Archiving small town Illinois Jewish communities

The Danville Jewish community is partnering with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Hillel on the creation of an archive for small town Jewish communities across the center of Illinois–outside of major urban centers.

The Central Illinois Jewish Communities Archives/Mervis Archives will be housed at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana Library.

The repository will preserve the contributions of once-thriving small Jewish communities in the state. The archival materials will include histories of businesses and their owners, which sustained the towns, contributions made by the Jewish residents, information about local rabbis and Jewish leaders, as well as many other historical documents.

Danville Jewish community leader Sybil Mervis initiated the creation of the archives in partnership with U of I Hillel Executive Director Erez Cohen. “We are excited about the preservation of this history of small-town Jewish immigrant contributions and life during the 20th century,” Mervis said.

The records–which will be to academic researchers, students, and the general public–are expected to become available in the spring of 2022.

“Illinois’ rich Jewish history in small towns tells an important chapter in American Jewish history. It is great to see that this history will be preserved in the academic center of the state of Illinois,” said Cohen.

For more information, visit bit.ly/IllinoisJewishArchives.