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This recording is of a celebration marking the conclusion of the Boulder Action for Soviet Jewry (BASJ), which was created in 1987 to provide advocacy and resettlement support for Jews who were facing increasing anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union. The ceremony honors the founder, Bill Cohen, as well as the other critical participants in BASJ - the administrators, members of the board, and the volunteers. Moderator and BASJ pioneer, Roxanne Bailin, describes the accomplishments of the project, while Bill Cohen elaborates on its history and mission. He remarks that BASJ was one of the most successful resettlement efforts in the United States. Other speakers and honorees include the mayor of Boulder, the Allied Jewish Federation and local rabbis, as well as members of the New American community (resettled Soviet Jewish immigrants). After the recognition ceremony, two choruses sing and present skits about the process of emigrating and then integrating into the new community. The event concludes with a description of a successor group founded by the Russian Jewish community, the New American Organization.

A wide-ranging interview with Bill Cohen covering the founding and history of Boulder Action for Soviet Jewry (BASJ) in 1987 and, later, the Center for Human Rights. He talks about increasing anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union and how human rights issues for refuseniks contributed to the creation of BASJ, the goal of which was to provide advocacy and resettlement for Soviet Jews. He describes families who were helped to come to Boulder or Israel, the many Boulder volunteers who assisted in this challenging process, and the steps that helped integrate the New Americans. The Center for Human Rights was founded to meet the legal and political complexities of the resettlement process. Bill talks about how some of the legal problems were solved by working with Soviet counterparts and involving the U. S. Congress, INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service), and other government agencies. He relates the details of refugee cases in which the Center for Human Rights and he were involved and also describes a landmark case that he handled that changed INS policy to allow family members to be given refugee status in a more equitable way.

This recording is of a rally that took place on February 26, 1987, organized by the group Boulder Action for Soviet Jewry (BASJ), to support efforts to gain the release of the Jewish mathematician Naum Meiman and other "refuseniks" (Jews who had applied for and been denied permission to emigrate) in the Soviet Union. Among the speakers were representatives of several Colorado senators and congressmen, state and local politicians, and Olga Plam, the daughter of Naum Meiman, all of whom speak of the plight of the refuseniks. A resolution of the Boulder City Council in support of the release of Professor Meiman is read by the mayor. The names of the refuseniks in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, are read by various notable Boulder people. The rally concludes with the singing of "We Shall Overcome", and lively klezmer music.