You won't have to visit the New York Public Library in-person to explore their plethora of items detailing over 800 years of Jewish history and 250,000 initial pieces. Now thanks to the Dorot Jewish Division of the library, the archive has been cataloged and is available to review with the New York Public Library's new online exhibit.
With a simple click and scroll, people can explore documents, photos, and artifacts ranging from local to global Jewish history.
“The goal was to reflect the variety of items in our collection … to show the scope of our collection chronologically and also geographically,” Dorot Jewish collection, Lyudmila Sholokhova said in an interview.
For those in or near New York City, the items are available for viewing in person at the library by appointment.
“I chose the most visually compelling items that also have a history behind them,” she said. “Of course, I also wanted to pay special attention to the history of Jewish community in the United States and to the history of the division in order to show how the library’s collection was shaped.”
Funded by the David Berg Foundation, the project took about two years as the to 250,000 items in the Dorot Jewish Division archives had to be narrowed down to about 100 items of the impressive collection detailing a rich Jewish history.