An Insider's Guide to Doing Family History in the Magnes Collections

An Insider’s Guide to Researching Western Jewish Families in the Magnes Collections

Lara Michels, MLIS, PhDArchivist for the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at the Bancroft

Library, UC Berkeley

Archival collections

Jewish ceremonial objects and decorative art

Modern and contemporary fine art

The Past…Rare Books and Manuscripts

The Sixties @Magnes•Cemeteries Commission and WJHC

•Rescue trips to India and Iran•Strauss Collection

The Sixties @Magnes•Cemeteries Commission and WJHC

•Rescue trips to India and Iran•Strauss Collection

The Seventies @Magnes•First Jewish Museum to be accredited

•Film projects•Publishing projects

•Docent program

The Seventies @Magnes•First Jewish Museum to be accredited

•Film projects•Publishing projects

•Docent program

The Nineties and 2000s @Magnes•Seymour Fromer retires

•Dissolved merger between Jewish Museum of SF and Magnes•Digitization of collection and creation of online catalog

The Nineties and 2000s @Magnes•Seymour Fromer retires

•Dissolved merger between Jewish Museum of SF and Magnes•Digitization of collection and creation of online catalog

The Eighties @Magnes•Renovation of Burke

mansion•Blumenthal Rare Book

Library added•Gallery space expanded

The Eighties @Magnes•Renovation of Burke

mansion•Blumenthal Rare Book

Library added•Gallery space expanded

The Present…

“Historic collection of Jewish artifacts to

move to UC Berkeley”

“Major Jewish collection to move to

UC Berkeley”

The Future… New Name: The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at the Bancroft LibraryPhysical access:•Bancroft Library•New Magnes facility in Downtown Berkeley

Intellectual access:•UC catalogs•OAC•Magnes online catalog•New Integrated Magnes website with more tools

Family and Personal Papers

Ackerman BehrendBogen

CorinsonDinkelspiel

ElkusGilbertGlazier

GreenebaumHaas

LilienthalLubinHirschKahn

Levy-PudlinLivingston

Lowenthal-Goldfarb

MarksMeyerNaftaly

NeustadterPantoskey

PhillipsPinto-LevyRosenbergRosenblatt

RosenbloomRubin

SamuelsSchoenfeld

SlossSwigTeller

WeinstockZellerbach

WJHC Vertical File•Three parts: Geographic File, Name File and Subject File•Name File arranged by surname•Watch for finding aid on OAC

Western Jewry and WJHC Indexes•Martin Meyer’s Western Jewry (1916)•Index to the Emanu-El newspaper•Index to the 1986 WJHC Collection Guide•Indexes to various publications on Western Jews (prepared by WJHC volunteers)

Books Indexed by WJHC•Jack Goldman’s A History of Pioneer Jews in California, 1849-1870•Rudolf Glanz’s The Jews of California--From the Discover of Gold Until 1880•I.J. Benjamin’s Three Years in America, 1859-1962

Other Published IndexesIndex in Norton Stern’s California Jewish History: A Descriptive BibliographyIndexes in Sara Cogan’s three bibliographies on California Jewish historyIndex in Robert Levinson’s The Jews in the California Gold Rush

Congregational Records

Marriage recordsMarriage records Membership listsMembership lists

Burial recordsBurial records MinutesMinutes

Sherith Israel, SF

Beth Israel, SF

Beth Israel, Berkeley

Beth Jacob, Oakland

Temple Israel, Stockton

Temple Sinai, Oakland

Emanu-El, SF

Keneseth Israel, SF

First Hebrew Congregation, Albany (Oregon)

Institutional Records

Membership listsMembership lists

Case FilesCase Files

PhotographsPhotographs

Eureka Benevolent SocietyLadies United Hebrew Benevolent Society

Mount Zion Hospital

Jewish Community Centers of SF and Oakland

Jewish Welfare Federations of SF and Oakland

Emanu-El Sisterhood for Personal Service

Business Records

Zellerbach Paper Co.

Bissinger and Co. Haas Bros.

White House Dept Store

Marks & Co. Ben Swig

Weinstock-Lubin

Think Broadly! Unusual Collections and Sources

Digital Magnes

The New Magnes @ Bancroft Website

Lara Michelslmichels@library.berkeley.edu