The Intermountain Jewish News is the recipient of a Rose Community Foundation Jewish Life grant, announced IJN Assistant Publisher Shana R. Goldberg.
The grant will be used to digitize the IJN archives, 1927-1967.
In 2016, the IJN was selected to be part of a History Colorado grant to digitize early Colorado newspapers. The earliest extant IJN editions (1918-1922), then known as Denver Jewish News, were added to “Chronicling America,” a collection of historic American newspapers sponsored by the Library of Congress and National Endowment of the Arts.
The IJN also made available to Chronicling America the editions of the IJN’s precursor, The Jewish Outlook. As part of that grant, 1923-1926 are slated for digitization in early summer, 2022.
In 1925, the Denver Jewish News changed its name to the Intermountain Jewish News.
The Rose Community Foundation grant will enable the IJN to continue building its online archive, through the year 1967.
Digitization will be completed by the Colorado State Library and will be hosted on the freely accessible Colorado Historic Newspapers Collections website.
This archive is accessible to anyone.
“We want to thank Rose Community Foundation for recognizing the value of preserving the record of Jewish life in Colorado, and for its kind and helpful support throughout the process of applying for the grant,” said Goldberg.
“Broader access to our archives will enhance understanding of local Jewish life among community stakeholders and among the many newcomers who are arriving in Colorado, not to mention historians of everything from early news of the Holocaust to the fledgling State of Israel to the evolution of local synagogues and organizations to the communities’ leaders and members, as well as obituaries.”
Said Rabbi Hillel Goldberg, IJN editor and publisher:
“Over the years, many people have come to our office to access our hard copies, whether they were researching family, local Jewish institutions or community leaders.
“Being part of CHNC means the IJN will be preserved in a long-lasting format and will be widely available to anyone locally and further afield who seeks to research Jewish life in Colorado, or simply to locate a specific item of interest, such as a birth announcement, an editorial or community dinner.”
I am so pleased to hear of this grant.
As one of those who has browsed many years of the archives, I appreciate how much easier and more reliable it will make such research in the future.
Kudos to the IJN, RCF, and CHNC for their foresight and support!