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.
Explore the Upper Midwest Jewish Archives

History of the archives
Learn about the history of the collection

Search collections
Search the archival collections, Libraries catalog, and view a list of collections

Special projects
Explore interactive projects created with the archives

Fund your research
Learn about funds available to help support your research
Visit

- Hours
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- Closed
- Closed
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- Note: Appointments are required to visit the reading room within these hours.
Upper Midwest Jewish Archives
- Visit
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320 Andersen Library
222 21st Ave South
Minneapolis, MN 55455 - Parking information
- Call
- 612-625-0192
- umja@umn.edu
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.

Donating materials
To learn more about donating physical items to the archives, visit our Give to the Collections page.
Search collections
- Collection guides
- Use collection guides (or finding aids) that describe a collection of archival records, personal papers, or manuscripts to locate material for your research. The guide may be a brief summary or a detailed description and inventory.
- Digital collections
- Search our digital collections of photographs, oral histories, newspapers, and select items from archival collections in the Upper Midwest Jewish Archives.
- Libraries catalog
- Explore the University of Minnesota Libraries catalog for information about rare and special books, periodicals, and other publications held in the Upper Midwest Jewish Archives.