Western Jewish History Center
Encyclopedia
The Western Jewish History Center of the Judah L. Magnes Museum
in Berkeley
, California
, established in 1967, contains a library and a large collection of archival material that documents and preserves the history and experiences of the Jewish community of the Western United States
from the start of the California Gold Rush
to the present. Although it has collected material relating to most of the thirteen western U.S., it has come to focus on the San Francisco Bay Area
.
, a clipping/vertical file, and a large collection of 19th and 20th century Jewish newspapers from Los Angeles
and the San Francisco Bay Area. Many of these are on rolls of microfilm.
Its primary source materials, consisting of more than 500 archival collections, include the papers and artifacts of Jewish families and individuals such as Judah L. Magnes; Adolph Sutro; David and Simon Lubin; Rosalie Meyer Stern; Julius Kahn
; Florence Prag
; Flora Arnstein; Ernest Bloch; Lloyd Dinkelspiel; Robert Levinson; Harris Weinstock; Ruth Carol Silver; Benjamin Swig; Rhoda and Richard Goldman; Alfred Henry Jacobs; members of the Haas, Koshland, Gerstle, Sloss, and Lilienthal families; and many others. Many of these take the form of family letters, diaries, photographs, and scrapbooks.
In addition, the Center’s archive also holds the papers and artifacts of important Jewish organizations such as synagogue congregations like San Francisco’s Emanu-El, Beth Israel-Judea, Sherith Israel, and Ohabai Shalome; Oakland's Congregation Sinai; Berkeley's Aquarian Minyan, and Lafayette's Isaiah. In addition, the Center has also collected the papers of many important Western rabbis (i.e. Voorsanger; Nieto; Asher; Kaplan; Fine; Fried; White; Magnin; Stern; Reichert; Goldstein; and others). Besides documenting the religious life of the city and the activities of a congregation and its congregants, these collections also can contain a wealth of genealogical information, often in the form of marriage and burial registers. Because the Center's holdings and collections have not been computerized or indexed, genealogical research that utilize these materials, of necessity, takes a long time. Those interested in doing genealogical research on Jewish individuals and families from the San Francisco Bay Area may first want to contact the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society to see that the subject/s of their interest has not been researched earlier.
The Center also holds the records of historic Jewish businesses and self-help societies like the Emanu-El Sisterhood for Personal Service; the San Francisco chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women
; the records of the Mount Zion Hospital and Medical Center; the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco; the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, Marin County, and the Peninsula; the Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay; B’nai B’rith District 4; the Northern California Division of the American Jewish Congress
; the Jewish Arts Community of the Bay (J.A.C.O.B.); the Judah L. Magnes Museum
; and the Commission for the Preservation of Pioneer Jewish Cemeteries and Landmarks. These records often take the form of working documents, memoranda, and minutes from boards of directors; reports; official correspondence; and documentary photographs.
at the Library of Congress
. Inventories to some of its collections may also be examined on the web via the Online Archive of California.
The Center also displays some of its holdings in exhibitions held in and created by the Judah L. Magnes Museum and its staff and, on occasion, in other institutions. From time to time, the Judah L. Magnes Museum has had Case Study exhibitions, exhibitions created specifically to highight the holdings of the Center. To date, Case Study exhibitions have been about "Jewish Freemasons of the West"; "Alfred Henry Jacobs, Architect"; and the "Emanu-El Sisterhood for Personal Service."
Judah L. Magnes Museum
The Judah L. Magnes Museum is a museum of Jewish history, art, and culture in Berkeley, California. It was founded in 1962 by Seymour and Rebecca Fromer and named for Jewish activist Rabbi Judah L. Magnes, a native of Oakland...
in Berkeley
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, established in 1967, contains a library and a large collection of archival material that documents and preserves the history and experiences of the Jewish community of the Western United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
from the start of the California Gold Rush
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The first to hear confirmed information of the gold rush were the people in Oregon, the Sandwich Islands , and Latin America, who were the first to start flocking to...
to the present. Although it has collected material relating to most of the thirteen western U.S., it has come to focus on the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
.
Resources and Materials
Its research library has more than 1,200 volumes, dozens of oral historiesOral history
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews...
, a clipping/vertical file, and a large collection of 19th and 20th century Jewish newspapers from Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and the San Francisco Bay Area. Many of these are on rolls of microfilm.
Its primary source materials, consisting of more than 500 archival collections, include the papers and artifacts of Jewish families and individuals such as Judah L. Magnes; Adolph Sutro; David and Simon Lubin; Rosalie Meyer Stern; Julius Kahn
Julius Kahn
Julius Kahn was a United States Congressman who was succeeded by his wife Florence Prag Kahn after his death. Kahn was born in Kuppenheim, in the Grand Duchy of Baden, in what would become Germany....
; Florence Prag
Florence Prag Kahn
Florence Prag Kahn was an American teacher and politician who in 1925 became the first Jewish woman to serve in the United States Congress. She was only the fifth woman to serve in Congress, and the second from California, after fellow San Franciscoan Mae Nolan...
