Commercial | Cultural | Jewish Life | Local HistoryOnly online Bishopsgate Institute Library and Archive Petticoat Lane Market, Dennis Anthony, London Collection Photographs D31/92 (c.1963) • Bishopgate Institute Bishopsgate Institute Library and Archive is a free, independent library and archive open to the public. Its collection contains material about London, social movements and protest, feminist and women’s history, as well as the Sandy’s Row Synagogue collection. Archive Description The Archive holds a large number of collections relating to London History and social protest movements. Some of these contain material relevant to Jewish history. Of note are the Sandys Row Archive, the William Fishman archive, and the large London photographic archive. While the Archive holds few distinctly Jewish collections it still holds a significant amount of Jewish content, especially relating to anti-Fascism, anti-Racism, and the labour movement. Access Information The Archive is open to the general public with no specific requirements. It is open 10am to 5:30pm, Monday to Friday. Digital Accessibility The Archive’s catalogue is available online, and there are a number of collection guides available to help researchers find useful material. Street Address Bishopsgate Institute230 BishopsgateLondonEC2M 4QH https://www.bishopsgate.org.uk/archives
Communal Records | Cultural | Historical Documents | Jewish Life | Local HistoryPartially online University of Leeds Cultural Collections [Yiḥus avot]. [יחוס אבות]. [Illustrated account of the holy places in Palestine, written in Casale Monferrato]. Classmark: MS ROTH/220, University of Leeds Cultural Collections The University of Leeds Cultural Collections is housed in the Brotherton Library, Leeds, and is open to public access. It contains a number of historic Jewish collections. Archive Description One of the largest Jewish collections is the Cecil Roth Collection of around 360 manuscripts from 13th-20th century, collected by the British Jewish historian Cecil Roth. They contain a large number of early modern written texts including prayer books, marriage contracts, letters and deeds in Hebrew and other languages. These extraordinary records document the daily lives of Jews and their culture around the world. Other collections include: The Esther Simpson correspondence and papers includes her personal papers, photographs, press-cuttings and correspondence. Papers relating to the Leeds Academic Assistance Committee founded in 1933 to support academic refugees from Germany. The Papers of Janina and Zygmunt Bauman contains material relating to Jewish organisations including Yad Vashem and the Leeds based Holocaust Survivors Friendship Association. Czech Torah Scroll no.68 is from Brno, the Czech Republic and dates from 1890. It’s on loan from the Memorial Scrolls Trust and contains the Pentateuch. The Marilyn Fetcher Collection contains Shifra papers, correspondence and photographs. The Porton Collection of printed material dates from 1553-1980. It covers all aspects of the religion and culture of the Jewish people and includes works in Hebrew, Yiddish and English. The foundation of the collection is the library of Rabbi Moses Abrahams to which was added part of Joseph Porton’s library, a Leeds printer and stationer. The Travers Herford Collection is a small collection of books published 1935-1948 on Jewish history acquired by Robert Travers Herford, a rabbinical scholar. Access Information The collections are open to the public, although some items have special handling requirements. External visitors are required to register with the Library and on their first visit will need to provide photographic identification with confirmation of signature and present address. The collection also requires advance notification of at least two days. Notifications and questions can be sent to the Library through an online form. Online Accessibility Part of the Cecil Roth Collection has been digitised and is available on their website. The Cultural Collections catalogue is also available online. Street Address Cultural CollectionsBrotherton LibraryUniversity of LeedsWoodhouse LaneLeeds, LS2 9JT https://library.leeds.ac.uk/info/1500/special_collections ‘Shifra’: A Voice for Jewish Feminists Jewish Feminist Magazine ‘Shifra’ • University of Leeds Cultural Collections
Cultural | Historical DocumentsPartially online British Library’s Hebrew collection The British Library’s Hebrew collection is held within the British Library, Britain’s national library. It is open to researchers and contains a large collection of manuscripts, printed books and serials on Jewish topics. Archive Description The Hebrew Collection was assembled over a 250 year period, initially by the British Museum and since 1973 by the British Library. Its holdings contain material written and printed in Hebrew characters, ranging from manuscripts copied over 1,000 years ago to the most recent monographs and serials. The collection – one of the most important in the world – encompasses all facets of Hebrew literature and a wide range of religious and secular area studies. The collection includes around 3,000 manuscript volumes and about 75,000 printed book titles – mostly in Hebrew and related languages that use the Hebrew script including