Center for Jewish History

The Center for Jewish History is a partnership of five Jewish history, scholarship, and art organizations in New York City: American Jewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute New York, Yeshiva University Museum, and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. Together, housed in one location, the partners have separate governing bodies and finances, but collocate resources. The partners' collections make up the biggest repository of Jewish history in the United States. The Center for Jewish History also serves as a centralized place of scholarly research, events, exhibitions, and performances. Located within the center are the Lillian Goldman Reading Room, Ackman & Ziff Family Genealogy Institute and a Collection Management & Conservation Wing. The Center for Jewish History is also an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution.

The Center for Jewish History

Center for Jewish History logo
The Center for Jewish History on 16th Street
Established	2000
Location	15 West 16th Street Manhattan, New York U.S. 10011
Coordinates	40°44′17″N 73°59′38″W / 40.738047°N 73.993821°W / 40.738047; -73.993821
Public transit access	New York City Subway: ​​​​​​​ at 14th Street–Union Square New York City Bus: M1, M2, M3, M55, M14A, M14D
Website	cjh.org

History

In 2000, the Center for Jewish History was opened after a six year construction and planning phase. The center was created with the goal of creating synergies among the five member organizations, each offering a different approach to Jewish history, scholarship and art.^[1] This ambitious approach to building an archive dedicated to uniting different views of Jewish culture has formed the largest repository documenting the Jewish experience outside of Israel.^[2][3] The center's approach and large collection have led some^[who?] to refer to it as the Jewish Library of Congress.^[4][5]

In the late 1980s, Bruce Slovin, then chairman of YIVO, originated the concept of a unified center where academic-focussed partner institutions could share resources.^[2] The idea was triggered when he realized that the then home of YIVO, a mansion located at 86th and Fifth Avenue, was not able to meet the needs of its visitors or the proper storage of archival materials. The YIVO facilities at the time were not temperature controlled and resulted in an environment that was hazardous to the collection, and ultimately made archival study difficult.

The Leo Baeck Institute was previously located at 129 East 73rd Street, and the American Jewish Historical Society, which had previously been a New York City-based institution prior to the early 1960s, was then located near Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. The Yeshiva University Museum was located in the Washington Heights neighborhood uptown.^[2]

When it opened its doors to the public in October 2000, the center struggled with financial problems. In 2007, there were preliminary talks about a partnership with NYU's Skirball Department for Hebrew and Judaic Studies to the benefit of both organizations.^[6][7] In the end, the center and Skirball decided not to move forward. In 2010, the Center for Jewish History was able to raise $30 million to retire its construction debt.^[8] The amount was raised and donated by the chairman and founder of the center, Bruce Slovin; co-chairmen William Ackman and Joseph Steinberg; the Fairholme Foundation; and 19 other donors.^[9] The fundraising efforts allowed the center to pay off its accrued debts.^[10]

In 2012, the center received a top rating of four stars from the Charity Navigator non-profit evaluation service.^[11]

In 2013, the Lillian Goldman Charitable Trust awarded the center a $1.5 million grant to establish a reference services division.^[12][13]

Facilities

 

Reading room

The center is located in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, and is a four-building 125,000 square feet (11,600 m²) campus built around a courtyard that has a central entrance on 16th Street. The center is made up of four buildings from when the location served as the campus of the American Foundation for the Blind and two new buildings constructed by the center in 2000.^[2][14]

Collections

The partners' collections include more than 100 million documents, 500,000 books, thousands of art objects, textiles, ritual objects, music, films, and photographs.^[1][15] Most of the materials held at the Center had previously been housed in the member institutions and were at risk of damage or destruction.^[16] The center is heavily involved with the preservation of records that define moments in Jewish immigration to New York City.^[17] A $670,000 grant awarded in 2007 helped to improve and crate a centralized catalog the all partner institutions' holdings.^[18]

The collections range from the early modern era in Europe and pre-colonial times in the Americas to present-day materials from across the globe. The center provides access to a comprehensive collection of historic archival materials, including those of: Franz Kafka, Theodor Herzl, Moses Mendelssohn, Sigmund Freud and Albert Einstein.^[19]

In addition to historical documents like the 1478 record of the trial of Simon of Trent, the center also includes holdings of artwork by Max Lieberman as well as Jewish ephemera like philosopher Moses Mendelssohn's eyeglasses.^[2]

