Jewish Archives Joins Temple U. Libraries

When Audrey Merves, of Ventnor, sets a task for herself, she is relentless. And usually successful. Mrs. Merves, long-time president of the board of the Philadelphia Jewish Archives, wanted to guarantee the future of the collection, so 18 months ago, she approached Temple University President Ann Weaver Hart and made her suggestion:

That the Jewish Archives merge with Temple University Libraries Urban Archives.

It did not take long for Dr. Hart to see the wisdom of Mrs. Merves' proposal, and a ceremony at Sullivan Hall recently marked the merger of the two priceless archives.

Created in 1972 by the Philadelphia Federation of Jewish Agencies and American Jewish Committee, with only a few boxes of minutes from Federation board meetings, the Jewish Archives had grown to a collection of 5 million items.

Are you interested in the Hebrew Sunday School Society, created by Rebecca Gratz? Would you like to uncover the history of Woodbine, New Jersey, the Jewish agricultural community founded by Baron de Hirsch? Do you want to explore one hundred years of JEWISH EXPONENT issues? Are you curious about the lives and experiences of Jewish community leaders?

Then you need only explore the treasure trove of diaries, business records, photos, personal recollections, minutes of social service agencies, etc., which reside in the Jewish Archives.

At a ceremony at Sullivan Hall on Temple University's main campus, Temple President Ann Weaver Hart and Dean of University Libraries Larry Alford were among those paying tribute to Mrs. Merves and to Carole La Faivre-Rochester, current president of the Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center's board.

As a symbol of the Jewish Archives collection, La Faivre-Rochester turned over a page from the 1924 hand-written Yiddish diary of Israel Chanin, written by a young Philadelphian after immigrating from Lithuania. Dr. Hart handled the plasticencased sheet of paper with reverence.

The collection is now part of Temple's Urban Archives, the nation's premiere archives documenting the social, economic and physical development of the Delaware Valley in the 19th and 20th centuries.

And the scope of the Jewish Archives is second only to that of New York's.

Professor Laura Levitt of Temple's religion department spoke about the great boon to departments ranging from religion, to Jewish studies, to women's studies, to urban studies.

Highlights of the Philadelphia Jewish Archives Collection include the records of the first Jewish orphanage established in America, the Jewish Foster Home and Orphanage Asylum, founded by Anna Allen; and the Hebrew Immigration Aid Society, a genealogical treasure trove for those researching the arrival of Jewish families to America.

But Mrs. Merves' work is not done. Now she has embarked on a fundraising campaign in order to endow the archivist position at this priceless collection.