San Francisco Jewish Community Center records, 1877-1979

San Francisco’s Young Men’s Hebrew Association (YMHA) was formed in 1877, and the city’s Young Women’s Hebrew Association (YWHA) was formed in 1914. They combined in 1924. In 1933, the YM-YWHA became the city’s Jewish Community Center (JCC). In 1960, San Francisco’s JCC joined the United Jewish Community Centers (UJCC) of San Francisco, Marin County, and the Peninsula. The city’s JCC has helped immigrants adjust, assimilate, and Americanize. In addition, it has provided resources for individuals and families to express themselves culturally and physically, and it has changed its activities, directions, and locations to help meet the needs of the community. The JCC has also sponsored many activities for those people who are serving in the military during wartime and many holiday observances.

The collection provides an overview of the San Francisco Jewish Community Center’s activities between 1930, its incorporation, and circa 1979. Files on the building campaign in the early 1930s, recreation, social, and educational programs, institutional finances, board matters, and general administration comprise the bulk of the collection. In addition, there are materials from the Young Men’s Hebrew Association (YMHA), from which the SFJCC evolved, and from United Jewish Community Centers, the coordinating body of the Marin, San Francisco, and Peninsula Jewish Community Centers that was formed in 1960.