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YIVO Institute for Jewish Research Collections

Campfire Magic: Pluralism of Jewish Summer Camping

Today, many think of summer camp as a uniquely Jewish phenomenon. In reality, Jewish educational camps developed as a branch of American organized camping. At the turn of the 20th century, camping was a major tenet of American Progressivism and the Fresh Air Movement, which sought to provide relief for poor immigrants in overcrowded cities during the summer, while also assimilating them into American…

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Yiddish Wall Newspapers

“Wall newspapers”—large, hand-lettered or typed newsletters posted in a shared communal space—have their roots in Soviet propaganda. Among the rich historical resources available through the Center for Jewish History’s digital collections are wall newspapers that form a portion of YIVO’s Displaced Persons Camps and Centers Poster Collection, RG 294.6. Created in the aftermath of World War II, these fragile documents provide a vivid glimpse…

German-Jewish Americans at Home at the Turn of the Last Century: A Late 19th-Century Photo Album

“. . . the [Jewish) religion which was to be prized and saved is fast becoming a watery Unitarianism, and its adherents are allowing themselves, where permitted, to become completely assimilated. Reform Judaism which began as a compromise is ending as surrender.” —Marvin Lowenthal, “Zionism: A Menorah Prize Essay [part 1],” Menorah Journal vol. 1:2 (1915): 118-19 Marvin Marx Lowenthal (1890-1969), a leading Jewish…

Happy New Year from the Center for Jewish History!

Happy New Year from the Center for Jewish History. We’ve dug into our partners’ vast collections to find a wonderful selection of vintage Rosh Hashanah greeting cards to celebrate the Jewish New Year of 5773, which begins at sundown on Sunday, September 16, 2012. The colorful cards date from the late 19th and early 20th centuries and offer nostalgic greetings in English, Hebrew and…

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The Nutmeggers: The Jewish Community of Connecticut, Part 1 – History of Connecticut Jewry

The first reference to a Jew in Connecticut was to “David the Jew.” In 1659, he was fined 20 shillings by the city of Hartford. His crime: going into houses when the household heads were absent and trading with the children. In the decades that followed, there were several scattered references to Jews in Connecticut. These first Jews were mostly Portuguese and Spanish, and…

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#JewsInSpace Launches at the Center for Jewish History!

Join the Center for Jewish History and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research on a quest to examine the #Jewish exploration of the heavens as we present our new exhibition: From as early as Genesis, Jews have pondered the expanse that surrounds our planet, as well as their place in them. Astronomy, mathematics, and other sciences appear frequently in books published by rabbis and scholars…

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A Night at the Ballpark

By James Benjamin Nadel, Communications Outreach Associate The Chicago Cubs took center stage in the world of baseball, winning their first World Series Championship in 108 years. But the Cubs are not the only baseball team that has recently achieved a first. Late last month, on a Sunday night at MCU Park in Brooklyn, where the luminescent rides of Coney Island tower over the…

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Nourishing Tradition: Jewish Cookbooks and the Stories They Tell

Exhibition Opening Wednesday, June 29 at 6 pm To celebrate the exhibition Nourishing Tradition: Jewish Cookbooks and the Stories They Tell, the Center for Jewish History is excited to welcome Bonnie Slotnick, owner of Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks. Bonnie will share some of her experiences with Jewish cookbooks over many years of selling rare and out-of-print cookbooks, and bring a fresh perspective to the real…

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In Honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day

by David P. Rosenberg, M.P.A., Reference Services Research Coordinator, Center for Jewish History The UN General Assembly designated January 27—the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau—as International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The children of today will be the last generation to meet Holocaust survivors. The Center for Jewish History houses countless artifacts and archives concerning this horrific period in history. However, learning about what happened…

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Mapping the Offenbach Archival Depot: A Collaborative Endeavorby Melanie J. Meyers, M.S., Senior Reference Services Librarian, Special Collections, Center for Jewish History Click here to view a map that shows how books looted by the Nazis traveled across Europe. As a reference librarian at the Center for Jewish History, one of my favorite items to show when I am asked to teach and lecture is a…

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Translating Charles Darwinby Melanie J. Meyers, M.S., Senior Reference Services Librarian, Special Collections, Center for Jewish History November 24 was the 154th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s most famous work, The Origin of the Species. The full title of the work was On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, but this title was…

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