Annette Levy Ratkin Jewish Community Archives
Since 1979, the Annette Levy Ratkin Archives has collected the records of the families, businesses and institutions of the Jewish communities of Middle Tennessee, which began in the mid-19th century. Housed in the Gordon Jewish Community Center, the archives has the records of such local organizations as the Nashville section of the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW), Hadassah, B’nai B’rith, the Jewish Community Council (which later became the Jewish Federation of Nashville and Middle Tennessee), the synagogues, Jewish Family Service, and more.
All documents and photographs are stored in acid-free folders and boxes and are available to researchers from the Jewish and secular community under the supervision of the archives staff.
www.jewishnashville.org/resources/annette-levyratkin-archives
Contact
Lynn Fleischer, Archive Associate, archives@jewishnashville.org ;(615) 354-1655
801 Percy Warner Blvd. Nashville, TN 37205 (615) 354-1655
Gordon Jewish Community Center Library
At the GJCC Library, you can find children’s/juvenile books, fiction, biographies, history, and cookbooks, along with books about Jewish practice and holidays, the Holocaust, Israel and many other topics related to Jewish life and religion. The Forward biweekly publication can be found on the magazine shelf along with other periodicals. The library has special collections of large-print books and yizkor books compiled by survivors of East European shtetls. The collections can be located by using the patron computer when visiting the library.
Contact
(615) 356-3242, ext. 1699
Tennessee Holocaust Commission
One of the oldest and most recognized organizations of its kind in the United States, the Tennessee Holocaust Commission was formed in 1984 to commemorate the Holocaust and educate the public about it. We provide seminars, educational resources, workshops, traveling exhibits and commemorations to school systems and communities statewide.
P.O. Box 59252 Nashville, TN 37205-9252
Vanderbilt University Judaica Collection
Vanderbilt’s renowned Harry and Mary Zimmerman Judaica Collection is not limited to university students and faculty. The librarians want Nashville’s Jewish community to know that anyone who wishes to use this extensive collection of religious books, research material and Yiddish and Hebrew literature is welcome to do so. The Judaica collection, the largest in the South, includes works by Franz Rosenzweig, Gershom Scholem, and Martin Buber. There are also 1,600 Yiddish and Hebrew books, many of them poetry and literature. Much of the collection was acquired in 1991 when Vanderbilt purchased Nahum Glatzer’s library of 7,000 items, thanks to a substantial donation from Raymond Zimmerman.
Contact
Vanderbilt University Divinity Library 419 21st Ave. S. Nashville, TN 37240 (615) 343-2865