Our oral history digitization project was recently honored with an Award of Merit from the Connecticut League of History Organizations! Oral history has been the heart of the Jewish Historical Society’s collection since the organization first started documenting the Jewish history of the Hartford region. In this project, we digitized 820Read More →
This embroidered matzah cover includes the blessing over matzah that is part of the Passover seder. The multicolor design surrounds a symbol embroidered in green and pink, and the numbers “18” and “99” on either side may indicate the date. Donated by Mrs. Michael Fleischer.Read More →
The front of this painted, folk-art style ark from Beth HaMedrash HaGadol (known as the Garden Street Synagogue) is displayed outside the JHS offices in the Community Services Building. In 1922, the Orthodox congregation commissioned architects Berenson & Moses to build a synagogue in the North End, and they usedRead More →
In February 1910, a group of 35 women met in the vestry of the Charter Oak Temple to organize the Hartford chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women. The national organization, founded in 1893 by American-born German Jews, focused on improving the social welfare, health care, and Americanization ofRead More →
One of the most influential politicians to emerge from Hartford’s immigrant East Side, Herman Koppelmann was elected to Hartford’s City Council in 1903, and went to serve in the Connecticut General Assembly, the State Senate, and the U.S. House of Representatives. He was the first Jewish person from Connecticut electedRead More →
Our 2019 debut item for Artifact of the Month is this adorable Corona XC-R Yiddish typewriter. The serial number 640285 dates this typewriter to 1929, when Smith & Corona Typewriters, Inc. was manufacturing portable folding typewriters popular with journalists and home users. The company’s 1920s manual boasts that its productRead More →