American Jewish Historical Society

ACCESS TO MILLIONS OF ARTIFACTS REFLECTING THE HISTORY OF THE JEWISH PRESENCE IN THE U.S.

LIBRARY AND ARCHIVE - SEE SCHEDULE OTHE ORGANIZATION WELCOMES ALL RESEARCHERS WHO WISH TO CONDUCT RESEARCH ON AMERICAN JEWISH LIFE FROM FIRST ARRIVAL IN THE AMERICAS TO THE PRESENT DAY. THE LIBRARY CONSISTS OF APPROXIMATELY 50,000 VOLUMES, INCLUDING BOTH BOOKS AND SERIALS (JOURNALS AND PERIODICALS). THE ORGANIZATION HOUSES APPROXIMATELY 2000 ARCHIVAL COLLECTIONS AND HAS DEVELOPED FINDING AIDS FOR ITS PERSONAL AND INSTITUTIONAL HOLDINGS, AND THEY ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE. ACCESS TO THE PHYSICAL MATERIALS RESUMED IN 2021 WHEN THE READING ROOM REOPENED, AND SCHOLARS HAVE BEEN USING THE MATERIALS AT HIGH LEVELS SINCE THE REOPENING. AJHS ALSO HAS EXPANDED OUR DIGITAL HOLDINGS AND DIGITIZATION PROGRAM, IN ORDER TO CONTINUALLY PROVIDE ACCESS TO OUR MATERIALS, REGARDLESS OF READING ROOM STATUS. IN THE LAST QUARTER OF 2021, STATISTICS ON DIGITAL USE FOUND THAT IN A THREE MONTH SPAN THE TOP THREE COLLECTIONS SEARCHED WERE: THE NATIONAL JEWISH WELFARE BOARD BUREAU OF WAR RECORDS - ACCESSED 355 TIMES, THE HEBREW ORPHAN ASYLUM RECORDS- ACCESSED 338 TIMES, AND THE HEBREW IMMIGRANT AID SOCIETY - ACCESSED 317 TIMES. THESE ARE COLLECTIONS THAT HAVE A GREAT DEAL OF DIGITIZED CONTENT, DEMONSTRATING THE OVERALL VALUE OF THE AJHS DIGITIZATION PROGRAM AND THE ONGOING NEED TO CONTINUALLY EXPAND OUR DIGITAL OFFERINGS.

PUBLIC PROGRAMS - SEE SCHEDULE ODUE TO RESTRICTIONS OF THE COVID 19 PANDEMIC AJHS PUBLIC PROGRAMMING REMAINED ENTIRELY ONLINE FOR 2021. MONTHLY POETRY CLASSES TAUGHT BY LYNN MELNICK ENGAGED OUR MEMEBERSHIP WITH THE AIM OF HAVING PARTICIPANTS SUBMIT TO OUR NATIONAL POETRY CONTEST. THIS POETRY CONTEST WAS PART OF A RIGHTEOUS PERSONS AND COVENANT FOUNDATION GRANT RELATING TO THE EMMA LAZARUS PROJECT. A MONTHLY INTERVIEW SERIES WAS LAUNCHED FEATURING JOURNALIST AND AJHS TRUSTEE JULIE SALAMON LEADING DISCUSSIONS WITH CONTEMPORARY CULTURAL JEWISH LEADERS. THIS PROGRAM, "AT LUNCH" SAW A STEADY GROWTH IN ATTENDANCE AND FEATURED ARTISTS AND ACTIVISTS SUCH AS JUDY HEUMANN, JEAN JANFF KORELITZ, AND MARA WILSON. AJHS WASSERMAN PRIZE WINNER GREGG DRINKWATER GAVE A TALK ON HIS AWARD-WINNING ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORY, "QUEER JEWISH HEALING." SEVERAL BOOK TALKS AND SCHOLAR TALKS TOOK PLACE MONTHLY HIGHLIGHING THE WORK OF SCHOLARS IN THE AJHS COMMUNITY WHO HAD USED AJHS COLLECTIONS IN THEIR RESEARCH. AJHS ALSO HOSTED COOKING DEMOS TO BRING HISTORICAL RECIPIES FOUND IN OUR COLLECTIONS TO THE PUBLIC IN ACCESSABLE WAYS. ALL TALKS WERE RECORDED AND POSTED TO THE AJHS YOUTUBE PAGE AND WERE OFFERED FREE FOR ALL THOSE WHO ATTENDED DURING THE LIVE ZOOM SESSIONS. AJHS CONTINUTED WORK ON ITS ORAL HISTORY PROJECT, "TOWARDS A MEANINGFUL SNAPSHOT," AN INTERVIEW OF 36 JEWISH LEADERS FUNDED BY A COVENANT FOUNDATION GRANT. ORAL HISTORIAN JAYNE GUBERMAN FACILITATED CONVERSATIONS WITH A DIVERSE COLLECTION OF INDIVIDUALS USING HISTORICAL PROMPTS FROM AJHS COLLECTIONS MATERIALS SOURCED BY CHAIR OF COLLECTIONS MELANIE MEYERS.

PUBLICATIONS - AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORICAL JOURNAL - SCHOLARLY JOURNAL OF PUBLISHED ARTICLES ON AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORY THEMES. THE JOURNAL EDITORIAL BOARD PUBLISHED 4 VOLUMES IN 2021, RESUMING ITS FULL PUBLISHING SCHEDULE DESPITE DIFFICULTIES IN THE PANDEMIC. ADDITIONALLY, AJHS BEGAN WORK TO REDESIGN ITS WEBSITE TO BE MOBILE-FRIENDLY AND CONTAIN A DYNAMIC PUBLISHING PLATFORM TO CROSS-POST JOURNAL ARTICLES, AS WELL AS OTHER DIGITAL MEDIA AND CONTENT RELATED TO AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORY.