Collection inventory

Overview of the Collection
Creator:	Pfeffer, Leo, 1910-1993.
Title:	Leo Pfeffer Papers
Inclusive Dates:	1942-1974
Quantity:	22.5 linear ft.
Abstract:	The papers of the American lawyer, activist for separation of church and state, legal counsel for the American Jewish Congress, and director of its Commission on Law and Social Action consist of correspondence, legal briefs, dockets, court transcripts, essays, speeches, and printed material, including articles, clippings, pamphlets, periodical issues, and general files relating to civil rights, federal aid to education, prayer in public schools, and other church-state issues.
Language:	English
Repository:	Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Avenue Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center

Biographical History

Leo Pfeffer (1910-1993) was among the most prolific constitutional scholars of the late twentieth century. Pfeffer analyzed the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment from a "separationist" standpoint, arguing that this constitutional provision requires strict separation between church and state. From this perspective, government may offer no assistance to specific religions or religion in general. [From Encyclopedia of Religion in American Politics (1999)]

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Leo Pfeffer Papers comprise 7 series: Conference transcripts, Published material, Legal material, Notes, Writings, General files, and Miscellaneous.

Conference transcripts include documents addressing subjects such as religious instruction and holidays in the public schools, church-state separation, and the Bill of Rights. The Published material is made up of pamphlets addressing civil rights and the separation of church and state. The Legal material series mainly comprises Litigation dockets, Court transcripts, and briefs. Notes include Index cards and a Notebook kept by Pfeffer. The Writings series comprises Essays, Magazine articles, Pamphlets, Journals, and Books. The General files series, making up more than half the collection, contains mostly Correspondence, plus some News clippings. Miscellaneous items include materials from a Bill of Rights conference and designs and proofs from Pfeffer's book, Church, State, and Freedom.

An expert on the United States Constitution, Pfeffer spent his career battling to preserve the fundamental American principle of Church-State separation. As a lawyer representing the American Jewish Congress, he authored Friend of the Court briefs for trials around the country. Most of the Legal material and General files therefore concern such issues as prayer in public schools, federal aid to parochial schools, and Sunday labor laws.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

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Subject Headings

Persons

Corporate Bodies

Subjects

Genres and Forms

Occupations

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Leo Pfeffer Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Finding Aid Information

Created by: JMB
Date: Nov 1978
Revision history: 19 Mar 2007 - converted to EAD (AMCon)

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Inventory

	Conference transcripts
Box 1		Religious Instruction in the Public Schools 1946 (1 vol.)
Box 1		Sectarianism in the Public Schools 1947
Box 1		Religious Holiday Observance in the Public Schools 1949 (1 vol.)
Box 1		Church-State Separation in the Public Schools 1956
Box 1		Bill of Rights 1966 (3 folders)

	Published material
		Pamphlets
Box 1			General
Box 1			American Jewish Congress 1966-1968
Box 1			Civil Rights
Box 1			Separation of Church and State
Box 1			Religion in Public Schools 1959-1965

	Legal material
Box 1		Commission on Law and Social Action, American Jewish Congress (2 folders)
Box 1		Opinion briefs (3 folders)
Box 1, 2		Litigation dockets (4 folders)
Box 2		Court cases (2 folders)
Box 2		Friend of court briefs (9 folders)
Box 2		Congressional testimony
Box 2		Supreme court decisions - summary and analysis (4 folders)
Box 3		Court transcripts (4 folders)
Box 4		Court transcripts (2 folders, 2 vols.)
Box 5		Court transcripts (63 vols., 6 folders)
Box 6		Court transcripts

	Notes
Box 6		Index cards-bibliography, unidentified
Box 6		Notebook: Anti-Semitism in America 1950

	Writings
Box 6		Essays and articles
Box 6		Religion, Education, and the Constitution
Box 7, 8, 9		Galley proofs
Box 10		Typed manuscript - unidentified (3 folders)
Box 10		Church, State and Freedom -Index
Box 10		Essays and articles (7 folders)
Box 10		Judaism Fall, 1974
Box 10		Magazine articles (4 folders)
Box 10		New Testament Study
Box 10		Pamphlets 1972
		Books
Box 11			Church, State, and Freedom (2 vols.)
Box 11			Church and State in the United States (1 vol.)
Box 11			Creeds in Competition (2 vols.)
Box 11			The Liberties of an American (2 vols.)
Box 11			This Honorable Court (2 vols.)
		Pamphlets
Box 11			"Assault upon Freedom of Association"
Box 11			"The Supreme Court and the Bill of Rights"
		Journals
Box 11			Civil Rights in America
Box 11			A Journal of Church and State (2 issues)
Box 11			Current History
Box 11			Michigan Law Review
Box 11			United Synagogue Convention Proceedings 1965

