Malcolm Henry Stern (January 29, 1915 – January 5, 1994) was an American rabbi, historian, and genealogist. Through the work he did that supported secular genealogical communities and resources, as well as created what is the structure and backbone of current Jewish genealogical societies, Stern's efforts created long-lasting, far-reaching cooperative organizations. For these reasons, Stern has been described as the dean of American Jewish genealogy.

Early life Stern was born in Philadelphia, to Arthur Kaufman Stern and Henrietta Stern (née Berkowitz). In his early childhood, his family moved from Philadelphia to a farm in Fox Chase, Pennsylvania, where he grew up. He had one brother, Edward Stern.

Stern's family was from the early German Jewish community of Philadelphia. His father and grandfather worked at the family business, Jacob Stern & Sons, where they were hides and tallow processors. In the 1920s, Stern's father sold his share of the business to retire to the farm in Fox Chase; Stern described this as his father's attempts to be a bit of a gentleman farmer, as well as author, playwright, and painter. After the Wall Street Crash of 1929, Stern's father became an independent real estate agent.

Stern's mother was active in organizing Jewish summer camps for Philadelphia-area children. She was involved in supporting the National Farm School (now the Delaware Valley College of Science and Agriculture), which was founded by her uncle Rabbi Joseph Krauskopf in 1896, and where her ashes are now interred. She was also active with the local Juvenile Aid Society. The foster children would often spend Sundays at the family's farm in Fox Chase.

Stern said that when they moved from the tight-knit German Jewish community in Philadelphia to Fox Chase, where they were the first Jews in the neighborhood, he and his brother would get chased home and called anti-semitic names.

Education For parts of his childhood, Stern's parents took the family to Europe, where they traveled extensively. He learned German from a German governess in Hamburg. Stern spent seven months in school in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Stern completed a BA from the University of Pennsylvania (1935), followed at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati: a BA (Hebrew Letters; 1937), an MA (Hebrew Letters, 1941) and PhD (Hebrew Letters in American Jewish History, 1957). Stern completed a Doctor of Divinity at Hebrew Union College (1966).

Career

Rabbinic career

Philadelphia Stern studied as did many of his family at Hebrew Union College, he to be a rabbi.

Stern was assistant rabbi to Rabbi Fineshriber (1941 to 1943) at the Reform Congregation Keneseth Israel, in Philadelphia, his great-uncle, Joseph Krauskopf having served as rabbi. After the war (1946 to 1947), Stern returned to work as a rabbi at Keneseth Israel.

In 1942, Stern was one of 90 Reform rabbis to sign a statement in support of aid to Jews in Palestine, but that did not endorse Zionism. The published statement said that the signatories were "opposing growing secularism and favoring greater emphasis on transcendent moral and religious values and principles in American life."

In 1943, Stern took a sabbatical from his position at Keneseth Israel to serve a Chaplain in the US Army Air Corps. Inflight to India the plane the unit was on crashed at Casablanca. He wrote his father, who shared it with the local press, he thought himself fortunate to suffer only a broken arm and leg;

Norfolk, Virginia From 1947 to 1964, Stern was Rabbi of Ohef Sholom Temple in Norfolk, Virginia. While there, he completed a Doctor of Hebrew Letters in 1957 in American Jewish History under the tutelage of Dr. Jacob Rader Marcus.

Stern was an amateur musicologist, writing program notes for the Norfolk Symphony Orchestra. He also served as chairman of the Committee on Synagogue Music of the Central Conference of American Rabbis.

In 1960, Stern served as editor in chief of the Union Songster for Reform Judaism and coordinated the revision of the Union Hymnal, both of which are considered by Reform Jews to be the commonly used hymnals for religious services. He co-edited Songs and Hymns for Gates of Prayer, the New Union Prayer Book (GOP) that is a Reform Jewish siddur. He chaired the committee that created Shaarei Shira/Gates of Song.

New York City From 1964 to 1980, Stern was the Central Conference of American Rabbis' first Director of Rabbinic Placement for Reform Judaism, assigning rabbis to congregations.

After leaving CCAR in 1980, Stern joined the Hebrew Union College's faculty as adjunct professor, where he lectured in Jewish History. He was also a field-work counselor for rabbinic students. Stern held both positions until his death. Hebrew Union President, Dr. Alfred Gottschalk, said Stern's "scholarship, his pioneering seminal research in American Jewish genealogy and writings remain a rich legacy and memorial."

Genealogy career

Stern's interest in genealogy, he said, "started in grade school when he traced the descendants of Charlemagne for an assignment."

From 1949 to 1994, Stern was the genealogist for the American Jewish Archives in Cincinnati.

In 1960, Stern published Americans of Jewish Descent, an extensively, fully sourced, with family tree diagrams of all Jewish families who lived in American pre-1840. The work contained 26,000 names. Two more enlarged editions of the book followed: 1978's First American Jewish Families: 600 Genealogies, 1654–1977 and 1991's First American Jewish Families: 600 Genealogies, 1654–1988, which had over 50,000 surnames. The book was a groundbreaking volume of names and extensive research; many pre-1840 families, learned they had Jewish roots. It was considered one of the most valuable research tools in American Jewish genealogy and history. The work in these books was a source for much of Stephen Birmingham's 1981 book, The Grandees: America's Sephardic Elite.

