Online Collection
The JHSGH Oral History collection features over 900 taped interviews documenting diverse aspects of Jewish life in Greater Hartford, including military service, immigration, the Holocaust, local organizations, and personal stories.
NEW! Oral History Collection Available Online
The JHSGH Oral History collection contains more than 900 taped oral history interviews with individuals and JHSGH programs pertaining to all aspects of Jewish history in Greater Hartford. Special topics include women in military service, Colchester farmers, Zionism, personal memoirs, Holocaust survivors, the immigrant experience, and histories of local organizations, businesses, and synagogues.
We have digitized these interviews and are making them available online through the Connecticut Digital Archive.
Collection Overview
The Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford collects written materials, photographs, audio/visual recordings, and other forms of information of permanent historical value created by Jewish individuals, community groups, and organizations in the greater Hartford area. Our mission is to preserve materials that help us and future generations learn about Jewish life in our region.
The JHSGH archives serve as an educational and community resource, encouraging scholarly research and community engagement with its collections. To better serve the public, our archival materials and collections can be explored further in our on-line finding aids listed below.
The Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford holds the ownership rights to its archival materials, and publication requests must be approved by the Society.
Our growing archival resources includes over one hundred collections of varying scale and size. To access the collection finding aids presently available, please click on the links below:
Agriculture & Farming
With deteriorating conditions in Eastern Europe, many Jews came to the United States with the dream of becoming farmers. Various charities, especially the Baron de Hirsch Fund provided guidance and support and Jewish farming communities appear throughout Connecticut. Many small farms eventually developed into hotels and resorts. This collection documents the Jewish farming community in the Greater Hartford area through family and oral histories, records, newspaper articles, and photographs.
Annie Fisher
(1883-1968) devoted her life to public school education in Hartford, instituting many reforms aimed at aiding immigrant children and those with special needs. Fisher became Hartford's first female district superintendent and first female principal. She also worked on gaining reforms in salary and pensions for both female teachers and teachers in general. When she retired in 1945, Fisher was held in great esteem and a Hartford elementary school was later named in her honor.
Artifacts
The JHSGH Artifacts collection consists of objects and other ephemera relating to individuals and organizations in the Greater Hartford community.
Association of Jewish Registered Nurses
The Association of Jewish Registered Nurses was founded in November 1949 by three Jewish registered nurses. Their mission is to further their interest in nursing and famiparize themselves with the latest trends in medicine and the newest techniques in nursing procedure. Educational meetings are held and scholarships offered to help Jewish nursing students.
Beth El Temple
On July 28, 1953, a group of individuals met in an effort to expand Conservative Judaism in the Hartford area. They decided to create a new synagogue and held meetings to that end. A board was formed, with Isadore Savin as the first president. A land acquisition committee was also formed that purchased land on Albany Ave in October 1953. The first membership meeting took place on 12/6/53 at Tumblebrook Country Club and the first service was held on 4/9/54 at the Friends Meeting House. Other facipties were used until the completion of the new building. Rabbi Kessler was selected as rabbi and Joseph Cohn as cantor. Ground was broken in 1954 and Rabbi Kessler placed the mezzuzah on the Temple doors in 1955. This history and more of the pfe of Beth El Temple is documented in this collection of records, newspaper articles, and photographs.
Businesses & Professions
This collection consists mostly of newspaper clippings, advertisements, memorabilia and photographs documenting the activities of Jewish business people and Jewish professionals (physicians, attorneys, artists, musicians, etc.) throughout the Hartford area.
Farband Labor Zionist Order
This is a collection of manuscripts and documents related to the Farband Labor Zionist Order 61 of Hartford, CT. It contains journal ledgers, cemetery plot records, meeting programs, constitution and by-laws pamphlets, and other related letters and documents.
Rabbi Hans S. Bodenheimer
(1913-1999) was born in Bad Nauheim, Germany and emigrated to the United States in 1939 after he and his wife barely survived Kristallnacht in 1938. At that time, Rabbi Bodenheimer was briefly arrested and deported to Buchenwald, where he was held for five weeks. Upon arrival in Hartford, he and a group of German immigrants founded Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh (New Hope), where he served as rabbi until his retirement. He also served as chaplain to the Bloomfield Fire Department and was a 'sofer', Torah scribe. This collection includes records and manuscripts pertinent to the pfe of Hans Bodenheimer and Congregation Tikvoh Chadoshoh.
Hebrew Home and Hospital
At the end of the last century, the women of the Jewish community banded together to create a wide variety of social services. One of their primary concerns was the care of the aged, and in 1898 they formed the Hebrew Ladies' Sick Benefit Association. In 1901, the women pledged to pay five cents per week into a fund towards the building of a home for elders. They also went door to door collecting nickels each week from members of the community, carrying the money in handkerchiefs and earning the name 'the handkerchief brigade.' By 1907, they had raised enough money to purchase a large home that became the Hebrew Old People's Home.
Herman Kopplemann
Herman P. Kopplemann (1880-1957) was a leading businessman and politician in Hartford.
Holocaust
The JHSGH Holocaust collection consists of personal testimonies, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, and photographs. Most of the material focuses on the experiences of survivors and witnesses who settled in the Greater Hartford area. Some material is related to national and international Holocaust studies and commemorations. The most significant portion of the collection consists of audio and videotaped interviews of local Holocaust survivors.
Ludmir Young Men's Benevolent Association
Immigrants from Ludmir, a town in Eastern Europe, founded the Ludmir Young Men’s Benevolent Association in Hartford in 1932.
At that time, associations formed by immigrants from particular locales in Europe provided an important support system for new arrivals.
Sophie Tucker
Sophie Tucker (1884-1966) known as the 'Last of the Red Hot Mamas' was a popular vaudeville performer during the early and mid-twentieth century. Her humorous, bawdy renditions of Yiddish and English songs captivated large audiences on the stage, radio, and television. Although less well-known today in her own right, Tucker provided the inspiration for comedian Bette Midler's stage persona and performance style.
Workmen's Circle
Jewish immigrants faced many serious labor problems after their arrival in the country. They faced these challenges by developing fraternal labor organizations reminiscent of the Bunds in Europe. One of these many groups was the Workmen's Circle, or Der Arbeiter Ring, founded in New York City in 1900.