Population

This bibliography collects Jewish population surveys conducted throughout Western Pennsylvania between 1852 and 2017. These surveys were conducted by various entities, using a range of methodologies, each with nuances and shortcomings. Researchers looking to understand the usefulness and limitations of the major national population surveys are encouraged to consult the chapter “Patterns of Evidence: Identifying Community,” from Lee Shai Weissbach’s Jewish Life in Small-Town America: A History.

National surveys include “A Jewish Calendar for Fifty Years” (1854), “Statistics of the Jews of the United States” (1880), the entry for “United States” in the Jewish Encyclopedia (1905), and seven surveys conducted by the American Jewish Committee between 1907 and 1992 and published in its American Jewish Yearbook. These surveys provide some of the only known Jewish population statistics for many of the small-town Jewish communities in the tri-state region surrounding Pittsburgh in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The earliest population surveys compiled locally are estimates made by members of the Jewish community of Pittsburgh in the mid-19th century. These were submitted to the two major national Anglo-Jewish newspapers of the time: the Occident and American Jewish Advocate and the American Israelite. From the mid-1920s through the late-1950s, the Hebrew Institute of Pittsburgh conducted surveys of the Jewish elementary and high school student population. Although limited to children, these surveys provide useful neighborhood-level Jewish population estimates throughout the middle decades of the 20th century, as well as enrollment figures for public schools and Jewish religious schools.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh conducted seven population surveys between 1938 and 2017. These surveys are limited to Pittsburgh proper and its major suburban areas. Census tract population data from the 1938 and 1963 surveys can be found in the appendices of “The Changing Pattern of the Distribution of the Jewish Population of Pittsburgh From Earliest Settlement to 1963,” published by Leonard Kuntz in 1970.

Bibliography

• “News Items—Pittsburg, Pa,” The Occident and American Jewish Advocate, September 1852 (online—NIL.org).
• Lyons, Jacques J. and Abraham de Sola. “A Jewish Calendar for Fifty Years,” Bloch Publishing and Printing Company, 1854 (online—Internet Archive).
• “Statistics of the Jews of the United States,” Philadelphia, Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1880 (online—Hathi Trust).
• The Jewish Encyclopedia, sv “United States: Statistics” (online—JewishEncyclopedia.com).
• Greenstone, Julius H. ed. “Statistical Data of the Jewish Religious Schools of Baltimore, Maryland and Pittsburg, Pennsylvania,” Philadelphia: Gratz College, 1908 (online—Hathi Trust).
• Feldman, Jacob S. “The early migration and settlement of the Jews in Pittsburgh, 1754-1894,” undated (online).

American Israelite

• Wise, Rabbi Isaac M. “Editorial Correspondence—No. 1,” The American Israelite, Oct. 30, 1857 (online—Newspapers.com).
• “Letters to the Editor,” American Israelite, Jan. 15, 1858 (online—Newspapers.com).
• Wise, Rabbi Isaac M. “Editorial Correspondence—No. 2,” The American Israelite, Jan. 1, 1864 (online—Newspapers.com).

American Jewish Yearbook

• “Directory of National Jewish Organizations: Pennsylvania,” American Jewish Year Book, Vol. 9 (1907-1908) (online).
• “The Jewish Population of the United States: Pennsylvania,” American Jewish Year Book Vol. 21 (1919-1920) (online).
• “Jewish Population of the United States: 1927,” American Jewish Year Book Vol. 30 (1928-1929) (online).
• “Jewish Communities of the United States,” American Jewish Year Book Vol. 42 (1940-1941) (online).
• “Jewish Communities of the United States,” American Jewish Year Book Vol. 52 (1951) (online).
• “Jewish Population in the United States, 1983,” American Jewish Year Book Vol. 84 (1984) (online).
• “Jewish Population in the United States, 1991,” American Jewish Year Book Vol. 92 (1992) (online).

Hebrew Institute of Pittsburgh

• “Report on Jewish Education,” Jewish Criterion, June 6, 1924, p. 23 (online).
• “9,463 Jewish Children Attend Public School,” Jewish Criterion, Oct. 24, 1924, p. 24-25 (online).
• Shoop, H. Norman. “Hebrew Institute Completes Census of Jewish Students,” Jewish Criterion, Oct. 29, 1926, p. 14 (online).
• “Pittsburgh Jews Losing Ground, Hebrew Institute School Census Shows,” Jewish Criterion, Nov. 2, 1928, p. 35 (online).
• “Significant Shifting in Jewish Population of Pittsburgh Revealed,” Jewish Criterion, Nov. 16, 1928, p. 22 (online).
• “Hebrew Institute of Pittsburgh 1930 Census Taken By Mr. I. A. Abrams,” Jewish Criterion, Oct. 31, 1930 (online).
• Abrams, Israel. “Hebrew Institute of Pittsburgh Census for 1934,” Jewish Criterion, Nov. 9, 1934, p. 30 (online).
• Abrams, Israel. “Lag in Jewish Education for High School Students,” American Jewish Outlook, June 5, 1936, p. 4 (online).
• Abrams, Israel. “Jewish Education Is In Deplorable State Here,” American Jewish Outlook, Oct. 8, 1937, p. 3 (online).
• “Jewish Children Attending Pittsburgh Public Schools: 1924-39,” from Hebrew Institute Records [MSS 512] (online).
• “Drop in Jewish Child Population Here,” Jewish Criterion, Oct. 26, 1945, p. 38-39 (online).
• Abrams, Israel. “Jewish Education—A Communal Responsibility,” Jewish Criterion, Oct. 1, 1948, p. 45 (online).
• Abrams, Solomon. “Hebrew Institute Releases Annual Census in Pittsburgh,” American Jewish Outlook, Feb. 4, 1949, p. 25 (online).
• Abrams, Solomon. “Survey Notes Increase Of Jewish Students In Elementary Schools,” Jewish Criterion, Feb. 4, 1949, p. 21 (online).
• “Where Are We Going?” American Jewish Outlook, Nov. 4, 1949, p. 15 (online).
• “Jewish Children Attending Pittsburgh Public Schools: 1940-49,” from Hebrew Institute Records [MSS 512] (online).
• “Hebrew Institute Head Releases Census Figures for 1951-1952,” Jewish Criterion, Oct. 3, 1952, p. 28 (online).
• “Hebrew Institute Head Releases Census Figures for 1951-1952,” American Jewish Outlook, Oct. 3, 1952, p. 23 (online).
• “Shifts in Jewish Children Population: 1924-1958,” from Hebrew Institute Records [MSS 512] (online).
• “Jewish Childen In Attendance at at Various Grade Schools and High Schools in the City of Pittsburgh,” from Hebrew Institute Records [MSS 512] (online).

Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh

• Taylor, Maurice. “A Sample Study of the Jewish Population of Pittsburgh, 1938,” Jewish Social Studies Publications, No. 3, 1943 (full report; summary report)—Berman Jewish Databank).
• “A Look at the Resources for the Stanton Heights Jewish Community: Part I of the Stanton Heights Self-Study,” November 1955 (online).
• Kuntz, Leonard. “The Jewish Community of Pittsburgh,  A Population Study, 1963,” United Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh (online—Berman Jewish Databank).
• Kuntz, Leonard. “The Changing Pattern of the Distribution of the Jewish Population of Pittsburgh From Earliest Settlement to 1963,” 1970 (online—LSU Digital Commons).
• Jewish Community of Allegheny County demographic study (summary), 1976, Jewish Chronicle of Pittsburgh, March 10, 1977 (online).
• Schoor, Ann. “1984 Survey of Greater Pittsburgh’s Jewish Population,” United Jewish Federation of Pittsburgh (online—Berman Jewish Databank).
• Elster, Susan, et al. “1993 Pittsburgh Squirrel Hill Study,” United Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh (online—Berman Jewish Databank).
• Ukeles, Jacob B. and Ron Miller. “2002 Pittsburgh Jewish Community Study,” United Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh/Jewish Healthcare Foundation (online—Berman Jewish Databank).
• Boxer, Matthew, et al. “2017 Greater Pittsburgh Jewish Community Study,” Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh (online—Berman Jewish Databank).

Exhibit history

• Author: Eric Lidji
• Original: April 10, 2023
• Current: November 14, 2024