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We are currently closed to visitors to renovate, improve, and expand our facilities. Our staff is working remotely and will continue to serve our patrons to the best of our abilities. 

Improvements to our current headquarters will allow us to better serve our members and the public. We are very excited about these upcoming changes and look forward to opening our new and renovated facilities and serving you in person in 2024! 

Currently, all physical archival materials are stored at our secure off-site facility for safety during renovations and may not be available for reference at this time. However, many of the Jewish Heritage Center’s collections are digitized, searchable, and available for access through our Digital Library & Archives. For more instructions on how to navigate our Digital Library & Archives, click here

Please email jhcreference@nehgs.org for more information or to schedule a virtual reference consultation. 

For records of organizations and individuals outside of New England, please visit the American Jewish Historical Society in New York, located at The Center for Jewish History.

Our Collections

The Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center holds the records and papers of Jewish organizations and individuals from the Greater Boston metropolitan area and New England.

Our collections are cataloged as “institutional” or “personal.” Institutional records (denoted by an “I”- or "JHCI"-number) are from congregations, community service organizations, trade associations, Zionist organizations, burial societies, and academic and cultural organizations. Personal papers (denoted by a “P”- or "JHCP"- number) are from individuals or families, and in many cases, correspond to some of our institutional collections. 

We also hold a variety of newspapers that served the Jewish communities of New England.

To view a list of all of the JHC's archival collections, go to our finding aid repository. There, you'll be able to browse finding aids for the over 250 archival collections the JHC holds; filter results by subject, name, or place; and perform keyword searches.

The finding aids--or guides to archival collections--describe what is in each collection (often listing each folder in a collection) and provide key information, including the size of the collections, dates they cover, languages they contain, subjects they cover, general descriptions of their content, and biographical or historical information about their creators. 

For information on how to navigate our finding aids and tips on how to search them, see our Frequently Asked Questions.

Digital Library & Archives

From immigrant records to family histories to photographs, there's so much to explore in our Digital Library & Archives. Containing nearly 700,000 documents, the archives are fully searchable and enable you to research from anywhere with internet access. 

Aside from a few open access collections (see below for further details), researchers must request access to our digital collections. There is no cost to do so.

To gain access to the Digital Library & Archives (DLA) website, create a free guest account by filling out this form and selecting the box at the bottom that reads "I want JHC DLA access, please". You can also join our mailing list using this form. Then return to the digital collections website and login with your newly created account credentials.

For more instructions on how to navigate our Digital Library & Archives, click here.

The following collections are open access and do not require a free guest user account:

For questions about the Digital Library & Archives, please email us at jhcreference@nehgs.org. More information on our Digital Library & Archives, including tips for usage, and copyright, take down and citation policies, can be found here.

Subject Guides

The JHC has created subject-specific guides to help researchers easily find and use our collections on subjects frequently found in our archives. The subject guides provide links to finding aids (and, if applicable, to digitized collections on our Digital Library & Archives), as well as to JHC webinars, articles, and exhibits on the subject, and helpful external resources. 

The JHC will continue to revise current subject guides to reflect newly-available collections.

Immigration

Businesses

Military & Veterans

Synagogues & Clergy

Western Massachusetts

Newspapers

The Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center has various newspapers within its collections. 

Jewish Times

The Jewish Times (also known as The Boston Jewish Times) was a weekly newspaper serving the Greater Boston Jewish community, published from 1945 to 2001. The JHC has issues between 1945 and 1992, which have been fully digitized and are searchable.

Jewish Weekly News

The Jewish Weekly News was a weekly newspaper serving the Jewish community of Western Massachusetts, published from 1945 to 1997. The JHC has bound volumes of issues of its entire run. Please e-mail us if you would like to make an appointment to view the volumes.

Jewish Journal

The Jewish Journal is a weekly newspaper serving the Jewish community of Massachusetts' North Shore, published from the 1950s to present day. The JHC has bound volumes of issues from 1950 to 2011. Please e-mail us if you would like to make an appointment to view the volumes.

Jewish Advocate

The Jewish Advocate was a weekly newspaper serving the Greater Boston and New England area that ran from 1902-2020 and was founded by famed journalist and Zionist leader Theodor Herzl. The JHC provides in-house database access to issues of the Jewish Advocate from 1905-2020, as well as microfilms of issues from 1905-1999. Please email us if you would like to make an appointment to access the databases or view the microfilm.

Jewish Chronicle

The Jewish Chronicle (also known as the Boston Jewish Chronicle) was a weekly newspaper that ran circa 1890 to 1893 and served the Greater Boston Jewish community. The JHC has microfilms of issues from 1891 to 1893. Please email us if you would like to make an appointment to view the microfilm.

Idisher Fihrer Boston

Idisher Fihrer Boston (also known as The Jewish Leader, The Daily Jewish Leader, and אידישער פיהרער) was a newspaper in Yiddish serving the Boston Jewish community. It was published between circa 1913 to 1926. The JHC has microfilms of issues between 1913-1916 and 1925-1926. Please email us if you would like to make an appointment to view the microfilm.

Databases

The JHC offers access to databases on Jewish organizations, cemeteries, and life cycle events. Click here to view descriptions of and links to the Jewish-related databases we offer.

Databases that are free (guest user account required):

  • Boston, MA: Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society Immigration Records, 1904-1929
  • Chelsea, MA: Marriages by Rabbi Icik Benkovitz, 1922-1956
  • Massachusetts: Jewish Cemeteries from American Jewish Historical Society, 1875-2012
  • Sharon, MA: Sharon Memorial Park Cemetery, 1945-201

Databases that require a JHC or NEHGS membership:

  • ​​​Charleston, SC: Inscriptions in Old Jewish Cemeteries, 1762-1903
  • Massachusetts: Jewish Cemeteries of Western Massachusetts, 1647-1999
  • Massachusetts: Organized Jewish Group Activity in 19th Century Massachusetts, 1843-1900

 

Microfilm Collections

The following are collections held in microfilm form. Please contact jhcreference@nehgs.org to inquire about accessing these collections.

Publications

  • American Jewish Quarterly, 1893-1982 
  • American Jewish History, 1979-1991 
  • Boston Jewish Advocate, 1905-1999 
  • Boston Jewish Chronicle, 1891-1893 
  • Farm Folk Mexico City, 1934-1938 
  • Idisher Fihrer Boston, 1913-1916, 1925-1926 (incomplete) 
  • Index to Americana in European Jewish Periodicals
  • The Jewish Farmer, 1910-1959 

Collections

Originals available at the American Jewish Historical Society in New York

Reference Requests

The Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center at NEHGS welcomes reference questions about our collections. Please see our Finding Aids and Subject Guides (above) to learn more about the materials located at our archive. If you have a specific reference question, you may contact us at jhcreference@nehgs.org or 617-226-1245 and we will be happy to assist you.

To visit us for in-person research, scheduling an appointment is required.

For more information about scheduling an appointment, visiting us to conduct research, photocopy fees, and more, click here.