Summary Information
The Making of an American Rabbi Manuscript
1998
UWM Manuscript Collection 207
.2 cubic ft. (1 box)
UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)
The collection contains Thomas August's unpublished biography
of Milwaukee Rabbi Joseph L. Baron, The Making of an American
Rabbi. The work covers Joseph Baron's life from birth to death, with emphasis on
his early education, his impact on Milwaukee's Jewish community, and his views and
contributions to Zionism, Jewish education, liberal Judaism, and interfaith cooperation. The
manuscript was completed in 1998.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-mil-uwmmss0207 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Thomas G. August (1950-)
August (1950- ) is a Milwaukee-area educator and scholar. He received his doctorate from
the University of Wisconsin (Madison) in 1978, and published the book, The Selling of the Empire: British and French Imperialist Propaganda,
1890-1940, in 1985.
Rabbi Baron was an influential rabbi and community leader in the Milwaukee area. After
serving the Jewish community of Davenport, Iowa, at the Tri-Cities Temple Emanuel, Baron
came to Milwaukee in 1926, where he soon become a fixture at the Temple Emanu-El B'ne
Jeshurun, where he served until his death in 1960.
During Baron's thirty-five years in Milwaukee, he was extremely active in temple,
community, and state activities. At the Temple, he established a temple office, a library,
a museum, and the Temple Bulletin. He also modernized the
religious school, designed the pattern for the stained-glass windows in the temple's
sanctuary, and organized the Temple Brotherhood.
For the Milwaukee community, he taught philosophy at the local State Teachers' College
and later the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; he helped establish the Milwaukee Round
Table of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, the Milwaukee Jewish Council, the
Milwaukee Chapter of the American Jewish Committee, and the Yavneh School for Unaffiliated
Jewish Children; and he served on various boards and committees including the Social
Planning Committee of the Milwaukee County Council of Social Agencies, the Religious
Committee of Centurama, Abraham Lincoln House (later the Milwaukee Jewish Community
Center), Federated Jewish Charities, the Jewish Welfare Fund, Boy Scouts, YMCA, and
YWCA.
On the state level, Baron helped establish a number of synagogues and organizations
including Temple Beth El in Madison, Temple Emanu-El in Waukesha, the Wisconsin Rabbinical
Association, the Wisconsin Conference of Liberal Synagogues, the Wisconsin Society for
Jewish Learning, the Wisconsin Jewish Archives, and the Department of Hebrew Studies at
the University of Wisconsin. He also served on the Governor's Commission on Human
Rights
Preferred Citation
Citation Guide for
Primary Sources
Related Material in the UWM Libraries
Administrative/Restriction Information
There are no access restrictions on the materials, and the collection is open to all
members of the public in accordance with state law.
Researchers may quote from the manuscript if they include a bibliographic citation with
the donor's name and the title of the manuscript. The researcher assumes full
responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright which may be
involved in the use of this collection (Wisconsin Statutes 19.21-19.39).
Thomas August donated the manuscript to the Archives in October 2002 (accession number
2002-036).
Jason Smalley processed the collection in May 2004.
Contents List
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Chapter 1: Biography; Abbreviation Guide to Sources
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2
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Chapter 2: Zionism
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3
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Chapter 3: Jewish Learning
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4
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Chapter 4: Antisemitism
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5
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Chapter 5: The Politics of Liberal Judaism
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Box
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6
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Chapter 6: The Coming of Age of American Jewry
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