A $2 million gift from the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Supporting Foundation will help the Western Reserve Historical Society (WRHS) preserve and share the history of Cleveland’s Jewish community—including important records of the Soviet Jewry movement.
Announced on September 28, the gift supports Securing the Future of the Past, a $4.2 million, multiyear initiative marking the Cleveland Jewish Archives’ 50th anniversary. The initiative will expand efforts to collect, digitize, safeguard, and make this history accessible to the public.
WRHS houses the Lou Rosenblum collection, which includes records of the Cleveland Committee on Soviet Antisemitism—the Soviet Jewry movement’s first U.S. grassroots organization—as well as material documenting the early years of the Union of Councils.
SJMEP previously supported the digitization of nearly half of the collection and helped make those materials publicly accessible. The Mandel Foundation’s gift will enable the remaining digitization work to be completed, opening more of this important historical record to educators, students, researchers, and the wider public.
We look forward to continuing our close collaboration with WRHS to preserve and share the story of the Soviet Jewry movement.
