\nHistory from June to August 2016. This blog post is intended to talk about what I was doing and the really interesting materials
\nI worked with.<\/p>\n
![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/78.media.tumblr.com\/278fc847f56c01628300ccbbbd08fb63\/tumblr_inline_oe47bc4xWc1r0yq0k_540.jpg\")
<\/figure>\nThe focus of my project is a number of rare books donated by The Center for Jewish History brought in an intern I spent my first week or so at the Center using the As a sort of guide through the My end goal is to develop ways to present some highlights of Editor\u2019s Note: <\/p>\n The The documents discussed in this piece were donated
\nSidney Lapidus to the Center for Jewish History. Mr. Lapidus is the chairman of the American Jewish Historical
\nSociety and serves as treasurer on the Center for Jewish History\u2019s Board of
\nDirectors. \u00a0He has donated significant
\ncollections to the
\nAmerican Jewish Historical
\nSociety<\/a>, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture<\/a>,
\nthe Princeton University Library, and other institutions. The thematic focus of
\nthis group of works is the gradual process of Jewish emancipation in Europe,
\nwith particular emphasis on England. My understanding is a different set of books related to Jewish Life in North America was recently donated to the
\nAmerican Jewish Historical
\nSociety<\/a>.\u00a0 The collection donated to the Center comprises books, pamphlets,
\nletters, articles, and other publications from 1648 to 1907. All told, it
\ncontains 109 titles published in at least five languages. <\/p>\n
\nspecifically to work with this collection through a Princeton University
\nprogram called Princeton Internships in Civic Service (PICS). Mr. Lapidus
\ngraduated from Princeton in 1959. I am currently a rising junior there,
\nstudying public and international policy. The main goal of the PICS program is
\nto promote student experience and professional development in the non-profit
\nsector. (Visit pics.princeton.edu<\/a> for more information.) To that end, they encourage
\nus to present what we\u2019re working on to our peers, as well as the program staff.
\nThis syncs up well with the goals of my internship here, which I will talk
\nabout next.<\/p>\n
\nextensive archives of the five partner organizations to find background
\ninformation on European Jewish history in general and emancipation\u2014the steps
\nforward and backward by which Jewish individuals and communities slowly won
\nrights previously denied to them\u2014in particular. To help with this, and as a
\ngoal of this internship in its own right, I had to familiarize myself with the
\nholdings of the Center and its partner institutions, as well as the databases
\nand electronic resources available here. I am much more comfortable with these
\nresearch tools now than I was in my first days on the job, and have even looked
\nat several documents using the Center\u2019s state-of-the-art microfilm readers.<\/p>\n![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/78.media.tumblr.com\/e730213ac27f557fce24e05748dcf609\/tumblr_inline_oe47drCZ1l1r0yq0k_540.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n
\ncollection, I honed in on particular people, cases, or events to research. In
\naddition to actually reading the rare books, I\u2019ve been looking for documents in
\nthe archives that relate to each title. For example, I read about a 1751 trial,
\nthe subject of several titles in the collection, and found that two of the main
\nwitnesses called by the defense were members of the Franks family, whose
\npapers are held the American Jewish Historical Society<\/a>.\u00a0 I tried to hunt down a similar
\nconnection for each text I read and researched. I\u2019ve looked into the
\nreligious motivations for Jewish readmission
\nto England in 1656<\/a>, disputes between philosophes <\/i>and Jewish intellectuals<\/a>, efforts to educate
\nthe general public<\/a> about Judaism,
\nand more. One of the topics I\u2019m focusing on is the push for and against Jewish
\ncitizenship during the French Revolution. I am also reading about the
\ninternational response to the pogroms of the 1880s. With each new text I encounter, I have been
\nimpressed by the \u00a0sheer breadth of subject
\nareas contained within this collection. <\/p>\n
\nthe collection both internally and externally. It\u2019s exciting because, since the
\ncollection is very new, the way I portray its contents will have an impact on
\nhow it is used in future research, and how it is understood by visitors to the
\nCenter. Indeed, I have created a publication that ties pictures and
\ndescriptions of key texts from the collection to thematically related books and
\narchival materials in the partner organizations\u2019 libraries. My work will ease
\nthe use of these materials for those come to learn at the Center for Jewish
\nHistory. In this way, by making these important documents more accessible, I am
\ncontributing to the Center and its mission to enhance the public\u2019s engagement with
\nJewish history. <\/p>\n![\"image\"](\"https:\/\/78.media.tumblr.com\/f9e1c2bc855f12bb7ffd0b0368b2d31f\/tumblr_inline_oe47dbJLgA1r0yq0k_540.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n
\nCenter provides a collaborative home for five partner organizations: American
\nJewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, Leo Baeck Institute,
\nYeshiva University Museum, and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.<\/p>\n
\nby Sid Lapidus to the Center for Jewish History.<\/p>\n