REPORT OF THE FIFTY-FIRST YEAR OF THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA 1938-1939 THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA OFFICERS PRESIDENT J. SOUS-COHEN, Jr., Philadelphia VICE-PRESIDENT HON. HORACE STERN, Philadelphia TREASURER HOWARD A. WOLF, Philadelphia EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MAURICE JACOBS, Philadelphia EDITOR DR. SOLOMON GRAYZEL, Philadelphia HONORARY VICE-PRESIDENTS ISAAC W. BERNHEIM2 Denver REV. DR. HENRY COHEN3 Galveston HON. ABRAM I. ELKUS2 New York City Louis E. KIRSTEIN3 Boston HON. JULIAN W. MACKS New York City HON. MURRAY SEASONGOOD2 Cincinnati HON. M. C. SLOSS2 San Francisco REV. DR. JOSEPH STOLZ2 Chicago TRUSTEES MARCUS AARON2 Pittsburgh DR. CYRUS ADLER2 Philadelphia PHILIP AMRAM2 .' Philadelphia EDWARD BAKER3 Cleveland HART BLUMENTHAL1 Philadelphia FRED M. BUTZEL1 Detroit J. SOLIS-COHEN, JR.2 Philadelphia BERNARD L. FRANKEL1 Philadelphia LIONEL FRIEDMANN2 Philadelphia REV. DR. SOLOMON GOLDMAN2 Chicago REV. DR. NATHAN KRASS3 New York City SAMUEL C. LAMPORT3 New York City t. Terms expire in 1940 2. Terms expire in 1941 3. Terms expire in 1942 667 668 AMERICAN JEWISH Y^AR BOOK HON. LOUIS E. LEVINTHAL2 Philadelphia HOWARD S. LEVY3 Philadelphia REV. DR. LOUIS L. MANNS Chicago SIMON MILLER' Philadelphia CARL H. PFORZHEIMERS New York City DR. A. S. W. ROSENBACH1 Philadelphia FRANK J. RUBENSTEIN1 Baltimore HARRY SCHERMAN3 New York City REV. DR. ABBA HILLEL SILVER2 Cleveland HON. HORACE STERN1 Philadelphia EDWIN WOLF,2ND2 Philadelphia HOWARD A. WOLF2 Philadelphia PUBLICATION COMMITTEE HON. LOUIS E. LEVINTHAL, Chairman Philadelphia DR. CYRUS ADLER Philadelphia REV. DR. MORTIMER J. COHEN Philadelphia J. SOLIS-COHEN, JR Philadelphia DR. SOLOMON SOLIS-COHEN Philadelphia REV. DR. H. W. ETTELSON Memphis REV. DR. WM. H. FINESHRIBER Philadelphia BERNARD L. FRANKEL Philadelphia FELIX N. GERSON Philadelphia DR. NATHAN G. GOODMAN Philadelphia DR. SOLOMON GRAYZEL Philadelphia REV. DR. MAX D. KLEIN Philadelphia DR. ALEXANDER MARX New York City SIMON MILLER Philadelphia REV. DR. JULIAN MORGENSTERN Cincinnati REV. DR. ABRAHAM A. NEUMAN Philadelphia REV. DR. DAVID PHILIPSON Cincinnati DR. JOSEPH REIDER Philadelphia DR. A. S. W. ROSENBACH Philadelphia DR. ABRAM LEON SACHAR Champaign REV. DR. SAMUEL SCHULMAN New York City REV. DR. SIDNEY S. TEDESCHE Brooklyn EDWIN WOLF, 2ND Philadelphia JEWISH CLASSICS COMMITTEE DR. CYRUS ADLER, Chairman Philadelphia DR. SOLOMON SOLIS-COHEN : Philadelphia PROF. LOUIS GINZBERG New York City DR. JACOB Z. LAUTERBACH Cincinnati DR. ALEXANDER MARX New York City REV. DR. DAVID PHILIPSON Cincinnati REV. DR. SAMUEL SCHULMAN New York City 1. Terms expire in 1940 2. Terms expire in 1941 3. Terms expire in 1942. THE FIFTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING OF THE JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY OF AMERICA The Fifty-first Annual Meeting of the Jewish Publication Society of America was held on Wednesday, June 7th, at 8:30 P. M., at the Dropsie College, Broad & York Streets, Philadelphia. The meeting was called to order by the President, Mr. J. Solis-Cohen, Jr., at 8:30 P. M. Upon motion duly made and carried, it was voted to approve the minutes of the Fiftieth Annual Meeting as printed and distributed in Volume 40 of the American Jewish Year Book. The President announced the appointment of the fol- lowing Nominating Committee: Lionel Friedmann, Chair- man, Howard A. Wolf, and Philip Amram. The Treasurer of the Society, Mr. Howard A. Wolf, made his annual report, and upon motion made and unani- mously carried, the report of the Treasurer was adopted and ordered printed in Volume 41 of the American Jewish Year Book. Judge Louis E. Levinthal, the Chairman of the Publi- cation Committee, read his report, which was approved and ordered printed in Volume 41 of the Year Book. A letter from Dr. Cyrus Adler regretting his inability to attend the meeting was read. The President, Mr. J. Solis-Cohen, Jr., read his sixth report, which was enthusiastically accepted by the audience and ordered printed in Volume 41 of the Year Book. Mr. Philip Amram, the Chairman of the Resolutions Committee, moved the adoption of memorial resolutions on members of the "Official Family" and authors who had died during the year. The motion was unanimously carried, and the resolutions were ordered printed in the Year Book. He read another resolution memorializing the work of Mr. J. Solis-Cohen, Jr. as Acting Chairman of the 670 AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK Publication Committee for five years, and this resolution was adopted and ordered printed in the Year Book. The Nominating Committee recommended the election of the following Officers and Trustees, and the report was unanimously approved: President: Mr. J. Solis-Cohen, Jr.