Free to Use and Reuse: Jewish American Heritage

Selected portraits, events, and sites represent the historical experiences and achievements of Jewish Americans from the 18th to the 20th century. A formal celebration of Jewish American heritage occurs each year in the United States in May. Unless otherwise noted, the images are from the Prints & Photographs Division.

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  “Food will win the war. You came here seeking freedom, now you must help to preserve it.” World War I poster by Charles Chambers, in Yiddish, 1917.

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  Labor parade, New York City. Sashes read “Abolish Child Slavery!” in English and Yiddish. Photo by Bain News Service, 1909.

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  National Hanukkah Menorah in Lafayette Park across from the White House, Washington, D.C. Photo by Warren Leffler, 1979.

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  Committee for Jewish-Black relations. Photo by Bernard Gotfryd, 1983.

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  Ruth Bader Ginsburg testifies at the congressional hearing for her Supreme Court nomination. Photo by R. Michael Jenkins, 1993.

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  “Die Fire Korbunes” (The Fire Victims). Sheet music cover for an elegy about the Triangle Shirtwaist Company fire, New York City, 1911. (Music Division)

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  Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue (1793-1838), Charleston, South Carolina. Drawing by John Rubens Smith, around 1812.

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  Harry Houdini, magician and escape artist. Photo by J.F. Blote, 1903. Rare Book & Special Collections Division.

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  Hank Greenberg (far right) on the All Star baseball team, Griffith Stadium, Washington, DC. Photo by Harris & Ewing, 1937.

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  Elie Wiesel, Nobel Peace Prize winner. Photo by Michael Geissinger, 1988.

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  Kosher for Passover. Goodman's matzos. Poster by Robert Gage, 1963.

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  Barbra Streisand, singer and actress. Photo by Al Ravenna, 1962.

• “Long Live the Land of the Free." Sheet music cover by Solomon Smulowitz and J.M. Rumshisky, 1911. (Music Division)

• Emma Lazarus, poet. Photomechanical print after photo by William Kurtz, around 1888.

• Isaac Leeser, religious leader. Lithograph by I. Goldman, 1868.

• Rebecca Gratz, philanthropist. Photo of a portrait painted by Edward Greene Malbone, around 1800.

• Touro Synagogue, Congregation Jeshuat Israel, Newport, Rhode Island, dedicated in 1763. Historic American Buildings Survey photo, 1971.

• Fancy's Sketch Book. By Miss Penina Moise, Charleston, South Carolina, 1833. Title page for a book of poetry. (Rare Book & Special Collections Division)

• Interior of Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim Synagogue (built 1840), Charleston, South Carolina. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2017.

• Independent Order of B'nai B'rith. Membership certificate by Louis Kurz, 1876.

• Newsboys waiting for the "Forwards" Jewish paper at 1 a.m. ... New York City. Photo by Lewis Hine, 1913.

• "Sholem Aleichem, Yiddish Mark Twain.” Portrait in "The Day Book" newspaper, April 16, 1915. (Chronicling America)

• Emma Goldman, political activist, on a street car. Photo by Bain News Service, 1917.

• Louis Brandeis, Supreme Court Justice. Photo by Harris & Ewing, around 1920.

• Coolidge at cornerstone laying of Jewish Community Center, Washington, DC. Photo by National Photo Co., 1925.

• "It Can't Happen Here." Jewish Theatre Project, New York City, 1930s. (Music Division)

• Albert Einstein, physicist, receiving American citizenship certificate. Photo by Al. Aumuller, 1940.

• "Dus Groise Gevins." Play by Sholem Aleichem. Poster for performance at Memorial High School, Roxbury, Massachusetts, 1938

• Window of a Jewish religious shop on Broom Street, New York City. Photo by Marjory Collins, 1942.

• Jewish family who joined the migrants in harvesting the bean crop, Seabrook Farm, Bridgeton, New Jersey. Photo by John Collier, 1942.

• Chaplain David Rubin, Orthodox Jewish, of Long Island, New York. U.S. Army chaplain school, Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana. Photo by Jack Delano, 1942.

• Rosh Hashonah issue of The Southern Jewish Weekly (Jacksonville, Fla.), September 16, 1955. (Chronicling America)

• Beth Ha-Chaim, Jewish Cemetery Chapel, Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. Photo by Historic American Buildings Survey, 1958. (Sign above gate translates as House of Life.)

• Ann Landers (Esther Pauline Lederer), advice columnist. Photo by Fred Palumbo, 1961.

• Rabbi Joachim Prinz (center) and other Civil Rights leaders meet with President John F. Kennedy after the March on Washington, DC. Photo by Warren Leffler, 1963,

• "This woman's place is in the House -- the House of Representatives! Bella Abzug for Congress." Campaign poster, 1971-1976.

• Demonstration to free Russian Jews, New York City. Photo by Bernard Gotfryd, 1980s.

• Lee Krasner, artist. Photo by Bernard Gotfryd, 1983.

• Michael Douglas' hand and shoe in cement in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre in 1997 in Hollywood, California. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith, 2012.

• Exhibition "From Haven to Home: 350 Years of Jewish American Life"