Joint Boycott Council of the American Jewish Congress and Jewish Labor Committee records

1933-1959

The Joint Boycott Council was formed in 1936 by the American Jewish Congress and the Jewish Labor Committee in order to coordinate their boycott of German goods and services prior to World War II. The Council researched imports of German goods, demanded that companies end such purchases, published a list of boycotted firms, and picketed those not abiding by the boycott. The boycott was ended when the U.S. entered the war in 1941. Collection consists of correspondence, minutes, reports, memoranda, speeches, leaflets, clippings, and financial records that document the entire period of the activities of the Joint Boycott Council (JBC). Subject files and general correspondence, 1933-1941, cover all areas of the JBC's work. Case files contain correspondence, memoranda and reports on firms suspected of doing business with Germany. Women's Division files document their activities in support of the boycott. Branches files have information on contacts between the New York headquarters and local affiliates. Collection also includes records, 1933-1935, of the Boycott Committee of the American Jewish Congress; JBC literature and financial records; data on German goods and ships arriving in American ports and status of companies affected by the boycott; and copies of Dr. Joseph L. Tenenbaum's (chairman of the JBC) writings for later years.