Partner collection highlights

• Original handwritten copy of Emma Lazarus' 1883 poem, "The New Colossus" that was later inscribed on the base of the Statue of Liberty
• Sandy Koufax's Brooklyn Dodgers jersey
• Letter from Thomas Jefferson to New York's oldest Jewish congregation
• First Hebrew prayer books printed in America^[2]

Digital initiatives

• In 2011, the Center for Jewish History began a 2-year project called, "Illuminating Hidden Collections at the Center for Jewish History," with a $229,600 grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources^[20]
• In 2013, the Center for Jewish History donated 600 images to the Google Art Project, which is part of the Google Cultural Institute, an initiative that puts cultural material online.^[21] The center was one of four New York City-based institutions to donate at that time, joining eight others. The images are very high resolution and include rich metadata.^[22][23]

References

1. Blumenthal, Ralph (October 26, 2000). "A Museum Wing To Bear Witness To Jewish Life". The New York Times. from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
2. Shepard, Richard F. (April 28, 1997). "Archives of Jewish History, Now Under One Roof". The New York Times. from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
3. . Smithsonian Affiliations. Archived from the original on June 11, 2007. Retrieved April 5, 2008.
4. Wiener, Julie (October 24, 2000). "New History Center Touted As Jewish 'library of Congress'". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
5. "OTTO FRANK FILE FOUND AT YIVO" (Press release). YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. February 14, 2007. According to YIVO and Center for Jewish History Chairman Bruce Slovin, "The combined collections of the Center's five partner organizations constitute an unparalleled wealth of more than half a million books and 100 million documents, forming the largest repository of Jewish archives outside of Israel. In fact, the massive archival holdings and a very large portion of the printed materials at the Center cannot be found in any other institution in the world. Thus the Center is not just a unique resource for researchers, scholars and families, it is a national and worldwide treasure-house of Jewish culture. And, it has earned the accolade as the 'Library of Congress' of the Jewish people in the Diaspora."
6. Siegel, Jennifer (September 26, 2007). "NYU Courts Center for Jewish History". The Jewish Daily Forward. from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
7. Carlebach, Elisheva (November 29, 2007). "Securing the Future of the Center for Jewish History: Independence Is Invaluable". The Forward. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
8. Strom, Stephanie (January 21, 2011). "Finding Deep Pockets to Help a Jewish Center". The New York Times. from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
9. Snyder, Tamar (January 25, 2011). . The New York Jewish Week. Archived from the original on October 21, 2012. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
10. Klein, Dan (May 24, 2011). "With the Center for Jewish History debt free, its founding chairman steps down". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
11. "Center for Jewish History". Charity Navigator. from the original on June 23, 2015. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
12. West, Melanie Grayce (February 24, 2013). "Family Legacy of Libraries". The Wall Street Journal. from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
13. "Center for Jewish History Announces $1.5 Million Grant from The Lillian Goldman Charitable Trust To Establish The Lillian Goldman Reference Services Division". PR Newswire. January 29, 2013. from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
14. "POSTINGS: On 16th and 17th Streets, between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas; New Center for Jewish History". The New York Times. February 15, 1998. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 29, 2023.
15. "An Interview with Michael Glickman of the Center for Jewish History". New Vilna Review. January 8, 2011. Retrieved May 31, 2015.^{[permanent dead link]}
16. "On 16th and 17th Streets, between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas; New Center for Jewish History". The New York Times. February 15, 1998. from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
17. Bernstein, Nina (March 9, 2008). "After a Fight to Survive, One to Succeed". The New York Times. from the original on December 11, 2018. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
18. Center for Jewish History (October 24, 2007). "Leon Levy Foundation Awards Additional $860,092 Grant to Center for Jewish History for Preservation of Archival Materials". PR Newswire. from the original on May 16, 2015. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
19. Oster, Marcy (January 31, 2011). "Center for Jewish History retires $30 million debt". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. from the original on June 1, 2015. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
20. "2011 Funded Projects: Illuminating Hidden Collections at the Center for Jewish History". Council on Library and Information Resources. from the original on September 19, 2015. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
21. Wire Service (April 4, 2013). "NYC center contributes to Google Art Project". North Jersey Media Group. from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
22. Herman, Charlie (April 3, 2013). "Four New York City Cultural Institutes Join Google Art Project". WNYC. from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 31, 2015.
23. Haaretz (February 25, 2014). "N.Y. Center for Jewish History uploading gigapixel image to Google Art Project". Haaretz. from the original on March 6, 2014. Retrieved May 31, 2015.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Center for Jewish History.

• Center for Jewish History
• Center for Jewish History at Google Art Project