	General files
Box 12		1958
Box 12		1959 (2 folders)
Box 12		1963
Box 12		1964
Box 12		1972
Box 12		Adoption (2 folders)
Box 12		American Jewish Congress 1970
Box 12		Anti-Defamation League 1966
Box 12		Articles about Mr. Pfeffer
Box 12		Becker Amendment: Bible Reading in School
Box 12		Blue Laws, Sunday
Box 12		Calendar reform 1964
Box 12		Capital Punishment Case (2 folders)
Box 12		Chamberlain (3 folders)
Box 12		Chinese Language in Hawaiian Schools 1949
Box 12, 13		Church, State, and Freedom 1953
		Church-State Relations
Box 13			1948-1962 (2 folders)
Box 13			1955
Box 13			1965
Box 13		Congress Weekly
		Correspondence
			American Jewish Congress
Box 13				1954-1957
Box 13				1955-1961
Box 13			Civil Rights 1946-1950
Box 13			Conscientious Objectors 1963
Box 13			Dover Zoning Law 1949-1951
Box 13			Integration 1957-1959
Box 13			Inter-Religious Adoption – Goldman Case 1955
Box 13			Job Oath of an Atheist – Torcaso 1959-1961
Box 13			Miscellaneous
Box 13			Prayer in School – Famous Professors Voice Protest 1962
Box 13			Religious Education in Public Schools 1949
Box 13			Rosenbluth Book 1968
Box 13			School Aid 1966-1968
			Speaking Engagements
Box 13				1958
Box 13				1961
Box 13				1962
Box 13				1962-1963
Box 13				1969
Box 13, 14			Television debate 1961 (4 folders)
				See also General files: Television debate (box 19)
Box 14			Zeller vs. Huff 1948
Box 14			1942
Box 14			1945 (2 folders)
Box 14			1945-1946
Box 14			1945-1949
Box 14			1945-1955
Box 14			1946 (3 folders)
Box 14			1946-1949 (2 folders)
Box 14			1946-1953
Box 14			1947
Box 14			1948
Box 14			1948-1970
Box 14			1949
Box 14			1949-1950
Box 14			1949-1955
Box 14			1950
Box 15			1950
Box 15			1950-1953
Box 15			1950-1955
Box 15			1951
Box 15			1951-1959
Box 15			1952 (2 folders)
Box 15			1953
Box 15			1953-1954
Box 15			1954 (2 folders)
Box 15			1954-1956
Box 15			1954-1957
Box 15			1955 (2 folders)
Box 15			1955-1957
Box 15			1956
Box 15			1956-1957
Box 15			1957 (3 folders)
Box 15			1957-1958
Box 15			1958
Box 16			1958 (2 folders)
Box 16			1958-1961
Box 16			1959
Box 16			1960
Box 16			1960-1965
Box 16			1961
Box 16			1961-1962
Box 16			1961-1967
Box 16			1962 (2 folders)
Box 16			1962-1965
Box 16			1962-1968
Box 16			1963
Box 16			1964
Box 16			1965 (2 folders)
Box 16			1966 (2 folders)
Box 16			1967
Box 17			1967 (2 folders)
Box 17			1967-1970
Box 17			1968 (2 folders)
Box 17			1969
Box 17			1969-1970
Box 17			1970
Box 17			1970-1972
Box 17			1974
Box 17		Creeds in Competition 1958
Box 17		Dade County Schools, Florida
Box 17		Di Censo
Box 17		Florida Presbyterian College 1960
Box 17		Hokkaido Law Review Reprint – Church and State 1966
Box 17		Housing Discrimination, Jones Case – St. Louis 1967
		Humane Slaughtering Bill
Box 17			1956 (2 folders)
Box 17			1957
Box 17			1958
Box 17			1958-1959
Box 17			1958-1967
Box 18			1959
Box 18			1959-1961
Box 18			1961
Box 18			1961-1965
Box 18			1965-1967
Box 18		Japanese Language in Schools 1949
Box 18		Lecture bookings 1966-1967
		News clippings
Box 18			1950
Box 18			1951
Box 18			1951-1955
Box 18			1955-1959
Box 18			1962-1964
Box 18			1975
Box 18			Bible-Reading in School – Doremus Case 1952
Box 18			Distributing Bibles in School 1953
Box 18			Funding Religious Schools 1968
Box 18			Job Oath of Atheist – Torcaso Case 1961
Box 18			Krieger Tribunal – Nazi Concentration Camp 1950
				See also General files: Krieger vs. Mittelman (box 21) and Miscellaneous: Krieger-Mittelman Tribunal (box 25)
Box 18			New York State Textbooks 1968
Box 18			Miscellaneous
Box 18			Opposing Tuition Grants 1968
Box 18			Parochial School Aid 1951
