Conference of Historians Discusses History of Jews in U.S.

The Trecentenary Conference of Historians, called by the American Jewish Historical Society, opened here last night with the participation of leading American Jewish historians and a number of non-Jewish historians of note. Among the speakers at the opening session was Dr. Ben Zion Dinur, Israel Minister of Education, who is currently visiting the United States.

Dr. Salo Baron, professor of history at Columbia University and president of the AJHS, declared in his keynote address that up to now American historical writing “has evinced little interest in the ethnic and religious minorities, despite the fact that this nation consists of an agglomeration of these minorities.” He also noted that students of Jewish history have generally been more interested in ancient and medieval events than in recent developments, with the result that they have neglected the history of the Jews in North America.

Dr. Moshe Davis, provost of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and chairman of the parley which is under the auspices of the Louis H. Rabinowitz Foundation, stressed the importance of properly recording American Jewish history and evaluating it in terms of the larger pattern of American history as well as the pattern of world Jewish history.