Center for Jewish History facts for kids
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The Center for Jewish History is a special place in New York City. It brings together five different groups that focus on Jewish history, learning, and art. These groups are the American Jewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute New York, Yeshiva University Museum, and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.
Even though each group has its own leaders and money, they all share one building. This helps them work together and share their amazing collections. Together, their collections form the biggest collection of Jewish history in the United States. The Center for Jewish History is also a hub for research, events, art shows, and performances. Inside, you'll find a reading room, a place for family history research, and a special area for taking care of old items. The Center is also connected to the famous Smithsonian Institution.
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Discovering the Center's Story
The Center for Jewish History first opened its doors in 2000. It took six years to plan and build this amazing place. The main idea was to help the five partner organizations work better together. Each group studies Jewish history, learning, and art in a different way.
This big project aimed to create a huge archive. An archive is a collection of historical documents or records. This archive would bring together different parts of Jewish culture. Today, it is the largest collection of Jewish experiences outside of Israel. Because of its unique approach and huge collection, some people even call it the "Jewish Library of Congress".
How the Idea Began
In the late 1980s, a man named Bruce Slovin had a great idea. He was the chairman of YIVO at the time. He thought it would be a good idea to have one central place where academic groups could share resources. He realized that YIVO's old building was not good enough. It couldn't properly store old documents or serve visitors well. The building didn't have temperature control, which was bad for the collections. This made it hard for people to study the historical items.
Before the Center opened, the Leo Baeck Institute was in a different part of New York City. The American Jewish Historical Society had moved to Waltham, Massachusetts. The Yeshiva University Museum was in the Washington Heights area of New York City.
Overcoming Challenges
When the Center opened in October 2000, it faced some money problems. But they worked hard to fix them. In 2010, the Center for Jewish History successfully raised $30 million. This money helped them pay off their building debts. Many generous people and foundations donated money to help the Center.
In 2012, the Center received a top rating from Charity Navigator. This group checks how well non-profit organizations are run. In 2013, the Center also received a $1.5 million grant. This money helped them create a new department to help people find information.
Exploring the Center's Buildings
The Center is located in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. It's like a campus made up of four buildings. These buildings cover about 125,000 square feet (11,600 square meters). They are built around a central courtyard. You can enter the Center from 16th Street. Four of the buildings were once part of the American Foundation for the Blind. The Center built two new buildings in 2000.
Amazing Collections to Explore
The collections at the Center are truly massive! They include more than 100 million documents and 500,000 books. There are also thousands of art objects, fabrics, religious items, music, films, and photographs. Many of these items were once stored in the partner organizations' old buildings. They were at risk of being damaged or destroyed. The Center works hard to keep these important records safe. These records tell the story of Jewish immigration to New York City.
In 2007, a large grant helped the Center improve its system. This made it easier to find items from all the partner groups in one central catalog.
The collections cover a huge range of time. They go from early modern times in Europe to the present day. You can find materials from all over the world. The Center lets you see historical documents from famous people like Franz Kafka, Theodor Herzl, Moses Mendelssohn, Sigmund Freud, and Albert Einstein.
Besides old documents, you can also see unique items. For example, there's a record from a 1478 trial. You can also see artwork by Max Lieberman. There are even everyday items, like the eyeglasses of philosopher Moses Mendelssohn.
Special Items in the Collections
Here are some highlights from the partner collections:
- The original handwritten copy of Emma Lazarus' 1883 poem, "The New Colossus". This poem is now on the base of the Statue of Liberty.
- Sandy Koufax's Brooklyn Dodgers baseball jersey.
- A letter from Thomas Jefferson to New York's oldest Jewish community.
- The very first Hebrew prayer books ever printed in America.
Digital Projects
The Center for Jewish History also works on cool digital projects.
- In 2011, they started a two-year project called "Illuminating Hidden Collections." This project helped them make more of their collections available online.
- In 2013, the Center shared 600 images with the Google Art Project. This project is part of the Google Cultural Institute. It helps put cultural items online for everyone to see. The images are very clear and have lots of information about them.
