YIVO Launches Milstein Website on New York Jewish Communal History

(NEW YORK, October 5, 2010) – The YIVO Institute announced today the launching of a new website, "The Milstein Online Archives of the New York Jewish Community," which can be accessed by clicking here or at its official address www.milsteinjewisharchives.yivo.org. The site, sponsored by the Paul and Irma Milstein Foundation, reflects the work accomplished during YIVO’s three-year, $225,000 pilot project funded by the Milstein family to preserve and document the historic legacy of Jewish New York with emphasis on the histories and archival treasures of five agencies. These are the 92nd Street Y, the Educational Alliance, F-E-G-S Health and Human Services System, NYANA, and Surprise Lake Camp.

Researchers can search through the new site for images of documents and photographs and can also view a 17-minute documentary film about the Milstein Project that features interviews with Howard Milstein, John Ruskay (UJA Federation of New York), Sol Adler (92nd Street Y), Robin Bernstein (Educational Alliance), Gail Magaliff and Al Miller (F-E-G-S), Mark Handelman (NYANA), Jordan Dale (Surprise Lake Camp), and Jonathan Brent (YIVO). The website also features additional resources such as essays and articles about the five agencies and makes available all the sessions of the Milstein Conference on New York and the American Jewish Experience, which took place on November 2, 2009.

For press inquiries, contact:

Fruma Mohrer
Senior Archivist
(212) 294-6143