Aramaic, Judeo-Arabic, Judeo-Italian, Judeo-Persian, Judeo-Spanish, Yiddish and various others. The collection also holds some 7,000 manuscript fragments, deriving mainly from the Cairo Genizah, nearly 1,000 Hebrew and Yiddish periodical and newspaper titles, in addition to considerable numbers of microforms of manuscripts, printed books and periodicals. Access Information Access to the British Library’s collections require a valid reader pass which can be applied for online or in person. Manuscripts, printed items, and other physical material can be ordered and consulted during opening hours in designated reading rooms, namely the Asian and African Studies reading room for manuscripts and printed books and the Rare Books and Music reading room for printed material. In order to access Hebrew manuscripts and rare printed material, the British Library recommends that you email the Head of Middle Eastern and Central Asian Collections, Michael Erdman, at least one week in advance. More information on the collection can be found in the Library’s online collection guide. Digital Accessibility All the Hebrew manuscripts have been fully digitised and are available free of charge on the British Library’s Digitised Manuscripts site. The full archive and manuscript holdings of the British Library can also be searched on its online catalogue. Street Address The British LibraryAsian and African Collections96 Euston RdLondon NW1 2DB https://www.bl.uk
Communal Records | Cultural | Jewish Life | ReligionPartially online Sandys Row Archive Sandys Row Archive is a digital archive held by the Bishopsgate Institute Archives. It contains the records of Sandys Row Synagogue and the Synagogue’s judaica collection. Archive Description Sandys Row Synagogue was founded in 1854 by Dutch immigrants from Amsterdam, in the heart of the former Jewish East End. It is now London’s oldest Ashkenazi Synagogue and the last functioning synagogue in Spitalfields. The Sandys Row Archive has been digitised as part of the Our Hidden Histories project which celebrates the unique story of this historic community. Users can explore the extensive Digital Archive on the website which includes: excerpts from the oral history collection, searchable and downloadable marriage records, minute books, seat registers and more, along with photographs of its collection of Judaica. Access Information The physical material the archive is created from can be found in the Bishopsgate Institute Archives. Online Accessibility The archive is available online at the project’s web page. HOME
Cultural | Religion | SocialOnly online Jewish Museum London A banner of the London Jewish Bakers Union, front and reverse sides, 1984.126 • Jewish Museum London The Jewish Museum London is a public museum, with an archive collection of historic Jewish cultural, social and religious items. Archive Description The museum’s archive holds photographs, oral histories and paper ephemera which contain memoirs, personal letters and documents as well as minute books of Jewish charities and ledgers of businesses. Among the highlights are photographs of the Jews’ Free School in the early 20th century, a medieval charter forbidding the lease of land to Jews and a circumcision and marriage register going back to the late 1700s. The Museum’s own institutional archive gives an insight into the Museum’s history since its beginnings in Bloomsbury in 1932. Access Information The archive is not open to the public, and special access must be requested from the Museum’s curation team by email: curation@jewishmuseum.org.uk. Online Accessibility The museum’s collection catalogue is available online along with online exhibitions showcasing items from the museum’s wider holdings. https://jewishmuseum.org.uk/ London Jewish Bakers Union banner London Jewish Bakers Union banner • The Jewish Museum, London Yiddish Typewriter Yiddish Typewriter belonging to the playwright Abish Meisels Sukkot in the Jewish Orphanage, Norwood Children from the Jewish Orphanage, Norwood, celebrate Sukkot • Jewish Museum London
Cultural | Immigration | Jewish Life | Local History | SocialPartially online Manchester Jewish Museum Manchester Jewish Museum c. Philip Vile Manchester Jewish Museum is an independent museum open to the public whose archive holds a broad collection of artefacts and documents relating to the history of Manchester Jewish communities. Archive Description The Museum’s collection charts the many stories and experiences of Mancunian Jewish life. The archives reveal the stories of the lives of Jewish people who travelled from all over the world and how Jewish communities in Greater Manchester were established and diversified. This includes personal objects that were brought to Manchester, objects relating to trades, religious practice, hobbies and domestic and communal life. The Museum’s oral history collection consists of interviews given by Jewish people living in Manchester. The topics covered in the interviews include migration, home and school life, work, politics, antisemitism, war, religion and identity. The museum also holds many interviews with Holocaust survivors and refugees from Nazism in the 1930s. The photograph collection of over 20,000 images portrays the life of one of the UK’s earliest migrant communities. The photographs have historic and architectural interest, recording