National Museum of American Jewish History
Preserving and interpreting the American Jewish experience
The Experience
The Museum’s Preview Gallery shows models, plans and photos of the new Museum. Visitors can enjoy the video It's Your Story, highlighting American Jewish achievements and vision. The museum connects Jews more closely to their heritage and inspires in people of all backgrounds a greater appreciation for the diversity of the American experience and the freedoms to which Americans aspire.
The Museum shares its location with historic Congregation Mikveh Israel, one of the nation’s first organized Jewish congregations, known as the synagogue of the American Revolution.
History
The museum was founded during the wave of museum-building in Philadelphia surrounding the 1976 Bicentennial celebration. The Museum’s collection, numbering only 40 objects in its first year, has grown to more than 10,000 artifacts, some dating back more than 300 years. The museum is now planning a major expansion at its current location.