Box 18			Prayer in Public Schools 1962
Box 18			Released Time 1948
			Reviews
Box 18				Church, State, and Freedom 1953
Box 18				"Religion, Education, and the Constitution" 1948
			Sabbath vs. Unemployment Compensation
Box 18				1948
Box 18				1951
			School Aid
Box 18				1950-1951
Box 18				1961
Box 18				1966-1968
Box 18			Work on Sabbath 1949-1951
Box 19		Parochial School Busing 1946
Box 19		Political Science Teaching Appointment, Long Island University 1964
		Released time
Box 19			1945
Box 19			1952
Box 19		"Religion in a Free Society" 1958
Box 19		Religion in Government
Box 19		"Religion and Public Education" 1947
Box 19		Reviews of Mr. Pfeffer's Books
Box 19		Senate Judiciary Subcommittee, Hennings 1955
Box 19		Sioux City Cemetary Restrictions 1954
		Speaking invitations
Box 19			1951-1969
Box 19			1955-1969
Box 19		Speeches 1958-1961
Box 19		Sunday Laws (3 folders)
Box 19		Television debate – Parochial Schools 1961
			See also General files: Correspondence: Television debate (boxes 13 and 14)
		Unemployment benefits and Sabbath
Box 19			1948
Box 19			1954
Box 19		Yarmulka – in School, Court
Box 19		Zoning (2 folders)
Box 20		1960
Box 20		Becker Amendment: Prayer in School
Box 20		Bible in Public School, New Jersey 1952
Box 20		Bible Reading in School – Doremus Case 1952
Box 20		Brighton, New York – Zoning Laws Prohibiting Churches 1954
Box 20		Censorship of Film, "The Miracle" 1953-1957
		Correspondence
Box 20			1948-1950
Box 20			1949
Box 20			1950
Box 20			1951
Box 20			1952-1954
Box 20			1957
Box 20			1962-1963
Box 20			1966
Box 20		Creeds in Competition Press Release
Box 20		Darwin in Arkansas School 1968
Box 20		Di Censo (3 folders)
Box 20		Flast vs. Gardner
Box 21		Flast vs. Gardner
Box 21		Fountain Street Church 1969
Box 21		Humane Slaughtering Bill (3 folders)
Box 21		Immigration (5 folders)
Box 21		Krieger vs. Mittelman 1950
			See also General files: Krieger Tribunal (box 18) and Miscellaneous: Krieger-Mittelman Tribunal (box 25)
Box 21		Lemon vs. Sloan 1971
Box 22		Lincoln Square Project 1956
Box 22		Lynch Child's Religion Case
		Miscellaneous
Box 22			General
Box 22			1947-1968
Box 22			1953-1960
Box 22		Missouri Civil Rights 1948
Box 22		Mitchel Field Give-Away 1962
		News Clippings
Box 22			Adoption and Religion 1955
Box 22			Pfeffer
			Prayer in Schools
Box 22				1962 (3 folders)
Box 22				Miami 1962 (2 folders)
Box 22			School Aid 1968
Box 22			Tilton 1969
Box 22		Oregon Textbook Suit 1957-1961
Box 22		Prayer in School
Box 23			General
Box 23			1961 (3 folders)
Box 23			Schempp vs. Abington, Pa. (2 folders)
Box 24		Released Time
Box 24		Religion in Schools 1951
Box 24		Separation of Church and State
Box 24		Sunday Labor Suit – Kuperschmid 1962
Box 24		Sunday Work Laws 1949
Box 24		Supreme Court – Aid to Public Schools
Box 24		Ten Commandments
Box 24		This Honorable Court Reviews
		Tilton
Box 24			1969
Box 24			Correspondence
Box 24			Documents (2 folders)
Box 24		Unbound pages
Box 24		Unemployment benefits and Sabbath 1952
Box 24		Voting in Churches 1969
Box 24		Zoning – St. Louis vs. Temple Israel

	Miscellaneous
		Bill of Rights Conference, Long Island University 1966
Box 25			Guest register (1 vol.)
Box 25			Pamphlets
Box 25		Krieger-Mittelman Tribunal – Nazi Concentration Camp 1950
Box 25		Life Magazine Article, "You Are the Man Who Killed My Brother."
			See also General files: Krieger Tribunal (box 18) and Krieger vs. Mittelman (box 21)
		Church, State, and Freedom
Box 25			Cover design
Box 25			Computer-printed proofs

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