both community life and communal buildings that no longer exist. Manchester Jewish Museum is housed in a former Sephardi synagogue, described by Historic England as “one of the highlights of Victorian Gothic architecture in the country”. Originally opened in 1984, the museum reopened following a development project in July 2021. This project included the creation of a new exhibition gallery and collections store with space for researchers to access the collection. Access Information Access to view material in the archives can be arranged by contacting the curator – curator@manchesterjewishmuseum.com. Online Accessibility The museum is currently digitising its photographic and oral history collections. Online access to these collections is planned. Digital collections are shared weekly on the museum’s social media platforms. More information on the collection can be found on the Museum’s website. Street Address Manchester Jewish Museum190 Cheetham Hill RoadManchesterM8 8LW https://www.manchesterjewishmuseum.com 3 Jun 2024 Collection Encounter: Manchester Jewish Museum Collection Encounter: Manchester Jewish Museum
Cultural | Historical Documents | Middle Eastern Jewry | Religion | SocialOnline Cairo Genizah Collection The Cairo Genizah Collection is a publicly accessible research collection housed in the Cambridge University Library. Its collection of manuscripts contains information on Jewish history, religion, and culture. Archive Description The Cairo Genizah Collection is an enormous collection of medieval and early modern Jewish manuscripts, formed principally from the Taylor-Schechter Collection of more than 193,000 fragments removed from the Ben Ezra Synagogue in Fustat, Old Cairo, by the Cambridge scholar Solomon Schechter in 1896–7. Further fragments have been added from the Lewis-Gibson Collection (jointly owned with the University of Oxford) and the Jacques Mosseri Genizah Collection, currently on loan in Cambridge. The material has been cleaned, conserved, and digitised. It is accessible both online and for consultation and viewing in person. The collection contains a broad array of texts, encompassing all genres of literature, from sacred to profane, as well as a remarkable documentary archive of letters, legal deeds and other writings of everyday life, allowing us to reconstruct in great detail the literary, economic and social history of the Jews of Egypt over centuries. Particular treasures include not only the earliest known copies of many Jewish sacred texts, but also the autograph writings of major medieval figures such as Moses Maimonides and Judah ha-Levi. Access Information The collection can be accessed for research purposes in the Manuscripts Reading Room by holders of a University Library reader’s card. More information about the University Library readers card can be found on the Cambridge University Library website, as can University Library opening hours. Members of the general public can view the collection as part of a pre-booked visit, hosted by a member of the Genizah Research Unit. These visits can be arranged Monday-Friday during office hours (9.30–5.30) and Saturdays and Bank Holiday access is also sometimes possible. These visits should be scheduled at least two weeks in advance, and the collection can be contacted at: genizah@lib.cam.ac.uk. More information on access requirements can be found on the collection’s website. Online Accessibility The Cairo Genizah collection is almost completely digitised, and can be accessed online via The Friedberg Jewish Manuscript Society web portal following a free registration. Digital catalogues of the material can be found on the Cambridge University Library website in two collections: The Genizah Collection and the Lewis-Gibson Collection Street Address Cambridge University LibraryWest RoadCambridgeCB3 9DR https://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/collections/departments/taylor-schechter-genizah-research-unit
Commercial | CulturalNot online The Rothschild Archive The Rothschild Archive, based in London, is a private archive holding the commercial records and personal papers of members of the Rothschild family, focusing on the records of London-based N M Rothschild & Sons and the French bank of M M de Rothschild Fréres. Archive Description The archive was established in 1978 to look after the records of the Rothschild family, notable for its impact on world economic, political and social history. The collections reflect the banking, finance and merchant trading activities of the Rothschild businesses, together with the family’s private interests in politics, science and nature, the arts and philanthropy. Access Information The archive is not open to members of the general public. Researchers must first contact the archivist with details of their research proposal, before registering with the Rothschild Research Forum and providing two written references. A contact form is available online. The archive can be visited between 10 am and 4.15pm, Monday to Friday, but requires advance notification to arrange access. Online Accessibility The Rothschild Archive does not have a digital catalogue but collection descriptions are available on the website Street Address New Court, St Swithin’s LaneLondonEC4N 8AL https://www.rothschildarchive.org
