Correspondence, undated, 1958-1960, 1983, 1988

The records of the Laymen’s Institute were partially compiled by Mervin Gray, who was Treasurer of the New England Region of the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs from 1958 to circa 1961 and acted as Chairman of the Laymen’s Institute from 1959 to 1961. The collection contains correspondence from this period related to the latter role, as well as speeches and short sermons delivered by Gray in the 1980s.

Also included is a non-continuous run of programs and ephemera from retreats held between 1954 and 1998 and cassette recordings of speeches and lectures delivered at retreats non-continuously between 1973 and 2005.

A scrapbook titled The Book of Memories and a framed photo collage are housed in an oversized box. The Book of Memories is a folio-sized bound volume containing photographs, newspaper clippings, and correspondence from Laymen’s Institute functions held between 1951 and 1994. The collage is framed behind glass and displays photographs from the 24th annual Laymen’s Institute in 1970.