An exhibition of materials from the Merseyside Jewish Archive is currently on display in the Picton Reading Room on the first floor of the Liverpool Central Library in William Brown Street and runs until the end of October. The items on display date from 1805 to the 2020s, and include an illuminated membership list for Walnut Street synagogue from 1913 (see photograph).
The exhibition marks the completion of a joint project by the Merseyside Jewish Representative Council (MJRC) and Liverpool City Council Libraries Service to sort, catalogue, preserve, and make available to the public additional documents that have accumulated in the community over the last 20 years.
It also celebrates 50 years since the Jewish community first started to deposit documents at the Central Library. The archive now consists of 400 boxes of documents, records, and photographs which would stack 200 feet high, celebrating 280 years of the history of the Liverpool community. This year also marks the 150th anniversary of the Board of Guardians (now Merseyside Jewish Community Care), which also features in the exhibition.
The community’s honorary archivist, Philip Sapiro, commented: “I am delighted to have been part of this important update to our archive, made possible through the enthusiastic work of our Project Archivist Chloe Smith, and the essential contribution of the Libraries Service Archives Team Leader Vicki Caren and her team. I encourage everyone to visit the exhibition and make use of our extensive archive.”
For more information, please contact: mjrcarchive@gmail.com.
