An Annotated guide to selected internet resources pertaining to American Jewish history

Academic Guide to Jewish History A comprehensive guide to major scholarly internet and print sources on Jewish history, including American Jewish history.

American Jewish Archives With holdings of over 10 million documents, The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives (AJA) is one of the world's largest repositories of archival materials pertaining to the American Jewish experience. Located on the Cincinnati campus of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the AJA's website includes full-text, searchable finding aids to it's manuscript collections, The American Jewish Archives Journal, a newly launched online catalog, and exhibits.

American Jewish Historical Society This site provides basic information about a variety of organizations and resources for studying American Jewish history and culture. Included is a listing of AJHS collections (but very few linked inventories), a basic bibliography of Jewish history, short "chapters" in Jewish history, and information on genealogical research. Publication information includes both current and out of print citations. The site also provides links and information about American Jewish history programs, scholar contact information, and genealogical and historical societies listings.

American Jewish Legacy Project The American Jewish Legacy (AJL) project is an effort to locate, preserve, and make accessible material relating to Traditional Jewish congregations and communities in the United States from Colonial times to the present. Site includes exhibits, a virtual archive of periodicals, an educational guide, cemetery project, and a guide to Traditional Jewish research.

Builders of America - The Jewish Heritage Exhibit An art and history exhibit from the Judiacia collections of Florida Atlantic University that gives an overview of the Jewish role in American history.

The Casden Center for the Study of the Jewish Role in American Life Established by and affiliated with the University of Southern California, the Casden Institute is dedicated to studying contemporary issues of Jewish life in the Western United States. Resources include the Jewish Heritage Video Collection.

Final Report - Celebrate 350™: Jewish Life in America 1654-2004. Download the final report issued by Celebrate 350, the national umbrella organization established to provide resources, stimulate ideas, and serve as the network hub for 350th celebration activities to take place across the nation beginning in September 2004 and running until September 2005.

Center for Jewish History Located in New York City, the Center for Jewish History (CJH) is a partnership of five major institutions of Jewish scholarship, history and art: American Jewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, Leo BaeckInstitute, Yeshiva University Museum and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. With it's combined holdings of approximately 100 million archival documents, a half million books, and thousands of photographs, artifacts, paintings and textiles - the CJH is major resource for the study of the Jewish experience in America.

Cleveland Jewish Archives The Cleveland Jewish Archives (CJA) collects and makes available for research print and non-print material that documents the history of the Jewish community of Greater Cleveland. Part of the collections of the Western Reserve Historical Society, the CJA houses over two hundred manuscript collections consisting of personal papers of individuals and families, Holocaust testimonies, and institutional records including those of businesses, congregations, and educational, political, social, charitable, and welfare organizations.

Feinstein Center -Web Based Resources for Jewish History This Site contains an extensive listing of web resources divided into: American Jewish History, Academic, and Cultural sites. While it does not provide annotations for the sites, the sites listed have further contact information. Not all sites are limited to Jewish history.

H-Judaic - The Jewish Studies Network Part of the broader Humanities Net, this site includes subscription information to both an internet discussion group and a weekly newsletter as well as course syllabi and articles. There is a searchable archives of the discussion group, which goes back to October 1995, and links to related sites.

Jewish American Society for Historical Preservation The Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation identifies and recognizes sites of American Jewish Historical interest. The Society sponsors and promotes programs of local and national historic interest. Cooperating with local Historical Societies, Communities, Churches and Synagogues, the Society encourages dialogue and interactive recognition of the commonality of the American Experience.

Jewish Heritage Collection - College of Charleston This collection documents the Jewish experience in South Carolina from colonial times to the present and includes books, manuscripts, photographs, prints and oral histories.

Jewish Women's Archive The JWA is working to build a "virtual" archive by identifying material on Jewish women in archives across the country and creating a database that will unify access to that material. The site currently has several exhibits, which include archival documents and photographs, on the lives of such Jewish women as Emma Lazarus, Lillian Wald, Justine Wise Polier, and Rebecca Gratz.

Jewishnet - Jewish Libraries and Catalogs A linking point to various institutional catalogs which contain sizeable amounts of Jewish material. Additional login information is included.


National Museum of American Jewish History Located in Philadephia, the National Museum of American Jewish History offers education, exhibits and programs dedicated to preserving the history and culture of the Jewish people in America. Website includes virtual exhibits.

National Museum of American Jewish Military History Under the auspices of the Jewish War Veterans of the USA, the National Museum of American Jewish Military History documents and preserves the contributions of Jewish Americans who served in the armed forces. The website contains information about collections and programs as well as exhibits. The museum is located in Washington, D.C.

The Occident and American Jewish Advocate A full-text transcription of this 19th century American Jewish periodical. This is a work in progress, and only portions of Volume I (1843-1844) are up at this time.

Philadephia Jewish Archives Center The Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center (PJAC) is located at the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies and contains archival materials pertaining to the history of the Philadelphia Jewish community, one of the oldest Jewish communities in North America. Website has information about the Center and its collections as well as exhibits.

Ratner Center for the Study of Conservative Judaism The Ratner Center is an archival repository of the Conservative movement. It holds the historical records of more than one hundred Conservative synagogues and rabbis from around the country, dating from the early nineteenth century to the present. The archives also contains the historical records of the Jewish Theological Seminary from its reorganization in 1902 up to the present. A scattering of material dating back to soon after the Seminary's founding in 1886 is also included.

Southern Jewish Archives, Manuscripts Department, Tulane University Includes an alphabetized listing with short descriptions of manuscript collections relating to Southern Jewish history. Links connect the collections with the broader collections for art, medicine, business, literature and politics.

Special Collections, Brandeis University Provides both links to the online catalog and searchable bibliographies for Judaic research. Collection descriptions are very brief.