American Jewish Historical Society
Programs
Program 1 [2020]
LIBRARY AND ARCHIVE - THE ORGANIZATION WELCOMES ALL RESEARCHERS WHO WISH TO CONDUCT RESEARCH ON AMERICAN JEWISH LIFE FROM FIRST ARRIVAL IN THE AMERICAS TO THE PRESENT DAY. THE LIBRARY CONSISTS OF APPROXIMATELY 50,000 VOLUMES, INCLUDING BOTH BOOKS AND SERIALS (JOURNALS AND PERIODICALS). THE ORGANIZATION HOUSES APPROXIMATELY 1,500 ARCHIVAL COLLECTIONS AND HAS DEVELOPED FINDING AIDS FOR ITS PERSONAL AND INSTITUTIONAL HOLDINGS, AND THEY ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE. In 2020, Due to the Covid-19 pandemic physical access to the AJHS collections was not possible. However, many scholars and members of the public were able to use the digital finding aids to seaRch and view digitized material that document the American Jewish experience. In the last quarter of 2020 statistics on digital use found that in a three month span the top three collections searched were: Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society- accessed 434 times, the National Jewish Welfare Board Bureau of War Records- accessed 294 times, and American Jewish Congress- accessed 207 times. We saw a direct impact between tops of our digital programs and what individuals then searched in our database, showing a strong follow up and connection with membership.GeographiesNot indicatedDatesJan 1, 2020 – Dec 31, 2020Source990No causes providedNo populations provided–$600.5KProgram 2 [2020]
Public Programs - Programming and exhibitions relating and contributing to AJHS's established archival collection on American Jewry took place throughout the year. They included film screenings, panel discussions, poetry readings, music programs, book talks and more. IN 2019 AJHS CURATED THE EXHIBIT REWIND: VOICES OF THE PAST ADVISING THE FUTURE AN EXHIBITION EXPLORING THE UNITED JEWISH APPEAL-FEDERATION ORAL HISTORY COLLECTION. IN 2019, AJHS HOSTED A SERIES OF EVENTS ENTITLED NOT JUST FUNNY GIRL: JEWISH AMERICAN WOMEN IN COMEDY. THIS SERIES INCLUDED A FILM SCREENING OF "LOVE, GILDA: THE ETERNAL SPIRIT OF GILDA RADNER"FROM JEAN CARROLL TO MRS. MAISEL: JEWISH WOMEN COMEDIANS AS AN INSPIRATION," A PANEL DISCUSSION WITH NOAF GARDENSWARZ, WRITER FOR THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL, AND GRACE OVERBEKE, DRAMATURG CURRENTLY AT NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY. In 2020, programming at AJHS became entirely virtual in 2020 for the safety of employees as well as members, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Thanks to the flexibility of many of our grant funders we were able to use funds to produce digital content such as: LIVE FROM THE ARCHIVES, a 10 episode online series focusing on key artifacts and themes found in the AJHS collections. Funded by an NEH Cares grant, this program used the expertise of our Director of Collections, Melanie Meyers, our Executive Director, Annie Polland, and several guest historians. We also pivoted the EMMA LAZARUS PROJECT funded by The Covenant Foundation and Righteous Persons Group to provide 10 online poetry classes taught by Lynn Melnick, and 6 weeks of summer camp classes for the Fresh Air Fund- where over 800 children got to "travel back in time" to meet a costumed interpreter playing the poet Emma Lazarus.GeographiesNot indicatedDatesJan 1, 2020 – Dec 31, 2020Source990No causes providedNo populations provided–$95.8KProgram 3 [2020]
PUBLICATIONS - AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORICAL JOURNAL - SCHOLARLY JOURNAL OF PUBLISHED ARTICLES ON AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORY THEMES. The journal editorial board published 4 volumes in 2019, and created an amended schedule in 2020 that consisted of one double issue and 3 single volumes to accommodate production issues stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic.GeographiesNot indicatedDatesJan 1, 2020 – Dec 31, 2020Source990No causes providedNo populations provided–$35.5K
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