Latest News

Significant Collection Transferred to the Library

The Australian Jewish Historical Society Vic. Inc. (AJHS) has played a critical role in acquiring and preserving the records of Victoria's Jewish community. The Society's work has included the preservation and cataloguing of many of the early congregational records that have survived from the mid-19th century, as well as many other important archives of the Jewish community in Victoria. The Society first made contact with the State Library of Victoria in 1972, when Rabbi Dr John Levi wrote to the then La Trobe Librarian, Patricia Reynolds. From the 1970s onwards the society began lodging a selection of its records with the Library, while also retaining a large body of records in its own archives.

In recent years the space and resources required to provide public access to the Society's archive has proved to be a significant burden. As a result the Society and the Library have negotiated an agreement under which all of the Society's collection has been transferred to the Library. The agreement provides obvious benefits for both the Library and the Society. The transfer of the collection to the Library provides for a significant addition to the depth of the collections that the Library is able to make available to researchers.

The transfer of the collection was celebrated at a function held on 10 February. The evening also provided a venue at which the prizes in the AJHS History Essay Competition were awarded. These prizes are given every two years, and are supported by the Godfrey and Myra Cohen Charitable Trust. Mr Godfrey Cohen assisted the Society's patron, Sir Zelman Cowan, in presenting the awards.