* Vice-President: Hon. Horace Stern* Trustees (for three years) EDWARD BAKER* HOWARD S. LEVY* REV. DR. NATHAN KRASS* REV. DR. LOUIS MANN* SAMUEL C. LAMPORT* CARL PFORZHEIMER* HARRY SCHERMAN* The Committee further recommended that existing vacancies in the "Official Family" be filled by the Board of Trustees during the year 1939. Respectfully submitted, MAURICE JACOBS, Executive Director At the meeting of the Board of Trustees called after the Annual Meeting, the following Officers were unanimoulsy elected by the Board for the ensuing year of 1939: Treasurer: HOWARD A. WOLF* Executive Director: MAURICE JACOBS* Editor: DR. SOLOMON GRAYZEL Respectfully submitted, MAURICE JACOBS Executive Director •Re-elected. JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY 671 TREASURER'S REPORT SUMMARIZED COMBINED INCOME STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1938 COMPARED WITH THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1937 ESTIMATED BUDGET Revenues 1937 1938 1939 Dues... $29 924 34 $37 263 60 $40 000 922 68 336 92 250 Sales-Hebrew Press 24,098.76 24,713.34 25,000 Sales—Jewish Publication Society 22,560.19 22,672.36 23,000 Interest 580.61 498.74 500 78 086 58 85 484 96 88,750 Expenses 88,223.85 95,106.16 88,565 Income 185 10 137 27 9 621 20 From Funds 2,500.00 12,705.86 2,000 3,084.66 2,185 Net Loss 7,637.27 The year 1938 showed an increased income from membership dues brought about by expenditures for promotional activities. It was necessary to finance some publications from funds during 1938, and it is hoped that the increased membership will make such action unnecessary in the future. The Fund liabilities have been considerably reduced during 1938, and the Surplus increased. Respectfully submitted, HOWARD A. WOLF Treasurer 672 AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK COMPARATIVE COMBINED BALANCE SHEETS December 31, 1938 December 31, 1937 Assets Cash $ 1,010.85 $ l,070.< Accounts Receivable 15,455.92 15,436.1 Inventories Publications & Work in Process $18,111.79 $20,727.57 Classics Fund Publications 774.90 754.95 Paper 768.56 19,655.25 1,480.92 22,963.4 Investments Cash Uninvested 603.13 5,125.45 Securities 31,585.00 32,188.13 31,765.89 36,891.3 Plant, Equipment, Furniture, etc 2.00 Prepaid Publication Costs.. 2,814.58 1,077.5 Prepaid Insurance 117.59 170.! 71,244.32 77,612.4 Liabilities Accounts Payable $10,754.08 $ 8,682.( Customer's Deposits 1,013.92 2,066.: Fund Accounts 35,751.22 47,623.1 Reserve for Completion of Unfinished Publications. 6,081.23 3,939.; Surplus 17,643.87 15,300.; $71,244.32 $77,612.' JEWISH PUBLICATION SOCIETY 673 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT FOR YEAR 1938 LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:— The successful completion of a most ambitious publish- ing program, a satisfactory increase in membership, a wide distribution of our books and a very busy year for the press, are the important accomplishments of the fifty-first year of the Society's existence. During the year we celebrated our Golden Jubilee in a dignified and impressive manner. For 1938 your Board of Trustees and Publication Committee planned the most extensive program ever attempted by the Society in any one year, believing that was the best way to celebrate our Fiftieth Anniversary, so that all our members could parti- cipate. In addition, we had a splended celebration in Philadelphia, in which six men participated who were also present at the organization of the Society fifty years ago — I refer to Dr. Cyrus Adler, Dr. Solomon Solis-Cohen, Mr. Simon Miller, Dr. Ludwig Loeb, Mr. Felix N. Gerson of this city and Dr. David Philipson of Cincinnati. Dr. Adler was kind enough to act as Honorary Chairman and Mr. Morris Wolf as General Chairman of the celebra- tion. The first meeting was a historical meeting held in Dropsie College with Dr. Philipson as Chairman and papers were presented by Dr. Mortimer J. Cohen, Dr. Solomon Solis-Cohen, Mr. Simon Miller, Dr. Solomon Grayzel and Dr. Isaac Husik. In the evening a banquet was held in the ball-room of the Philadelphia Y. M. H. A. Mr. Morris Wolf acted as toastmaster and the speakers included Dr. Cyrus Adler, Mr. Felix Gerson, who read an original poem written for the occasion, Prof. Max Lerner and your President. It seemed to be the consensus of opinion that this was one of the finest community meet- ings held in years and it was particularly gratifying to the Committee not only to have in attendance many who have been members of the Society for a long period of years as well as those whose affiliation has been more recent, but to have received from cultural groups all over the world 674 AMERICAN JEWISH YEAR BOOK encouraging messages and felicitations. A complete resume of the addresses made on this occasion will soon be printed in a special volume. Publications: Now as to our publishing program, we planned seven titles and eight volumes for 1938 and while we were a little late in getting several of these books into our members' hands, this program was completed. The outstanding book in my opinion was the ZANGWILL OMNIBUS VOLUME containing over 1500 pages and includ- ing "Children of the Ghetto, Ghetto Comedies and Ghetto Tragedies." It was well received by our members, enthus- iastically so by the generation in which Israel Zangwill is a name rather than a personality.