Upper Midwest Jewish Archives

The Upper Midwest Jewish Archives collects and makes available materials documenting the lives of Jewish communities in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and western Wisconsin.

Welcome

Collections in the Upper Midwest Jewish Archives are open to the public and accessible at Elmer L. Andersen Library as part of the Archives and Special Collections at the University of Minnesota Libraries.

The collections document the lives of Upper Midwest Jewish communities from the mid-19th century to the present. This includes the everyday lives of families, Jewish-run businesses, religious communities, and advocacy organizations. Materials include books, institutional administrative records, synagogue records, rabbi's papers, family papers, correspondence, personal publications, scrapbooks, moving images, and photographs.

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Explore the Upper Midwest Jewish Archives

Screengrab image of a color map of Near North Minneapolis

Near North Minneapolis map

This interactive North Minneapolis map illustrates the neighborhood's vibrant Jewish history during the early 20th century.

cover of Soviet Jewry Action Newsletter, Fall 1986, with icon of hammer and sickle and Jewish star

Digitized content

Search our digital collections of photographs, oral histories, newspapers, and select items from the Upper Midwest Jewish Archives.

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Visit

Empty tables and chairs with a wall of library shelving full of books

Request a reading room appointment

To request an appointment to see materials in the Upper Midwest Jewish Archives, please contact us at [email protected].

Students in a full classroom looking at archival materials

Request a class visit

Faculty and instructors, as well as K-12 schools and community groups are welcomed to use the archives for in-person or remote classes and events. Instructional services are available for both University of Minnesota and non-University groups.

Contact [email protected] for more information.

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Location, hours, and contact

Hours
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Note: Appointments are required to visit the reading room within these hours.
More Andersen Library hours

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Give to the collection

Support the archives by considering a financial gift to the Berman Fund. We have launched a fundraising campaign to raise $1.3 million to bring the total of the Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives Fund at the University of Minnesota to $2.5 million.

To learn more about the Berman Fund and what it supports in the archives, click the link below.

Give to the Berman Fund

Folder of materials from the archives

Donating materials

To learn more about donating physical items to the archives, visit our Give to the Collections page.

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