Jews lived in Ohio from the state's creation in 1803. Starting in the 1830s, many German Jews settled in central Ohio, including Columbus, Chillicothe, and Lancaster. During the late 1800s and the early 1900s, most Jewish immigrants settled in either the Cincinnati or Cleveland area, developing their own communities outside the cities. Cincinnati was the largest city in Ohio and the center of the Jewish community in the state. It was not until 1824 that Jews in Cincinnati established their first congregation, and built their first synagogue in 1836. Most Ohio Jews at this time followed the Reform Jewish tradition, though Cleveland had both Reform and Orthodox temples by the late 1800s. Hebrew Union College was established in Cincinnati in 1875. Zanesville, Dayton, and Piqua also had established Jewish communities.Thousands more Jews arrived in Ohio during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, fleeing economic deprivation and religious persecution in Europe. Many Russian and Eastern European Jews came to Central Ohio to escape Russian programs.
Below are lists of select archival and library materials related to the Jewish faith, available for research at the Ohio History Connection Archives & Library. Review the catalog links below, or explore our Online Collections Catalog using a specific church name or related search terms for more information [example search terms: "Jews in Ohio", "Jews -- Ohio", "Synagogues -- Ohio", "Jews -- Ohio -- Periodicals", "Jewish periodicals -- Ohio"].
B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundation. Ohio State University Branch Records. 1929-1977 [MSS 436]
Beth Tikvah Congregation (Columbus, Ohio) Records. 1962-1974 [MSS 448]
Columbus Jewish Federation Records. 1916-1975 [MSS 548]
Jewish Center, Columbus, Ohio Records. 1920-1955 [MSS 412]
National Council of Jewish Women. Columbus, Ohio Chapter Records. 1919-1973 [MSS 403]
Tifereth Israel Cemetery Record Book, 1906-1974 [MIC 85]
Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion at one hundred years [207.771 K143h]
The Jews of Ohio. Ohio sesquicentennial, 1803-1953 [PA Box 504 27]
History of the Jews of Cleveland [977.132 G198h]
Jews and Judaism in a Midwestern Community, Columbus, Ohio, 1840-1975 [296.77157 R181]
Ohio Jewish chronicle. [296.77156 Oh3]
The new standard : an independent central Ohio Jewish monthly. [XL 296.77156 N42]
American Jewish archives [296.73 Am35]
A.Z.A. enquirer [296.67 Az11]
The H.U.C. journal. [207.771 H354h]
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