One of the most important private collections of Jewish Americana has been donated to the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia by Rabbi Peter Schweitzer, who amassed his collection of an estimated 10,000 artifacts during more than 25 years of collecting.

The Peter H. Schweitzer Collection is significant for the field of American Jewish history because it contains objects of material culture that depict the everyday lives and experiences of Jews in America, both in their secular lives as well as their religious practice. Included in the collection are signs, posters, tins, bottles, photographs, trade cards, menus, neon clocks, Yiddish typewriters, yearbooks, autograph books, textiles and ritual items.

The Museum will preserve the objects and artifacts for future generations and allow wider access to the collection by scholars and the public for the first time. Because the artifacts are devoted to the social world of everyday relationships and popular culture, the collection is highly evocative to both Jewish and non-Jewish audiences.

“We are excited and thrilled to be chosen as the home of this major collection of Jewish Americana,” said Gwen Goodman, Executive Director/CEO of the National Museum of American Jewish History. “A collection like this is a rarity. These objects that connect people and places to Jewish experiences in America will enable us to best tell our story.”

Rabbi Schweitzer, of New York City, gave his collection to the Museum because “I wanted to find an institution that would share my commitment to preserving the material culture that tells the story of our experience in America. I wanted to know that the Museum appreciated the diversity in the Jewish community, which is comprised of secular and religious Jews, and that no one interpretive stance would dictate over others. After meeting with the Museum’s professional staff, I felt assured that would be the case. I am confident that I am entrusting the collection into caring hands.”

“The donation of Peter Schweitzer’s collection to the National Museum of American Jewish History is a landmark event in the world of American Jewish museums. The gift will make accessible to scholars, curators and the general public a collection of extraordinary depth and richness,” said Dale Rosengarten, Ph.D., Curator of the Jewish Heritage Collection, Marlene & Nathan Addlestone Library, College of Charleston, Charleston, S.C. "The Schweitzer Collection is extraordinary in its variety and expansiveness. From items of popular culture to ritual objects to photographs, postcards, advertisements, and a host of material too numerous to list, this is perhaps the most ambitious effort to collect objects that reflect the range of American Jewish experience. It would be difficult to imagine a collection better suited for a museum dedicated to American Jewish history,” added Beth S. Wenger, Katz Family Term Chair in American Jewish History, University of Pennsylvania.

Rabbi Schweitzer is the leader of The City Congregation for Humanistic Judaism in New York City and is Vice President of the Association of Humanistic Rabbis. He is also a senior social worker at the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services in Brooklyn.

He is a great-grandson of the renowned constitutional lawyer and Jewish civic leader Louis Marshall. His maternal grandfather, Jacob Billikopf, was a recognized Jewish communal leader who led the Federation of Jewish Charities in Philadelphia and directed the American Jewish Relief Committee that provided aid to suffering Jews in Europe after World War I.

“I consider this collection to be a living collection. I’m interested in finding new things for it,” said Rabbi Schweitzer, who will continue to serve as a consultant to the collection.

FOR ART, CONTACT JAY NACHMAN AT 215-923-5978 OR BY EMAIL AT JNACHMAN@NMAJH.ORG

MUSEUMS TO RECEIVE 10 PERCENT OF SHOP SALES THROUGH OCTOBER

The care of historical resources damaged or at risk due to Hurricane Katrina and congregations and communities affected by the hurricane will be the recipients of 10 percent of the proceeds of Museum Shop sales through the month of October.

Funds will be donated to the American Association for State & Local History (AASLH), which is working with the Southeastern Museums Conference to assess needs of museums affected by the hurricane. AASLH is also developing a database to centralize the offers of goods, services, and space for the recovery efforts for all types of museums, regardless of discipline. For more information on the American Association of Museums response to the disaster and its reports on museums in the affected area, click http://www.aam-us.org/aamlatest/news/hurricane.cfm

The Museum also will be donating funds to the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life, which has established a relief fund to aid congregations and communities affected by the Hurricane Katrina. For information on the Goldring/Woldenberg response to the hurricane, click www.msje.org

The Museum Shop has a wonderful array of ceremonial objects that you can make a part of your Rosh Hashanah and other holiday traditions. Visit the Museum Shops site at www.judaicashop.net to view the wonderful gift items carried by the Shop. The Museum Shop can also be reached at 215-923-0262.

The National Museum of American Jewish History is developing a one-of-a-kind online catalogue of artifacts, documents, and photographs pertaining to American Jewish history. The NMAJH Registry, the most comprehensive searchable catalogue of objects about the experience of the Jewish people in America, will serve as an important resource for museums, scholars and the public.

The continuously growing NMAJH Registry of Jewish Americana includes pictures of artifacts, and information about them, from collections, museums, archives and libraries around the country. Visitors to the NMAJH Registry will be able to search for artifacts through a variety of categories, such as the type of object, place of origin, date, and home institution. “Just as we had intended for this project, creating the Registry has already brought to light treasures that have not been seen by anyone ever before,” said NMAJH Executive Director/CEO Gwen Goodman. “Beyond surveying the largest known collections across the country, the Registry development team also ‘discovered’ several little and unknown private collections that will soon be recorded in the Registry for all to see.”

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REGISTRY/ADD 1
The NMAJH Registry is now being used by curators and designers developing the National Museum of American Jewish History’s new core exhibition and is expected to open to scholars and the public with the reopening of the new Museum, now scheduled for 2008. Click www. to see a featured artifact from the NMAJH Registry. This project is supported by a grant from the Heritage Philadelphia Program, funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and administered by the Independence Visitor Center Corporation. The Registry is also made possible in part through the generous support of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The NMAJH Registry is constructed by and designed in collaboration with the Center for History and New Media, George Mason University.

FOR ART, CONTACT JAY NACHMAN AT 215-923-5978 OR BY EMAIL AT JNACHMAN@NMAJH.ORG