Cultural | SocialPartially online Southampton Anglo-Jewish Archives The Anglo-Jewish Archives are part of the University of Southampton Special Collections, based in Southampton. The collection contains records from a large number of organisations as well as the personal papers of significant individuals in Anglo-Jewish history. Archive Description The Anglo-Jewish Archives contain important holdings for prominent individuals and national organisations. Papers of individuals include those of Cecil Roth, Selig Brodetsky, and the private and official papers of Rabbi Solomon Schonfeld. This latter collection contains a large section relating to the work of the Chief Rabbi’s Religious Emergency Council and the rescue of members of the Jewish community in the 1930s and 1940s. Archives of organisations include those of the Jewish Board of Guardians, the Anglo-Jewish Association, editorial correspondence of the Jewish Chronicle newspaper, the Union of Jewish Women, the World Union of Progressive Judaism and the Institute of Jewish Affairs and the British Section of the World Jewish Congress. The archive of Dr James Parkes focuses on his life’s work of the promotion of understanding between Jews and non-Jews; this complements the printed material held in the Parkes Library. Related inter-faith collections include the archives of the International Association for Religious Freedom, of the Council of Christians and Jews, the World Congress of Faiths, of Revd W.W. Simpson. Access Information Access to the Archives and Manuscripts and Rare Books Searchroom service is available to anyone regardless of whether you are attached to an academic institution. Booking an appointment – All visits are by prior appointment and all visitors will be required to book their visit and to order their material at least by 12 noon 1 working day (weekdays) in advance. Bookings are made by emailing Archives@soton.ac.uk. You’ll be required to give the following information for bookings: details of name, University ID number (members of the University of Southampton only), permanent residential address and contact details, date of visit and list of items to be consulted. A booking form will be provided for use. Ordering material – All material needs to be ordered in advance, at the point of booking a visit. There is a maximum limit of 10 items per day for bookings (with a reserve list of 10 additional items). You can explore the archival collections using the new Epexio Archive Catalogue, which brings together brings together thousands of catalogue descriptions along with a powerful search tool and browse functionality. Some modern archival material might be sensitive and subject to restrictions under GDPR or FOIA. Information on restrictions will be noted in the Archive Catalogue. Details of rare book material will be found in the Library catalogue. Confirmation of appointment – You will be sent an email confirmation of your appointment with the Archives service. Identification for registration – Researchers are required to provide documentation for registration purposes on either their initial visit (or first visit in a calendar year) to the Archives and Manuscripts and Rare Books Searchroom service. External researchers will be required to produce two pieces of documentation (one with a photograph, one which includes their permanent residential address). Southampton students and staff will need to provide their University ID. Safety measures in place – Researchers are welcome to wear face coverings during their visit. No visitor should attend site if they are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and are advised to self-isolate in line with government recommendations. The Archives reading room is open Tuesday – Thursday, 10am – 4 pm. Online Accessibility Digital material is available via the Virtual Reading Room, including the records of the Anglo-Jewish Association. A searchable guide to the Archive & Manuscript’s Jewish collection is also available online. Digital appointments via Virtual Reading Room service – Special Collections has also introduced a Virtual Reading Room service, where researchers can book a digital appointment to view Special Collections’ material remotely, wherever they are based. Digital appointments are one hour in length and are facilitated using an on-site visualiser and viewed via Microsoft Teams. They are offered for slots 1000-1100, 1300-1400, 1415-1515 and 1530-1630 (UK time) on Mondays and Fridays. To book a digital appointment, please email Archives@soton.ac.uk . Searchroom Regulations – For curatorial reasons, special library regulations apply to the use of the collections. Regulations are set out here for the use of the reading room for archives and rare books. Reprographics service – Users are welcome to order copies of material from the collections. For curatorial reasons, all copying and photography is done by members of staff. No private photography of documents or books is permitted. See the reprographics service pages for further information. Special Collections Open Access – Special Collections Open Access houses the modern material within the Special Collections. It is open during the Hartley Library’s opening hours . Street Address Hartley LibraryUniversity of SouthamptonHighfieldSouthamptonSO17 1BJ http://www.southampton.ac.uk/archives/index.page?