Cultural | Historical Documents | Jewish Life | SocialPartially online Tate Archive The Tate Archive is located at Tate Britain. It is open to the public and free to access. It contains a large collection of documents, photographs, and other material concerning Jewish participation in the cultural life of Britain. Archive Description Tate Archive is the world’s largest archive of British art, holding more than 1,000 collections containing over 20 million pieces. The archive collections comprise a wide range of materials such as letters, diaries, sketches, photographs, exhibition histories, audio-visual material and increasingly, born-digital material – all of which relate to artists, art practice, and art world figures and organisations. Researchers can search for materials of interest from the catalogued holdings by using the online catalogue and browse more than 65,000 digitised items and pieces on their website. Access Information Tate Archive is free to use. To consult collections, researchers just need to register and make an appointment to visit the Hyman Kreitman Reading Rooms at Tate Britain. The Reading Rooms at Tate Britain are currently open Tuesdays and Fridays 11.00–15.00. Email reading.rooms@tate.org.uk or call +44 020 7887 8838 to make an appointment. The archive asks that you bring two different forms of identification as well as a digital or paper copy of your appointment email. The archive has also introduced a free scan and send service for small quantities of information from both our Library, Archive and Public Records collections. This is for individuals undertaking non-commercial research and private study only. For further information, please visit their website. Digital Accessibility Researchers can search for materials of interest from the catalogued holdings by using the online catalogue and browse more than 65,000 digitised items and pieces on their website. Street Address Tate ArchiveTate BritainMillbankLondonSW1P 4RG https://www.tate.org.uk/art/archive
Communal Records | Jewish Life | Local History | Religion | SocialPartially online Hackney Archives Hackney Archives holds the archives and local history collections of the London Borough of Hackney. Alongside the records of the local authority, the archive collection holds records of local businesses, clubs, societies, religious organisations, families and individuals. It holds a number of historic Jewish collections that evidence the contributions of the Jewish residents to the fabric of Hackney. Archive Description Collections of Jewish interest include: Deeds evidencing the consistent presence of Jewish residents of Hackney, including of the Da Costa and Rothschild families; the papers of Jewish Councillors and Mayors of Hackney and predecessors including of Sir Louis and Lady Sherman, Councilor John Stanton JP and Sam Cohen; material from Jewish societies including minute books and membership records of The Workers Circle Friendly Society and printed material of the Lubavitch Foundation; Jewish family collections including chemist and local historian Israel Renson, and the Kinn family who were members of the Hasidic Jewish community in Stamford Hill; Council records include information about the administration of specialist services and funds for the Orthodox Jewish Community; and the records of Hackney Downs School, once described as the ‘Jewish Eton’ by the Jewish Chronicle, including editions of the school magazine, clubs and administrative records. The local history library located on-site includes reading on Jewish communities in the East End as well as a wide ranging collection of pamphlets. Access Information The archive is open to members of the public, weekly Wednesday to Friday. Access requires one form of photographic ID and one proof of address. Enquiries can be made to archives@hackney.gov.uk Digital Accessibility An archive catalogue can be found online. The archive’s image database – searchable through the catalogue – has a collection of photographs of the area, including shop fronts of Jewish businesses and religious buildings. The images are free to browse but the archive charges for non-watermarked copies. They are looking to expand their digital offering with digitised documents but this is not currently available. Street Address Dalston CLR James Library, Dalston SquareDalston, LondonE8 3BQ https://hackney.gov.uk/archives
Commercial | Communal Records | Holocaust | Jewish Life | Religion | SocialNot online Leeds Jewish Archive This archive is currently closed. The Leeds Jewish Archive has been assembled by Makor Jewish Culture, Leeds. Its holdings cover over one hundred and fifty years of Jewish presence in Leeds. Archive Description In 2010, the Leeds Jewish community celebrated the 150th anniversary of the first custom built synagogue in Leeds. To commemorate this and leave a legacy for Leeds’ rich Jewish history, Makor Jewish Culture launched the search for Leeds archive material. The Centre conducted a large number of interviews with people whose families had lived for generations in Leeds, producing a wealth of interviews containing many anecdotes that would not normally have been preserved. The archive holds material that includes all aspects of Jewish religious, social, economic and political life, including local history, refugee experiences, wars and conflict, the Holocaust and relationships with Israel. This includes audio-visual material from TV stations such as ITV, Chanel 4 and the BBC have searched their archive for information to enrich Leeds based documentaries. Access Information This archive is currently closed.
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
Immigration | Local History | Religion | SocialPartially online The London Archives The London Archives (formerly London Metropolitan Archives) is a public archive, housing a broad collection of social, religious, and local history records. Archive Description The London Archives holds one of the most important collections of Jewish archives in the UK. Its collections include archives of major national Jewish organisations as well as many schools, synagogues and charities working in London for the local Jewish population. Large institutions with a national remit such as the Office of the Chief Rabbi, the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the London Beth Din are included among the collections, as are national and international welfare organisations including World Jewish Relief. The archive of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews Congregation are held at The London Archives and includes records created by the congregation in its original home of Bevis Marks in the City of London as well as its current base in Maida Vale, and Ashkenazi religious communities, including the orthodox United Synagogue and Federation of Synagogues, the Liberal Jewish Synagogue and several individual Reform and Independent congregations have their records here. Many documents from the Bevis Marks archives have been digitised by the The London Archives and placed online by the National Library of Israel. A Nação Hebraica is a project that, with the help of machine learning, aims to transcribe these documents and make them available online. The archive of the Jews Free School (now JFS) are also held at The London Archives, as are the Association of Jewish Teachers and the London School of Jewish Studies. Local charitable organisations range from the Jewish Memorial Council, the Jews Temporary Shelter and Nightingale (formerly the Home for Aged Jews) to the tiny Soup Kitchen for the Jewish Poor in Stepney, among many others. Access Information The London Archives is open to the public, Monday – Thursday, 10am to 4.30pm, with late opening on Wednesday until 7pm. You will need a History Card to access original archive documents. Registration requires photographic identification (i.e driver’s license, passport etc.) and you can register for a History Card online. Further information and contact details can be found on The London Archives website. Online Accessibility The London Archives catalogue is available online, along with digital collections including digitised documents, images, and exhibitions. Street Address The London Archives40 Northampton RoadClerkenwell EC1R 0HB https://www.thelondonarchives.org 29 Nov 2024 Collection Encounter: The London Archives Collection Encounter: The London Archives
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?
Religion | SocialPartially online UCL Special Collections UCL Special Collections is part of the University College London Library system, based in London. Its collection contains religious and communal records along with personal archives. Archive Description UCL Library Special Collections is one of the foremost university collections of manuscripts, archives and rare books in the UK. Jewish material forms a significant part of these collections. The Jewish archival material relates mostly to Anglo-Jewry from the 19th to 20th centuries. Its largest component (around 170,000 items) is the personal archive of the Chief Rabbi of the Spanish and Portuguese community in England from 1887 to 1918, Moses Gaster. This covers almost every aspect of Jewish life and community affairs in England during the Victorian and Edwardian periods, from the personal to the political. Access Information UCL Library Special Collections is open to the public but appointments must be made at least two weeks in advance. Extensive information for visitors can be found on their website. The Special Collections Reading Room is open Monday-Thursday 10am-4pm, and appointments can be made by emailing spec.coll@ucl.ac.uk. Online Accessibility UCL Libraries have a large collection of digitised material which can be accessed here. UCL Special Collections can be searched using the wider UCL Library Catalogue, available here. Street Address University College London,Gower Street,London,WC1E 6BT https://www.ucl.ac.uk/library/special-collections
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
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