Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society
1902 - present
In 1904, HIAS discovered that the United Hebrew Congregation representative at Ellis Island did not speak Yiddish and set out to raise enough money to place its own worker on Ellis Island. HIAS helped immigrants as they arrived at Ellis Island to find jobs, housing and to locate relatives. HIAS distributed clothes to immigrants in need, provided legal advice, appealed deportation orders and investigated conditions on arriving ships. The Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society opened in 1902, and in 1909 merged with the Hebrew Sheltering House Association.The organization lobbied Congress and New York for pro-immigrant legislation. Over the first decades of the 20th century, HIAS helped hundreds of thousands of immigrants and gained the trust of the immigrant community on the Lower East Side.
Details
- Category
- Organization/Association
- Audience
- All Ages
- Founder(s)
- Kasriel Sarasohn
- Corporate Body
- Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society
- Tags
- representation, philanthropy, immigration, socialwelfare
- Notes
- HIAS has moved its location several times. In 1920, the organization purchased a building on 425 Lafayette Street and moved there until the 1960s. HIAS's New York location is currently on 5th Avenue. The headquarters are in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Location
-
411 Fifth Ave. Suite 1006. New York, NY 100161965 - present
Archival Collections
-
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1875 - ?at New York Public LibrarySites of Teaching & Learning 7
References
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Polland, A., & Soyer, D. (2015). Emerging Metropolis: New York jews in the age of Immigration, 1840-1920. New York University Press.