IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0074 LMA/4711
Held at: London Metropolitan Archives
Title: JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF ENGLAND
Date(s): 1897-2011
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 1.5 linear metres
Name of creator(s): Jewish Historical Society of England
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
The Jewish Historical Society of England was established in 1893. Its founders included Lucien Wolf, Frederick David Mocatta, Isidore Spielman, Joseph Jacobs and Israel Abrahams.
The society aims to publish and make available scholarly research into the history of Anglo-Jewry. Papers read at society meetings are printed in the society's Transactions and shorter notes appear in its Miscellanies.
The society administers annual lecture series including the Lucien Wolf lecture and the Arthur Davis Memorial lecture as well as the Asher Myers and Gustave Tuck essay prizes. It was also instrumental in setting up Anglo-Jewish Archives, a society which aimed to preserve Anglo-Jewish archive collections, the archives it collected are held by the University of Southampton.
F.D. Mocatta bequeathed his library to the Jewish Historical Society and arrangements were made in 1905 to house the library at University College London (UCL). In 1932 the Gustave Tuck lecture theatre was constructed within UCL as a base for the society, and a special library and museum were built in the college for the Mocatta Library and Museum, which also housed the Gustave Tuck collection of ritual art and antiquities. The Mocatta Library was bombed during World War II and many volumes, including early archives of the Jewish Historical Society, were destroyed.
The society has several regional branches, which have included Israel, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Records of the Jewish Historical Society of England including minutes, administrative papers and correspondence, finance, papers relating to articles, lectures, conferences and essay prizes offered by the society, printed material and a commemorative medallion.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English, with one item in part Yiddish/part Scots dialect
System of arrangement:
Arranged in sections as follows:
LMA/4711/01 - Administration
LMA/4711/02 - Work of the Society
LMA/4711/03 - Related documentation
Conditions governing access:
Access by written permission only.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copyright rests with the depositor.
Finding aids:
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Deposited in December 2015.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Related material:
A file relating to the Jewish Historical Society can be found in the archive of the United Synagogue (ACC/2712/15/01/014).
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Date(s) of descriptions: Added October 2016.