Community Archive Project
Community archive project
Towards the end of 2019 the Trustees of The Jewish Museum of New Zealand Charitable Trust were made aware that there was valuable historical archive material inadequately stored in a vault, which was deteriorating and would continue to do so unless work was undertaken to preserve the documents.
These include past records of the Auckland Hebrew Congregation, some of which are over 100 years old. They include some family papers of historical significance which are of interest to historians, as well as other groups, such as genealogists. They are also of religious significance.
The records contain some papers which may have been lost to the private individuals they concern. For example birth, marriage, and other records which have taken place within the congregation. Individuals may rely on them to establish their family backgrounds for proof of nationality. Those who may wish to be buried with Jewish rites may need access to discover their Jewish names so that they may benefit from a religious Jewish burial.
Without work being undertaken to assess, catalogue, preserve and digitise these records, they would continue to deteriorate, and a significant part of the history of Jewish people in New Zealand would be lost.
A proposal was made to the Lotteries Environment & Heritage Fund, and eventually they awarded the project enough money to make a good start on these materials.
The community need is firstly for preservation of the records. Secondly, to assess the various categories of papers, to index, consider privacy implications and properly document them.
An assessment was made as to fire safety and security as the papers needed to be housed in a long-term secure accommodation where archivists might properly document and evaluate them. It was decided to move them to the AHC.
Historian Dr Sheree Trotter began work recently to preserve the papers. She has made a first pass to broadly identify and quantify the material. She has now started to index, preserve and archive the records with a view to preserving them for future generations.
The papers include records relating to congregation membership and activities, notable events, celebrations and commemorations of individuals, families and the community as a whole. This information includes materials which can be categorised as: cultural, religious, genealogical, sociological and socio-cultural in nature. Certainly the material is historical. It is likely that the material will be of interest to historians, cultural historians, political historians both in New Zealand and abroad.
Where it is appropriate, we will seek permission to create narratives around the histories so that these may be used to tell the story of Jewish people coming to New Zealand and their contribution to New Zealand and the South Pacific.
If you have documents that you consider may have historical value that you would consider sharing with the community at large, please contact trustees@jewishlives.nz
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