Washington State Jewish Archives: Donating Items

If you would like to donate personal collections or organizational/business records to the Washington State Jewish Archives, please contact the archivist at wsjarch@uw.edu or archivist@wsjhs.org.

Wondering if your collection is appropriate for the WSJA?

These guidelines may help:

Photograph Wish List

The archives is actively seeking unique photos of Jewish holidays, celebrations, and special events in Washington State or of Washington residents. We are particularly interested in 20th century photos that document the following:

Holidays
Rosh Hashanah
Yom Kippur
Sukkos
Simchat Torah
Hanukkah
Purim
Pesach/Passover

Home
Shabbat
Baking Challah
Building a Jewish home
Upsherin
Food and cooking

Life Cycle
Bar Mitzvah
Bat Mitvah
Jewish weddings (ceremony and celebration)
Mikvah (building)
Shiva

Other
Israeli Independence
Israeli Air Lifts of Soviet Jews and Ethiopian Jews
Jewish arts, dance, music, etc.
Jewish camp
Jewish education
Jewish war veterans
Tefellin
Tzedaka

Buildings
All city Jewish chapel at 12th and Spruce, Seattle

Identifying Your Photos for the Archives

Use soft lead pencil (e.g., no. 2) -- pencil lightly on the backside of photos
Number and date each photo

On a separate page, write full description of each photo. (Word document format preferred.)

1. Photo number
2. Date of photo
3. First and last names of individuals pictured
4. Location
5. Any other useful descriptive information (e.g., 50th anniversary celebration of synagogue)
6. Current date
7. Name, address, phone, and email  of person making the transfer
8. Name, address, phone, and email of donor whose photos are to be transfered. (This may or may not be the same as #7.)

Preserving Your Family Collections