Beth El celebrated its 150th birthday and its special status
as the oldest Reform congregation in Northern Virginia in 2009. The photo
at left shows our original synagogue in Old Town Alexandria.
Purchase custom 150th Anniversary items from our newest shopping partner, Cafe Press. Click here for details.
Read about our special
Archives Committee below, and find out about the "Mr. Lincoln" exhibit on display at Beth El.
Beth El Archives Committee
The Beth El Archives Committee is committed to preserving
the documentary heritage of the congregation, religious, organizational,
social, family and cultural; and to making it available for study.
Our heritage exists in all formats, letters, photos, blueprints,
committee minutes, sermons- all to provide a vivid picture of Beth
El over the years and to offer insight into its rich history and diverse
activities since its founding in 1859. The photo below shows a 1946 Bar Mitzvah held in our original Old Town Alexandria location.
The archives committee provides access to its collections through a system
of processing, cataloging, and preparing detailed inventories to make
them easily available for research. Digital image capture exists in
limited holdings. The archive has an ongoing preservation program
to protect the items in its care and to assure they are available
for study now and in the future.
Some of the material dates back to the founding
of the congregation in 1859 and some even before 1859. Included, for
example, are early membership records and records of the Hebrew Benevolent
Society. Other records extend into the present, and the archive committee continues
its commitment to preserving and presenting the history of our congregation,
by acquiring and maintaining current materials as appropriate.
Collections offer valuable reference information and historical background
to Beth El clergy, administrative staff, and board members, as well
as for the use of congregation members and others with special interests.
Access to the archives is made available to members of the congregation,
visiting researchers, the general public - historians and students
- to all with an interest in Beth El and its place in Judaism and
in the community. For more information, contact Melissa Miller
.
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