 90 countries since 1914. The photograph is from the archives of the JDC, which contain documents, photographs, film, video, oral histories, and artifacts recording the work of the organization from World War I to the present.

Young America

Elisha Kane

Henry and Lucretia Clay

Secretary of State Daniel Webster

John Ericsson

Thurlow Weed

Lieutenant General Winfield Scott

The Books of the Wisdom of Astronomy

First Shipment of Kosher Meat Sent to Danzig, Poland

Relief Ship Sails for Near East

Outdoor Market in Burned-Out Neighborhood, Poland

Children Eating at Mendele's Kindergarten in Bialystok, Poland

Refugees in a Food Line in Bucharest, Romania

People in a Joint Distribution Committee Transmission Bureau to Send Money to Relatives Overseas

Justice Calls Your Attention to the Tragedy of the Jew

World War I Prisoner of War Card

Crowded Living Conditions for Jewish Refugees

Men Load a Joint Distribution Committee Vehicle onto a Bridge during a Field Trip in Poland

Childen Wearing Makeshift Coats from Flour Sacks outside an Orphanage in Grodno, Poland

Children outside a Public Soup Kitchen in Rowne, Poland