Archives

The Beth-El Archives documents the history of the local Jewish community dating back to the late-1850s when two Jewish pioneers settled in Fort Worth. Both fought in the Civil War—one for the South, the other for the North. Both are buried in Emanuel Hebrew Rest, the pioneer cemetery for which we have a box full of records.

What’s in Our Collection? Old photos, minute books from the 1910s to the present, business receipts from the 1930s, postcards from WWII soldiers, eulogies, scrapbooks, oral histories, blueprints, and stained-glass windowpanes.

Purpose: The Archives preserves memorabilia from the past and present pertaining to Beth-El, its members, its activities, and the involvement of Jews in the local community. The Archives Committee is proud to have produced Beth-El’s acclaimed centennial history book.

What Volunteers Do: We organize vintage pictures, century-old documents, congregation minutes, and youth-group flyers dating back 50 years. We create exhibits for the Temple’s Hall of Remembrance. We are compiling an index to the collection that will be posted on the Internet.

Who uses the Archives? Journalists, authors, college students, museum curators, and congregants. New York’s Museum of Jewish Heritage borrowed 4 items from our collection for an exhibit touring the country. Also, 40 photos from the archives are posted online at the Portals to Texas History website.

Special Request: Please do not throw away the torn photos, yellow newspaper clippings, and faded correspondence you discover when a relative passes away. Bring these artifacts to the archives. They will be placed in protective folders and remain safe in perpetuity. Such memorabilia helps tell the history of our Jewish community.

Location: A small room at the back of the library. Meeting Times: Most Wednesday mornings at 10:30. We quit around 1 p.m. and often go to lunch together.

Archives Committee
Hollace Weiner, Archivist & Temple Historian, hollacew@charter.net, www.HollaceWeiner.com
Rosanne Margolis, Assistant Archivist: brmarg@sbcglobal.net
Audrey Sloter: audrey@sloter.net
Barbara Rosenthal: barosen3862@sbcglobal.net

Links

American Jewish Archives
Southern Jewish Historical Society
American Jewish Historical Society
Jewish Women’s Archives
Texas Jewish Historical Society