Welcome to the Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center (JHC)
Here you can search or browse finding aids (guides to collections) for our archival collections.
The JHC holds the records and papers of Jewish organizations, individuals, and families from the Greater Boston metropolitan area and New England. These include records from congregations, community service organizations, trade associations, Zionist organizations, youth groups, and academic and cultural organizations, as well as personal papers of individuals or families.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I use this site?
- To browse a complete list of our collections, click on the Collections tab on the main toolbar.
- You can filter your results by clicking on any subject or name, or by typing in a word or phase in the “search within results” box, located on the right side of the page. Once you click on a collection, you will be taken to a Collection Overview page. Here you will see general information about the collection, including a description of the content, date range, size, related materials, and more.
- To see a complete list of the collection’s contents, click on the Collection Organization tab, which shows the collection’s arrangement and a comprehensive listing of the boxes and folders within the collection. You can also use the navigation pane on the right side of the page to see the arrangement and a complete listing of the collection’s contents.
- You can also do a search of our archival collections by using the search feature on our homepage or by clicking on the magnifying glass icon in the main toolbar. You can filter the results by selecting fields to search (subjects, title, etc., or a general keyword search) or by selecting date ranges.
- Search tips: add an asterisk (*) to the end of a word to get all results with possible variations of the search term's ending (for example, synagogue* will search for both singular and plural forms of the word). Also be sure to enclose your search terms in quotation marks (“ ”) if they include phrases or names with more than one word (for example, “family tree”).
- Other tabs on the main toolbar will show you a complete listing of subjects, names (persons and organizations), unprocessed collections, and record groups.
Whom do I contact if I have questions?
For questions about our collections or using this site, please e-mail jhcreference@nehgs.org or call 617-226-1245. For more information about the Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center at NEHGS, visit our website.
How do I view the actual contents of the collection?
If you are interested in conducting research and accessing materials in person, you must make an appointment. Some of our collections are stored off-site; therefore, we ask that you make a research appointment at least two weeks in advance in case the collection you wish to use needs to be transferred from off-site storage.
Please note that many of our collections have been digitized and made available for viewing online. Please see our Digital Library and Archive page to find out if the collection you are interested in viewing has been digitized.
To schedule an appointment or to use our Digital Library and Archive, please e-mail jhcreference@nehgs.org, call 617-226-1245, or use our request form.