Jewish American Heritage Month

Overview

May is Jewish American Heritage Month! This month serves as a time to celebrate the contributions and experiences of Jewish Americans throughout our nation’s history. It was first federally recognized in 2006, thanks to the advocacy efforts of Jewish American leaders.

Today, approximately 7.6 million Jewish Americans make up roughly 2.4% of the U.S. population, with roughly a quarter of that number estimated to be living in the New York City metropolitan area. In fact, New York City has the second largest Jewish population of any city in the world, behind only Tel Aviv, Israel.

With such a large population comes a long history, dating all the way back to when the first known Jewish immigrant, Jacob Barsimson, arrived to our city in 1654. The largest wave of Jewish immigration came at the turn of the 20th century, when the population went from about 80,000 Jewish Americans in 1880 to 1.5 million in 1920.

The city’s large Jewish population has produced trailblazers in nearly every field imaginable: whether it’s Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, composer Irving Berlin, or baseball star Hank Greenberg, there are countless Jewish New Yorkers whose contributions to our society and culture we commemorate this month, and all year long. We encourage you to join us throughout May in recognizing their accomplishments, as well as honoring the struggles faced by Jewish Americans throughout history.

To further explore the impact that Jewish American communities have had not just on our city, but across the United States, check out the resources below to get started on your celebration! 

Events, Exhibitions, and Places to Visit

• Check out the calendar for the Museum of Jewish Heritage NYC, as well as Jewish American Heritage Signature Events
• Find an upcoming event for Jewish American Heritage Month at a New York Public Library branch near you.
• The Emma Lazarus Project is a virtual exhibit from The American Jewish Historical Society, located in Manhattan, which is focused on the life and work of the Jewish poet wrote the poem included on the Statue of Liberty, “The New Colossus.” You can also check the AJHS calendar for any upcoming events! 
• The National Museum of American Jewish History’s virtual tours feature artifacts, stories, events, and family activities to explore more than 365 years of American Jewish history.
  

Reading List

One of our favorite ways to celebrate is with a good book! The suggestions below are just a few of our favorite titles, with works of fiction and non-fiction for every grade level that feature characters and perspectives that are often not reflected in other popular works. 

Many of these books are readily available through the citywide Digital Library on Sora, which provides free access to hundreds of digital e-books and audiobooks for our students. For even more reading recommendations, Sora also features over 100 titles in the Stop-Antisemitism Collection. 

Video and Audio Resources

• The Library of Congress highlights a comprehensive list of Audio and Video resources from the American Archive of Public Broadcasting, the National Archives, the National Gallery of Art, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, as well as from their own collections. 

Educator Resources

A comprehensive Jewish American Heritage Month Resource Guide is available to educators on WeTeach NYC, along with the Meilman Virtual Classroom, a curriculum that was developed by the Museum of Jewish Heritage with the support of the New York City Department of Education. The resource guide features helpful lesson plans, background information, and other classroom materials, such as:

• The DOE’s Action Activists Volume 3 comic, which tells the story of immigrant activists in New York City for middle school students.
• A free lesson plan for students in grades 6–12 from the Institute for Curriculum Services about Jewish Americans including the shared history, ancestry, and culture of American Jews.
• Lessons about the importance and historical context of celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month, along with upcoming events, profiles, and more from the American Jewish Committee. 
• A way to explore your own family history with the Jewish American Heritage Month’s Family History resources.
• A collection of primary sources from the National Archives that highlight notable Jewish Americans and their contributions throughout U.S. history.
• The National Endowment for the Humanities’ “EDSITEment” page on Jewish American Heritage Month and Virtual Library resources. 

Hidden Voices

Hidden Voices began as a collaboration with the Museum of the City of New York that was initiated to help City students learn about the countless individuals who are often "hidden" from traditional historical records. Each of the people highlighted in the series has made a positive impact on their communities while serving as outstanding examples of leadership, advocacy, and community service. There are several curriculum options available that are especially relevant during Jewish American Heritage Month, including:

• Hidden Voices: Untold Stories in New York City History, which includes profiles of significant Jewish American figures including Larry Kramer, the gay rights activist known for founding ACT UP, the organization that reshaped community and government responses to AIDS.
• Hidden Voices: LGBTQ+ Stories in United States History, which features prominent members of the Jewish American community among its profiles, like Edie Windsor, who is remembered for her role in the legal fight for marriage equality.

In addition to these lessons, we regularly feature profiles on history-making individuals who could be considered to be “hidden voices.” During Jewish American Heritage Month, check out our profiles on:

• Bernice Sandler, known as the "Godmother of Title IX," the transformative law that paved the way for gender equality in athletics.

You can find more of our profiles throughout the year on our Hidden Voices webpage.