Stern was responsible for helping to establish the early Jewish genealogical societies in the United States. He was on the committee that hosted the first of what would become the annual International Conference on Jewish Genealogy now sponsored by the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS). He was instrumental in founding IAJGS.

During his time as President of the Federation of Genealogical Societies, Stern worked to create the Genealogical Coordinating Committee. In a meeting in Salt Lake City in 1980, Stern brought together leaders from various genealogical entities—FGS, American Society of Genealogists, Association of Genealogical Educators, Association of Professional Genealogists, Board for Certification of Genealogists, International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) and the National Genealogical Society—with a goal to foster better relationships between various genealogical groups that had common interests, especially supporting the work of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) so it would be available to genealogists. This meeting led to the formation of the Genealogical Coordinating Committee two years later, with a resulting National Archives Gift Fund (now known as the Malcolm H. Stern NARA Gift Fund) established. The purpose of the fund was to support NARA and other genealogical interests. Member organizations donated $1 per genealogist per year.

Activism While in Norfolk, Virginia, Stern was a civil right advocate, working against segregation and racism in the community Rabbi Kerry M. Olitzky said that Stern "fought for the civil rights of African Americans at a time and a place where such a stand was both unpopular and dangerous." In 1951, Stern spoke at the Hunton Branch YMCA's "Y's" Men's Club urging members to donate blood, he said, "in order to show belief in the equality of races, since no distinction on account of color is made between blood donated at the center." NARA Independence (1981-1984) In 1981, when President Ronald Reagan's budget threatened the National Archives, Stern spearheaded efforts of genealogy and historical communities to support Archives Independence Bill S1421, in order to make NARA independent. On June 21, 1984, the United States Senate voted unanimously to S. 905, a bill that would separate NARA from the General Services Administration. On August 2, 1984, the House of Representatives passed similar legislation. In 1989, Stern testified before the United States Congress, where he stated that the Archivist of the United States should not be an administrator, but rather a scholar. In 1990, Stern worked with the National Archives and Records Administration to prepare four American genealogists for a genealogical mission to Russia, where they had been invited to help educate former Soviet archivists on how to respond to American requests for information about Russian ancestry. As part of these efforts, Stern helped to found the Russian-American Genealogical Archival Service (RAGAS).

Membership activities Alphabetical by organization Trustee, American Jewish Historical Society President (1976–1979), American Society of Genealogists. Also: Secretary, 1968–1973; Vice President, 1973-1976 Trustee, Federation of Genealogical Societies. Also: Vice President, 1985-1988 President (1979–1984), Jewish Genealogical Society Member, Jewish Historical Society of England Founder, Jewish Historical Society of New York Fellow, National Genealogical Society Fellow, New York Genealogical and Biographical Society Vice President of Gomez Mill House in Newburgh, New York, oldest surviving Jewish residence (built in 1716) in North America

Ten Commandments for Genealogists Stern wrote the Ten Commandments for Genealogists, which has become widely cited and is a cornerstone of Jewish genealogy.

Honors 1986: "Living Treasures," by View From the Torch, an organization devoted to promoting New York's cultural, ethnic and artistic diversity. People who have made significant contributions to New York City. Certificate of recognition from the New York Chamber of Commerce and Industry 1987: Jewish Genealogical Society (New York), Testimonial Brunch 1988: Federation of Genealogical Societies' George E. Williams Award for outstanding contributions to the FGS and to the genealogical community Stern was and is the only Jewish Fellow of both the Federation of Genealogical Societies and the American Society of Genealogists

Gift funds/grants Ongoing: Federation of Genealogical Societies' Malcolm H. Stern NARA Gift Fund. Finances preservation of research materials at National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) Ongoing: IAJGS' Rabbi Malcolm Stern Grant

Personal life In 1941, Stern married Louise Steinhart Bergman. They had no children. In 1994, Stern died in New York City of a heart attack.

Stern's maternal great uncle is the Rabbi Joseph Krauskopf.

Works and publications Chronological order

Archival papers Stern, Malcolm Henry. Malcolm H. Stern Papers, 1882-1994. New York, NY: American Jewish Archives.

Monographs Stern, Malcolm H. The Jews of Norfolk. Norfolk, Va: M.H. Stern, 1950. Stern, Malcolm H. Two Studies in the Assimilation of Early American Jewry I. Endogamic. II. Exogamic, Based on Tentatively Complete Genealogical Tables of All Jewish Families Settled in America Prior to 1840. Thesis/dissertation. Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College/Jewish Institute of Religion, 1956. Stern, Malcolm H. The Descendants of Salomon Jaroslawski. S.l: s.n., 1956. Stern, Malcolm H. The Function of Genealogy in American Jewish History. Cincinnati: (Hebrew Union College Press), 1958. Postal, Bernard, and Malcolm H. Stern. Tourist's Guide to Jewish History in the Caribbean. [New York]: American Airlines, 1975. Stern, Malcolm H. Jewish Family Genealogies and Histories. Salt Lake City, Utah: Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1977.