This collection includes two scrapbooks containing newspaper clippings, letters, receipts, family photographs, and the written memories of Jewish, Lithuanian-American merchant A. Michael Barker (1886-1943) of Wilson, North Carolina. Topics represented in the scrapbooks include family life, relief efforts for Jewish victims of World War I in Europe, the Zionist movement, Nazi atrocities against Jews in Europe, and the speeches of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Barker’s approximately 49 pages of memories (circa 1942-1943) detail his financial troubles, family updates, and feelings on the treatment of Jews in Germany.

This collection consists of two scrapbooks containing newspaper clippings, letters, receipts, family photographs, and the written memories of A. Michael Barker (1886-1943) of Wilson, North Carolina. Additional items not contained in the scrapbooks include family photographs, a letter, and a ketubah. The scrapbooks were named for World War I and World War II according to the approximate time of the creation of their contents and the subject matter of the newspaper clippings. Topics represented in the scrapbooks include family life, relief efforts for Jewish victims of World War I in Europe, the Zionist movement, Nazi atrocities against Jews in Europe, and the speeches of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Barker’s approximately 49 pages of memories (circa 1942-1943) detail his financial troubles, family updates, and feelings on the treatment of Jews in Germany. Most of the correspondence is between Michael Barker or Anna Harris Barker and immediate and extended family members.

Barker created the scrapbooks from financial ledgers of his businesses in New Jersey and Wilson, North Carolina, and the financial entries are largely obscured by scrapbook inserts. While he created a majority of the content of the scrapbooks, some items were added after his death, presumably by another family member.

The oral history video recordings, audio recordings, and transcripts in this collection were produced or collected by the Jewish Heritage Foundation of North Carolina (JHFNC) and historian Leonard Rogoff as source material for various projects related to the history of Jews in North Carolina. The collection consists of individual and group interviews of Jewish residents of urban and rural North Carolina, including rabbis. Topics discussed by interviewees include family and community history, religious education, participation in Jewish congregations, anti-Semitism and race relations the civil rights movement in North Carolina, World War II military service and the Holocaust, family businesses, and philanthropy. Interviewers include Rogoff, Robin Gruber, and Steven Channing.

The oral history video recordings, audio recordings, and transcripts in this collection were created or collected by the Jewish Heritage Foundation of North Carolina (JHFNC) and historian Leonard Rogoff as source material for various projects related to the history of Jews in North Carolina. The collection consists of individual and group interviews of Jewish residents of urban and rural North Carolina, including rabbis and elected public officials. Families represented include the Brenner, Cone, Evans, Kittner, and Samet families. Topics discussed by interviewees include family and community history, religious education, participation in Jewish congregations, anti-Semitism and race relations in North Carolina, World War II military service and the Holocaust, family businesses, and philanthropy.

The JHFNC projects for which the oral histories were created include the museum exhibit “Migrations: Jewish settlers of eastern North Carolina” (2000-2002), the book “A history of Temple Emanu-El: an extended family, Weldon, North Carolina” (2007), and the museum exhibit, documentary film, and book “Down Home: Jewish life in North Carolina” (2007-2012). Unaffiliated projects from which the JHFNC collected oral histories include the Duke University undergraduate honors thesis “From Pine Street to Watts Street: an oral history of the Jews of Durham, North Carolina” by Robin Gruber (1986), the oral history project of the 1986 Beth El Synagogue (Durham) Confirmation class, Rogoff’s book “Homelands: southern Jewish identity in Durham and Chapel Hill, North Carolina” (2001), and the Steven Channing documentary film “Durham: a self-portrait,” which shares video interview footage with “Down Home.” Some of the media on which the oral histories were recorded contain additional video footage used for "Down Home" or "Durham: a self-portrait."

The majority of the interviews were performed by Leonard Rogoff and volunteers from the profiled Jewish communities. Other interviewers include Robin Gruber, Steven Sager, Steven Channing, Sharon Fahrer, and Jan Schochet.

Joseph L. Blumenstein (1914-1982) was a Jewish United States Army officer and merchant born in Berlin, Germany. The materials in this collection document Joseph L. Blumenstein's emigration from Germany in 1937, his efforts to rescue his parents from Czechoslovakia during the Holocaust, his service in the United States Army during World War II, and postwar family life in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

The materials in this collection document Joseph L. Blumenstein's emigration from Nazi Germany and immigration to Czechoslovakia (1937) and the United States (1938) and his efforts to rescue parents Solomon and Fanny Blumenstein from Czechoslovakia during the Holocaust. The collection also contains documents related to Blumenstein's military service during World War II and his postwar family life in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Types of material include German school reports and references from employers, a Czech passport, affidavits of support, correspondence, and other immigration documents; military orders, rosters, and documents related to veterans' benefits; a photograph album with pictures of family members and soldiers; and a yearbook.

The Samet family is a family of Lithuanian-Jewish descent that settled in North Carolina in the early part of the twentieth century. This collection mainly consists of the correspondence between Sydney Samet and his family in North Carolina while he was training at various United States Army airfields during World War II. Also included are letters sent to Sydney's mother and sister by the United States War Department and the family members of other soldiers from Sydney’s bomber crew after they were declared missing in August 1944. Topics represented in the collection include army life, Army Air Force training, and updates from family members and acquaintances.

The Samet family papers consist of the letters Sydney Samet sent his family while he was training in aviation and gunnery at various United States Army airfields during World War II. Also included are letters sent to Sydney by his mother Sophie Samet that were not delivered after he was declared missing in action (August 1944), as well as letters sent to Sophie and Sylvia Gray (Grablow) by the United States War Department and the family members of other missing soldiers from Sydney’s bomber crew. The correspondence includes commentary on army life, classes, and physical training as well as updates from family members and acquaintances. Additional materials include Samet’s World War II military service documents and medals, photographs, newspaper clippings, high school papers, and receipts.