CENTER FOR JEWISH HISTORY

Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street
www.cjh.org or www.ajhs.org

The Center for Jewish History emerged from a vision of a unique central repository for the cultural and historical legacy of the Jewish people. The Center embodies the unique partnership of five major institutions of Jewish scholarship, history and art: American Jewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute, Yeshiva University Museum and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. The Center will serve the worldwide academic and general communities with combined holdings of approximately 100 million archival documents, a half million books, and thousands of photographs, artifacts, paintings and textiles - the largest repository documenting the Jewish experience outside of Israel. The Center's dynamic program of exhibits, cultural events and intellectual gatherings will interest all who wish to explore the richness of the Jewish past and the promise of the Jewish future. 

     The Center, as a whole, is open from 9 to 6 from Monday to Thursday and from 9 to 4 on Friday. The Yeshiva University Museum is open on Sundays from 11 to 5, on Tuesday and Wednesday from 11 to 5 and on Thursday from 11 to 8.

American Jewish Historical Society

Founded in 1892 as a membership organization, research library, archives and museum, the American Jewish Historical Society is the oldest ethnic historical organization in the United States. The Society was the first systematic collector of archival, published and artifactual sources depicting the religious, communal, cultural and political life of American Jewry, and the ways in which that community has contributed to the wider society. Often referred to as the "national archives" of American Jewry, its holdings are the preeminent resource for scholars,students, genealogists, curators, filmmakers and publishers who want to document American Jewish life from the 1500s to the present. 

     The Society tells the story of American Jewry through its distinguished quarterly journal, American Jewish History, as well as through other publications, exhibitions, lectures, symposia and public programs. Supported by members scattered world-wide, the AJHS headquarters are currently located at the Center for Jewish History in New York City. Both it and our New England branch on the Brandeis University campus in Waltham, Massachusetts are open to the public, without charge, throughout the year. Tours are available and staff lectures may be arranged.