 Center for Jewish History logo | |
 The Center for Jewish History on 16th Street | |
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| Established | 2000 |
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| Location | 15 West 16th Street Manhattan,New York 10011 United States |
| Coordinates | 40°44′17″N73°59′38″W / 40.738047°N 73.993821°W /40.738047; -73.993821 |
| Public transit access | New York City Subway:         at14th Street–Union SquareNew York City Bus:M1,M2,M3,M55,M14A,M14D |
| Website | cjh |
TheCenter for Jewish History is a partnership of fiveJewish history, scholarship, and art organizations inNew York City, namely theAmerican Jewish Historical Society,American Sephardi Federation,Leo Baeck Institute New York,Yeshiva University Museum, andYIVO 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 theSmithsonian Institution.
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 toJewish 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 to refer to it as the JewishLibrary of Congress.[4][5]
In the late 1980s, Bruce Slovin, then chairman ofYIVO, 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 ofYIVO, 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.
TheLeo Baeck Institute was previously located at 129 East 73rd Street, and theAmerican Jewish Historical Society, which had previously been a New York City-based institution prior to the early 1960s, was then located nearBrandeis University inWaltham,Massachusetts. TheYeshiva University Museum was located in theWashington 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 withNYU'sSkirball 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-chairmenWilliam 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 theCharity 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]
The center is located in Manhattan'sChelsea 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 theAmerican Foundation for the Blind and two new buildings constructed by the center in 2000.[2][14]
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 Jewishimmigration toNew 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 andAlbert Einstein.[19]
In addition to historical documents like the 1478 record of the trial ofSimon of Trent, the center also includes holdings of artwork byMax Lieberman as well as Jewishephemera like philosopherMoses Mendelssohn's eyeglasses.[2]
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."
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