National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Awards Unprecedented Grant to Support Fellowship in Jewish Studies at the Center for Jewish History

NEW YORK, April 8 /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time, the Center for Jewish History (CJH) in New York was awarded a grant by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) through its Fellowship Programs at Independent Research Institutions (FPIRI) initiative to support fellowships devoted to advanced study and research in the humanities.

"The Center serves as a professional resource for scholars," says Bruce Slovin, CJH Board Chair. "It provides avenues though which they can present new research findings, receive guidance from experienced professionals, coordinate with other researchers, share new perspectives and find sources of support for research.  The NEH award, a first in our history for this type of scholarly initiative, will go a long way toward supporting our mission."

The Center was awarded $169,200 to support (over three years) 12-month fellowships for distinguished scholars in Jewish studies. Fellows will be provided with an annual stipend of $50,400 to conduct original research in the Center's Lillian Goldman Reading Room and within the collections of the five partners: the American Jewish Historical Society, the American Sephardi Federation, the Leo Baeck Institute, Yeshiva University Museum, and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. The collections of its Partners total more than 500,000 volumes and 100 million archival documents.

According to NEH Chairman Jim Leach, "The NEH grants will give scholars the tools they need to do research to expand the knowledge base in various fields of humanities, resulting in a better informed public."

Elisheva Carlebach, Chair of the Center's Academic Advisory Council and Salo Wittmayer Baron Professor of Jewish History, Culture and Society at Columbia University explains, "Unlike libraries containing books which exist in many copies, every scrap of archival material--letters, photos, artifacts, and unpublished manuscripts-- is unique. The Center is the 'national archive' of the Jewish people, the only one in the U.S. Its inviting space and professional staff have turned it into a paradise for anyone doing research on the Jewish people."

The NEH award comes at a time of significant growth for the Center and a renewed emphasis on scholarship. As the institution enters its second decade, the Center for Jewish History has refashioned its academic program with a variety of new initiatives for scholars at various levels, including two Scholars Working Groups and a Professional Development Series that complement its six Graduate Fellowships. Future plans include additional research funding for undergraduate and graduate students, launching an initiative to fund emerging filmmakers and a program to support visiting scholars.

"This award puts a capstone on the Center's work, raising the level of supported scholarship to new heights, and positioning the Center as a unique research institution throughout the scholarly world," says Michael Glickman, COO at the Center for Jewish History. "We are proud to be the first institution dedicated to the study of the Jewish people, past and culture to be included in the short list of recipients of this prestigious award."

The Center for Jewish History is located at 15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011. For information, call 212-294-8301 or log on to www.cjh.org.

SOURCE Center for Jewish History