Thanks to the generosity of contributors, the Jewish News Archival Project is making great progress. In fact, readers can check out the results to date.
Small Town Papers is converting old Jewish News issues to a readable format, easily accessed on the newspaper’s site: jewishnewsva.org. In addition to browsing issues, it is possible to search the archives.
The dream of converting the old bound copies and the more modern electronic files was initially conceived as a matter of conservation. In 2006, Micheline Anderson, then a summer intern, began the task of organizing some of the older material. In many respects, it was a good thing that the project was delayed, for in the interim, those working on the project realized that their sights could be held much higher and that it was possible to create a resource for the entire community, one that could be reached by simply logging on to the website.
Jewish News’ book review editor, Hal Sacks, used the proceeds from the sale of his book, Hal’s Navy, to kick off a modest fund-raising effort and to date more than $31,000 has been raised. The community is especially grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Joe Lust whose generosity put the fund over the top. Grants from the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and the Tidewater Jewish Foundation were essential to the success of this project, as was the dedicated effort of Shayna Horwitz who was the action officer and without whose dedication the project could not have progressed as it has. Terri Denison, Jewish News editor, has been the overall supervisor of the effort.
Although sufficient funds have been raised to preserve past issues, contributions continue to be important in order to add current and future years’ Jewish News to the archive.
Readers interested in perusing what has been completed thus far are encouraged to click here and sample some past issues.