Abstract
The Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project Community Collection is comprised of organizational records, photographs, event programs, and ephemera donated by members of the Southern Nevada Jewish community as part of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas University Libraries’ Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Materials document the history of the Jewish community and Southern Nevada from 1941 to 2017. The collection provides information about family life, religious rituals, community events, and local businesses and organizations.
Finding Aid PDF
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Scope and Contents Note
The Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project Community Collectio is comprised of organizational records, photographs, event programs, and ephemera donated by members of the Southern Nevada Jewish community as part of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas University Libraries’ Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project. Materials document the history of the Jewish community and Southern Nevada from the 1940s to 2017. The collection provides information about family life, religious rituals, community events, and local businesses and organizations.
Organizations represented include B'nai B'rith, Temple Beth Sholom, Temple Beth Am (and its merge with Adat Ari El to form Temple Sinai), the Jewish Federation (now called Jewish Nevada), the Jewish Community Center of Southern Nevada, and Congregation Ner Tamid.
Individuals documented in the collection include Ben Rosenfeld, Meera Kamegai, Sharon Sigesmund Pierce, Wendy Kraft, Laura Sussman, Lori Chenin-Frankl, Ruth Urban, Roberta Kane, Paul and Sari Aizley, David and Iris Torjman, and Valerie and Louis Wiener.
Access Note
Collection is open for research. Portions of this collection are digital and available online. Arrangements must be made in advance to access digital files; please contact UNLV Special Collections and Archives for additional information.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections and
Archives website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Arrangement
Materials are arranged by accession.
Biographical / Historical Note
The Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project at the UNLV University Libraries is a multi-year initiative to collect, preserve, and provide access to primary sources documenting the history of the Jewish community of Southern Nevada. The project's goals are to conduct oral histories that capture first-hand testimony about Jewish life in Las Vegas; to seek personal and organizational archives about the community and ensure their preservation; to provide online access to selected historical resources that support research, teaching, and learning; and to engage the Jewish and Las Vegas communities in appreciation of this rich history.
The Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project launched in July 2014 when the UNLV University Libraries received a one-year grant through the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA), funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and administered by the Nevada State Library and Archives. Within the first year, the UNLV University Libraries worked with community partners to collect and digitize oral histories and historical documents pertaining to the Jewish community. In subsequent years of the project (2015-2017), the UNLV University Libraries continued to collect oral histories and historical items, digitize materials for online access, and build the Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project portal, a website that acts as a gateway to primary sources about the Southern Nevada Jewish experience and includes oral history transcripts, audio clips, newspapers, historical documents, photographs, scrapbooks, videos, and more. To provide additional context about these sources, the site also features biographies, organizational histories, descriptions of themes, blog posts, and a timeline.
Preferred Citation
Southern Nevada Jewish Heritage Project Community Collection, 1941-2017. MS-00790. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
Materials were donated by members of the Southern Nevada Jewish community between 2015-2018, accession numbers
2016-004, 2016-006, 2016-007, 2016-008, 2016-009, 2016-014, 2016-015, 2016-016, 2016-026, 2017-018, 2017-026, 2017-138, 2018-016.
Processing Note
Emily Lapworth processed the materials and created the finding aid from 2015 to 2017. In 2021, Tammi Kim accessioned the 2018 addition and updated the finding aid.
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Existence and Location of Originals
Some items in this collection are digital surrogates. The donor retained the original items.