As the unofficial Congregation Cnesses Israel Green Bay (Brown County, Wisconsin) synagogue historian, Marian Miller kept the records of the congregation. As the synagogue kept few records itself, Marian asked for donations from the local Jewish community regarding Jewish history of the Green Bay area and of the synagogue and its activities. Most of the compilation of these records was done during the 1980s and 1990s and prior to Marian's death in 2007. Marian Miller was active in genealogical research, not just for herself, but also for the prominent families that founded the early Jewish community in the Green Bay area. She was an active member of the community and of the synagogue, contributing to committees and events, not to mention collecting and preserving the history of her people. Marian was also a substitute teacher in the Green Bay school system.

The first Jewish settlers in the Green Bay area were Jacob Franks and his nephew John Lawe. Lawe was born in Montreal on December 6, 1779. Lawe was educated in Quebec and came to Green Bay in 1797 with Jacob Frank where he founded his trading post. Frank returned to Canada in 1812 but Lawe stayed in Wisconsin. Lawe was a lieutenant with the English forces that defended Macinac against the Americans in the War of 1812. Lawe was appointed Associate Justice in the first court held in Brown County by Lewis Cass, Governor of the Michigan Territory. In 1835 he was elected a member of the first Legislative Council of the Wisconsin Territory. He married Teresa Rankin and was a prominent member of the community. Another prominent family is that of Samuel Stern, a peddler from Ypsilanti, Michigan, who moved his wife Sophia and his children Jack and Caroline to Green Bay to open a custom-made clothing store called S. Stern & Company. He had also worked as a fur trader for the famed John Jacob Astor.

Only during the Jewish migration of the 1880s did the Jewish population in Green Bay begin to pick up. In 1903 the Jewish community in Green Bay consisted of twenty families and they began construction of what was to be the first synagogue in Green Bay. The first religious services of the Congregation Cnesses Israel (734 North Pine Street) were performed on February 27, 1904, and a Hebrew School to educate the children followed on February 29 of that year. The formal dedication of the synagogue took place on September 4, 1904. Abraham Goldman served as the first president of the congregation, followed by John Baum, Isaac Cohen, Benjamin Abrohams, Nathan Fisher, Carl Asman, John Levitas, William I. Miller, Nathan Rosenberg, and Jake Rosenberg. The Congregation Cnesses Israel began as an Orthodox congregation on September 15, 1898, but changed to Conservative in 1948 when they became affiliated with the United Synagogue of America.

Since the congregation was growing, a new meeting place was in order. Fundraising began for a new synagogue in 1943. Construction was finished on that synagogue at 222 South Baird Street and a dedication took place on September 21, 1951. On January 25, 1999, renovation to the synagogue on Baird Street began, with a dedication service under Rabbi Sidney Vineburg taking place on September 10, 1999. The congregation had about 125 affiliated families in 2001. In 2004 the synagogue installed a new rabbi, Rabbi Shaina Bacharach. They petitioned for a historical marker from the Wisconsin Historical Society for the first synagogue on Jackson and Pine, which was dedicated on October 23, 2004, during the Congregation Cnesses Israel's 100th anniversary celebration.

The papers of the Congregation Cnesses Israel, Green Bay, document the history of the Jewish Community in the Green Bay area, the history of the Cnesses Israel synagogue in Green Bay, and the administrative procedures of that synagogue. The papers date from approximately 1808 to 2006, with the bulk of the documents created from 1920 to 2004. The papers are divided into four subseries, ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS, HISTORICAL MATERIALS, PUBLICATIONS, and VISUAL MATERIALS. The ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS subseries is divided into headings consisting of: Cnesses Israel Sisterhood, Committee reports, Financial reports, Ledger accounts, Meeting agendas, minutes and reports, Membership dues of the B'nai B'rith men, Record book, Rules and regulations, and Synagogue board minutes. The HISTORICAL MATERIALS subseries consists of the headings Jewish history and Synagogue history. Newsletters and Menorah are headings under the PUBLICATIONS subseries. VISUAL MATERIALS includes twelve photographs and five scrapbooks depicting various activities of the synagogue in approximately 220 photographs and newspaper clippings.

The ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS consists of the day-to-day records of the Congregation Cnesses Israel synagogue in Green Bay. The records include the rules and regulations of the synagogue, committee reports, and the reports and minutes of the annual and monthly meetings. The congregation consisted of many committees that functioned in the community, including the Building Committee, the Centennial Committee, Finance Committee, Adult Education and Social Committee, the Renovation Committee, et cetera. Documents are also included that show the extent of the synagogue's members' roles in the running of their congregation.

HISTORICAL MATERIALS is a substantial subseries consisting of two headings, Jewish History and Synagogue History. Marian Miller created this broad series of records, rather than the Congregation Cnesses Israel. She collected the articles from newspapers, and gathered research on the early Jewish families and on the synagogue's history. She took it upon herself, as the unofficial congregation historian, to research the history and collect documents she felt were relevant to Green Bay Jewish history and the Congregation Cnesses Israel. These documents have strong informational value as to the history of the Jewish people in the Green Bay area and of the Congregation Cnesses Israel. Many of the documents are not original documents, but are photocopies of the originals or research articles and are undated as to the time the photocopies were made. Much genealogical research from the Internet and emails regarding family histories have been printed straight from computers without much context. Hence, the files are big and broad in terms of subject coverage.

Jewish History is divided into a number of topics: Business; Early settlers; Germanic Jews in Green Bay; Germanic Jews in Appleton and Oshkosh; Green Bay family histories; Heller, Mary; Holocaust Survivors; Howard Kaufman, First Blind Bar Mitzvah of Blind Student; Jewish Green Bay Packers; Jewish War Veterans; Sephardic Jews and Christopher Columbus; Shapiro, Chaim; and Sidney Vineburg for Assembly. This part of the collection provides the most detailed history of the Jewish community in the Green Bay area and provides a historical backdrop to the synagogue and the current state of the Jewish community in Wisconsin. There is a folder of newspaper clippings from the Green Bay Gazettee with articles relevant to Green Bay Jewish history, dating from 1962-1999.

Synagogue History is divided into multiple topic areas and arranged alphabetically: 100 Years Cnesses Israel Celebration, 100 Years of Jewish Tradition Exhibit, Blueprints for synagogue, Cemetery plats, Church records survey, Community and History, Cornerstone for synagogue drawing, Dedication for Baird Street synagogue, Deed and articles of incorporation, Donor reports, Historical marker, Interim synagogue history, Marian Miller's handwritten historical notes, Membership census, Organizations, Pine Street synagogue dedication, Sanctuary dedication, Sanctuary renovation and Synagogue guest book. Most of these files contain information about the most current period of synagogue history, the 1990s. During this time, the Congregation Cnesses Israel in Green Bay celebrated their 100 year anniversary, renovated their sanctuary, had a dedication ceremony for the new sanctuary and received a historical marker for their synagogue from the Wisconsin Historical Society.

PUBLICATONS is a subseries that includes the B'nai B'rith Menorah and newsletters published by the congregation. The collection includes a long run of monthly Menorah from September 1940 through June 2006. There are other assorted newsletters as part of the newsletters heading.

The VISUAL MATERIALS section of the collection contains photographs and scrapbooks. The Photographs document synagogue history and include one color photograph of Marian and Donald Miller's family, nine black and white photos of the 1999 museum exhibit, the B'nai B'rith 40th anniversary group taken in 1946, and a group at the Eagle Waters Resort in 1974.

Also included are five Scrapbooks relating to the history and events of the synagogue and the members of the congregation. Events depicted in the scrapbooks are the 1984 Heritage Festival, the Simchat Torah at Pine Street and move from Pine Street Synagogue to the new synagogue at 222 South Baird Street and the B'nai B'rith 50th anniversary in 1957. The dates of the functions depicted in the photographs range from 1951 to 1980. The categories are labeled as “Theatre Arts,” “Camp Shalom,” “Youth Activities,” “B'nai B'rith Men's Articles and Pictures,” “Theatre Arts,” “1975 Officers,” “1960-78 Rabbi Isaac Van der Walde,” “Cnesses Israel - 1951 Opening Celebration, “Sunday School I,” “Mr. and Mrs. Social Club,” “Sisterhood Activities,” “Holiday Tour of Homes,” “Hadassah Style Shows,” and “Sisterhood and Hadassah Fur Shows.” These 220 photographs and newspaper clippings depict synagogue activities in a scrapbook form and are integral in depicting the functions of the synagogue throughout its history as a community center in Green Bay.