; Flora Arnstein; Ernest Bloch; Lloyd Dinkelspiel; Robert Levinson; Harris Weinstock; Ruth Carol Silver; Benjamin Swig; Rhoda and Richard Goldman; Alfred Henry Jacobs; members of the Haas, Koshland, Gerstle, Sloss, and Lilienthal families; and many others. Many of these take the form of family letters, diaries, photographs, and scrapbooks.
In addition, the Center’s archive also holds the papers and artifacts of important Jewish organizations such as synagogue congregations like San Francisco’s Emanu-El, Beth Israel-Judea, Sherith Israel, and Ohabai Shalome; Oakland's Congregation Sinai; Berkeley's Aquarian Minyan, and Lafayette's Isaiah. In addition, the Center has also collected the papers of many important Western rabbis (i.e. Voorsanger; Nieto; Asher; Kaplan; Fine; Fried; White; Magnin; Stern; Reichert; Goldstein; and others). Besides documenting the religious life of the city and the activities of a congregation and its congregants, these collections also can contain a wealth of genealogical information, often in the form of marriage and burial registers. Because the Center's holdings and collections have not been computerized or indexed, genealogical research that utilize these materials, of necessity, takes a long time. Those interested in doing genealogical research on Jewish individuals and families from the San Francisco Bay Area may first want to contact the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society to see that the subject/s of their interest has not been researched earlier.
The Center also holds the records of historic Jewish businesses and self-help societies like the Emanu-El Sisterhood for Personal Service; the San Francisco chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women
National Council of Jewish Women
The National Council of Jewish Women defines itself as a grassroots organization of volunteers and advocates who turn progressive ideals into action...
; the records of the Mount Zion Hospital and Medical Center; the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco; the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, Marin County, and the Peninsula; the Jewish Community Federation of the Greater East Bay; B’nai B’rith District 4; the Northern California Division of the American Jewish Congress
American Jewish Congress
The American Jewish Congress describes itself as an association of Jewish Americans organized to defend Jewish interests at home and abroad through public policy advocacy, using diplomacy, legislation, and the courts....
; the Jewish Arts Community of the Bay (J.A.C.O.B.); the Judah L. Magnes Museum
Judah L. Magnes Museum
The Judah L. Magnes Museum is a museum of Jewish history, art, and culture in Berkeley, California. It was founded in 1962 by Seymour and Rebecca Fromer and named for Jewish activist Rabbi Judah L. Magnes, a native of Oakland...
; and the Commission for the Preservation of Pioneer Jewish Cemeteries and Landmarks. These records often take the form of working documents, memoranda, and minutes from boards of directors; reports; official correspondence; and documentary photographs.
Texts that have used the Center's resources
Numerous published works have made use of the Western Jewish History Center’s resources:- Jewish Life in the American West (2002) (ISBN 0-295-98275-6);
- Ava Kahn's Jewish Voices of the California Gold Rush: a Documentary History, 1849-1880 (2002) (ISBN 0-8143-2859-8);
- Fred Rosenbaum’s Visions of Reform: Congregation Emanu-El and the Jews of San Francisco, 1849-1999 (2000) (ISBN 0-943376-69-6);
- Robert Levinson’s The Jews in the California Gold Rush (1994) (ISBN 0-943376-62-9);
- Harriet and Fred Rochlin’s Pioneer Jews: A New Life in the Far West (1984) (ISBN 0-618-00196-4);
- Sue Morris’ A Traveler’s Guide to Pioneer Jewish Cemeteries of the California Gold Rush (1996) (ISBN 0-943376-63-7).
Information
The Western Jewish History Center is open by appointment only, every Monday-Friday (unless closed due to holiday), 11am-5pm. Although all of its collected materials are non-circulating, its collections are accessible to Museum and community members, bona-fide researchers of all age levels, and Museum staff. A Guide to the Center’s archival collections and oral histories was published in 1987 (ISBN 0-943376-35-1) and is available for purchase and many collections’ inventories to many of its collections can also be examined in person at the Center, mailed directly to researchers, or may be sent out as attachments to email. In addition, many descriptions of its collections may be searched for and examined on the World Wide Web via the National Union Catalog of Manuscript CollectionsNUCMC
NUCMC is the abbreviation for the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections. It is a national-level program based at the Library of Congress that seeks to promote free access to the documentary heritage of the United States. It does this by providing cataloging for archives and historical...
at the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
. Inventories to some of its collections may also be examined on the web via the Online Archive of California.
The Center also displays some of its holdings in exhibitions held in and created by the Judah L. Magnes Museum and its staff and, on occasion, in other institutions. From time to time, the Judah L. Magnes Museum has had Case Study exhibitions, exhibitions created specifically to highight the holdings of the Center. To date, Case Study exhibitions have been about "Jewish Freemasons of the West"; "Alfred Henry Jacobs, Architect"; and the "Emanu-El Sisterhood for Personal Service."