Eileen Weiss papers, 1978-2017, bulk 1993-2013

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Summary

Creator:
Weiss, Eileen, 1956- and Human Rights Archive (Duke University)
Abstract:
Eileen Weiss is a grassroots activist involved in documenting and raising awareness of human rights conflicts primarily in Bosnia, Kosovo in the 1990s and the Darfur region in Sudan in the 2000s-2010s as well as for interfaith awareness among the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities in New York City after September 11, 2001. Collection includes organizational and event files, correspondence, handouts, newsletters, clippings, audiovisual materials, and other assorted materials. The Eileen Weiss papers focus on human rights conflicts in Bosnia, Kosovo, and Darfur with news, rallies, demonstrations, education, and events through Weiss's involvement in grassroots organizations such as Jews Against Genocide (JAG), Jewish Ad-Hoc Committee on Bosnia (JACOB), and the New York Coalition for Sudan. The collection also documents her efforts in cultural pluralism through interfaith work with the Same Difference Interfaith Alliance project, co-founded by Weiss, with community programming, arts, and education. Materials range from 1978-2017, mostly between 1993-2013. Acquired as part of the Human Rights Archive.
Extent:
8.5 Linear Feet
9.32 Gigabytes
Language:
Materials mainly in English with minor amounts of Hebrew, Spanish, and Bosnian.
Collection ID:
RL.13103

Background

Scope and content:

The Eileen Weiss papers contain collected clippings, newsletters, correspondence, handouts particularly for events and educational materials, organizational files, as well as reports, conference materials, audiovisual materials, and other assorted materials. The collection primarily focuses on Weiss's human rights activism for Bosnia, Kosovo, and Darfur through involvement in grassroots organizations such as Jews Against Genocide (JAG), JACOB (Jewish Ad Hoc Committee on Bosnia), and the New York Coalition for Sudan. Also, the collection focuses on interfaith activism primarily through the Same Difference Interfaith Alliance project focused on events, education, and the theater production, Same Difference: NYC Faith Stories in Words, Music and Dance . Materials range from 1978-2017, with most dated from 1993-2013. Acquired as part of the Human Rights Archive.

Biographical / historical:

Eileen Weiss is a grassroots human rights activist who has primarily focused on the human rights conflicts and genocides in Bosnia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina), Kosovo (also referred to as Kosova), and the Darfur region of Sudan. Weiss graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre and Dramatic Literature in 1978 from Dickinson College before moving to New York City.

In response to the genocide in Bosnia during the early 1990s, Weiss and other members of her community founded JACOB (Jewish Ad Hoc Committee on Bosnia) to raise awareness and act against ethnic violence. By late winter of 1993, this group became JAG (Jews Against Genocide), New York City-based grassroots, all volunteer organization, which is still active today. During the Bosnian genocide, JAG worked alongside other Jewish and New York-based grassroots organizations such as the New York Committee to Save Bosnia (part of the American Committee to Save Bosnia), and the Coalition for Intervention Against Genocide. As part of JAG, Weiss and other members organized meetings, teach-ins, demonstrations, public events to screen the film, The Eyes of Bosnia, distributed handouts written by Weiss and Sharon Silber about the atrocities in Bosnia and direct actions that people could take, wrote letters to politicians, and directly lobbied members of Congress. Throughout the 1990s, Weiss's work expanded to raising awareness in other parts of former Yugoslav countries experiencing human rights conflicts and genocide such as Kosovo.

Weiss's involvement in JAG also led to co-sponsoring events related to other human rights conflicts in East Timor (now Timor-Leste), Tibet, Sierra Leone, and Sudan. Around 2004, Weiss began advocacy related to the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan through JAG and work with the New York Coalition for Sudan (also referred to as New York Coalition for Darfur) which she ran alongside Sharon Silber and is a local branch of the broader Save Darfur organization. Their goal was to advocate for the end of genocide in the region with various write-ins, rallies, lobbying efforts, and the use of music to raise awareness in events such as Healing Hand Percussion Circle and Rock to Save Darfur. Weiss continues human rights advocacy for Darfur and Sudan under JAG, and with other groups for political and educational outreach, fundraising for humanitarian aid, food programs, and other activities.

Alongside advocacy for human rights, Weiss continued efforts in theater and interfaith activities. In response to the events of September 11, 2001, she joined what would become the Same Difference Interfaith Alliance project ("Same Difference"). In addition to Eileen Weiss (Congregation B'nai Jeshurun), this project consisted of members from different faith communities such as Sarah Brockus (St. Paul and St. Andrew) and Daisy Khan (American Sufi Muslim Association), among others. Originating as a series of oral interviews from people of different faith backgrounds and those with atheist or agnostic beliefs, Weiss joined as a producer and co-writer to help create the Same Difference: NYC Faith Stories in Words, Music and Dance production that premiered in New York City in 2004. The project continued after the production to develop educational materials and programming to develop cultural awareness and greater understanding of different faith communities.

Sources: Same Difference Interfaith site, https://www.samedifference.org/About/About.htm (accessed November 1, 2024) and Jews Against Genocide site, https://web.archive.org/web/19991128172000/http://jagny.org/ (accessed November 8, 2024), and email message to Eileen Weiss (December 2024).

Acquisition information:
The Eileen Weiss papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in 2021.
Processing information:

Processed by Tere Elizalde, November 2024

Accessions described in this collection guide: 2021-0046

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged in four series: Bosnia and Kosovo files, Darfur (Sudan) files, Other Human Rights and Activism files, and Interfaith Activities files. The Interfaith Activities files series is arranged in two subseries, General files and files for the Same Difference Interfaith Alliance.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

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Restrictions:

Access note. Collection contains Some materials in this collection are electronic records that require special equipment. Contact Research Services with questions.

Access note. Some materials in this collection are fragile audiovisual/photographic formats that may need to be reformatted before use. Contact Research Services for access.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the Rubenstein Library's Citations, Permissions, and Copyright guide.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Eileen Weiss papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

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https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/m16t8f