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Eighteen Jewish Americans Chosen

The 18 individuals who will be featured in the gallery are Irving Berlin, Leonard Bernstein, Louis Brandeis, Albert Einstein, Mordecai Kaplan, Sandy Koufax, Estée Lauder, Emma Lazarus, Isaac Leeser, Golda Meir, Jonas Salk, Rose Schneiderman, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Steven Spielberg, Barbra Streisand, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Henrietta Szold, and Isaac Mayer Wise.

During a one-month period, July 8 through August 6, 2009, the Museum invited the public to vote on the 18 to be included in the Gallery from a list of 218 possible candidates. More than 209,000 votes were cast from 56 countries on the Museum's Only in America® website, which can be accessed at www.nmajh.org.

The 218 candidates were drawn from eight categories: Arts & Entertainment; Business & Philanthropy; Literature; Performance; Politics, Law & Activism; Religion & Thought; Science & Medicine; and Sports. The Museum selected for inclusion in the Gallery the person who received the most votes in each category.

In addition to the public's recommendations, the Museum's historians and curators worked to ensure that the group reflected Jews' 350 years of history in the United States and the diverse fields in which they have been involved.

"The public played a significant role in how the Museum chose the first group of individuals we are honoring in our Only in America® Gallery/Hall of Fame," said Michael Rosenzweig, the Museum's president and CEO. "The 18 finalists represent a consensus between the public vote and the Museum's historians and curatorial staff. We wanted the public's input on who should be recognized for their accomplishments in a major museum exhibition and they made excellent choices."

"In addition to the public response to the voting, we're very pleased with the educational aspects of the poll," Rosenzweig said. "Thousands of people came to the site and learned about the contributions of 218 distinguished American Jews to our society. There were debates about the merits of some of the candidates and the inclusion or exclusion of others, and that's exactly the kind of dialogue we plan to encourage in our new Museum.

"The Only in America® Gallery/Hall of Fame will be a space that inspires visitors," Rosenzweig continued. "It will celebrate the lives and achievements of 18 individuals who exemplify a central theme of the Museum: that a hallmark of the American experience has been an unparalleled opportunity to aspire, achieve, and possibly change the world."

To be located on the first floor of the Museum's future home on Independence Mall, the Only in America® Gallery/Hall of Fame will be a landmark museum experience, featuring major film productions, original artifacts, and an interactive database.

Additional individuals will be added to the Only in America® Gallery/Hall of Fame in the coming years. All 218 individuals included in the public vote will be included in the interactive database that will be available to all Museum visitors as well as on its website. Representing individuals from diverse backgrounds and areas of activity, the Only in America® Gallery/Hall of Fame database will provide access to hundreds of compelling stories that underscore the Museum's primary themes and offer significant opportunities for educational activities. The Only in America® website will remain live for visitors to use and explore. Visitors to the site can continue submitting names of people that they believe should be included in the Only in America® Gallery/Hall of Fame database.

The Museum's academic historians are led by Dr. Jonathan Sarna, the Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University, and include Dr. Pamela S. Nadell, the inaugural Patrick Clendenen Professor of History and Director of the Jewish Studies Program at American University; Dr. Beth S. Wenger, Associate Professor of History and Director of the Jewish Studies Program at the University of Pennsylvania; Dr. Michael Berenbaum, a writer, lecturer, and teacher consulting in the conceptual development of museums and Director of the Sigi Ziering Institute at the American Jewish University: and Dr. Josh Perelman who serves as the Museum's Historian and Deputy Director of Programming.

Museum Board Member Ed Snider, who is chairman of Comcast-Spectacor, one of the preeminent sports and entertainment organizations in the world, is the major benefactor of the Only in America® Gallery/Hall of Fame.

The National Museum of American Jewish History is constructing a new 100,000-square-foot, five-story building on Independence Mall that will stand directly across from the Liberty Bell, one block south of the National Constitution Center, and one block north of the birthplace of American liberty, Independence Hall.

Welcome to the electronic newsletter of the National Museum of American Jewish History. This newsletter is designed to keep you informed of exhibitions, programs and other activities of the NMAJH, the only Museum in the country exclusively presenting educational programs and experiences that preserve, explore and celebrate the history of the Jews in America.
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Membership Campaign A Success

Exceeding expectations for the initiative, more than 1,100 people have recently become Founding Members of the Museum in response to an initial test mailing sent out in mid-July.

The first phase of the direct mail initiative focused on soliciting Founding Memberships from select Jewish households in Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey, South Florida, Cleveland and Los Angeles.



The Museum sought to attract at least 800 new members and raise at least $55,000 from the first test mailing. As of September 15, the Museum raised more than $130,000 from the mailing in addition to the membership gains.

Indicative of the type of response to the campaign was a note the Museum received from Sidney Hochman of Somerset, N.J., with his contribution. He wrote, "I am enclosing an additional Founding Member donation in memory of my parents, Philip and Eva Hochman, both of whom came to this country in the early 1900s where they met, married and raised a family in the Jewish tradition. I am sure, were they still alive, they would want to be among the first to support your organization."

Using results and feedback from the initial mailing, a refined second test mailing in late September will be directed toward a broader national audience. The Museum plans to move forward with a comprehensive national direct mail membership campaign in early 2010.

The direct mail campaign is the beginning of a Museum initiative to gain widespread support from the national Jewish community and is an important component of its Capital Campaign, which has raised approximately $119 million to date. The campaign goal is $150 million and will be used to build and outfit the new building and to establish an endowment that will help support the Museum's operations and programs.

"We're gratified by the response to the Founding Membership campaign and, in these especially challenging times, we're even more appreciative," said Museum President and CEO Michael Rosenzweig. "The support of these new and current members is critical to our campaign to build a national destination Museum and a vital center of Jewish cultural life."

Visit the Museum's website for information on becoming a Founding Member.

For information on ways to participate in the Museum's Capital Campaign, contact Irv Hurwitz, the Museum's Director of Institutional Advancement, at 215.923.3811 x133 or via email at ihurwitz@nmajh.org.


Museum's Terracotta Walls Complement Independence Mall's Architecture



Visitors Have Voices Heard In Exhibit

During a recent visit to the Museum a man from Israel was having trouble with his English. He sought out Museum docent Beth Goldman to ask her how to spell each and every word correctly as he thoughtfully answered a question posed by the Draw the Line exhibit. "He wanted to make sure that his voice was heard," Goldman said.

Goldman had taken the visitor through Shaping Space, Making Meaning, the Museum's current exhibition featuring hand-drawn sketches, scale models, computer-generated renderings and the Draw The Line exhibit. The Draw The Line exhibit asks visitors controversial questions surrounding issues that deal with American Jewish life today.

"What I observe most often is that people are very eager to give their opinions on the controversial issues and questions posed in the exhibit. Visitors put a lot of thought into their answers because they feel that they are being a part of something. Someone wants to hear what they think no matter where they are from or who they are."

Goldman guides visitors of varied religions, ages, and cultures through the exhibition multiple times per week.

Shaping Space, Making Meaning offers an insider's look at the process of creating an exhibition about more than 350 years of the American Jewish experience.

The NMAJH's exhibition design team is in the process of creating the 22,000-square-foot exhibition for the new Museum.


Rosh Hashanah Items For Sale At Museum Shop