Jewish Archives of Chattanooga (JAC)
The mission of the Joy Adams Jewish Archives of Chattanooga (JAC) is to document, collect, preserve and protect the records of the Jewish experience in the Greater Chattanooga, Tennessee region and is under the auspices of the Jewish Federation. The JAC acts as a repository and caretaker for archival material related to the regional Jewish community. It includes, but is not be limited to, records, documents, audio-visual material, and images and objects in original, digital or other duplicated formats.
An important goal of the JAC is to digitize and catalogue all items in its collection so they will be available to Chattanoogans and others for research. Approximately one-fifth of the collection has now been entered into a museum software program. The Archives also has an organized collection of audio and video interviews from 1986 forward. Through its Oral History Project, volunteers maintain an ongoing task of interviewing and recording current members of the Chattanooga Jewish Community and others.
In the 1990s, Joy Effron Abelson Adams, with the assistance of her son Richard Abelson, began collecting and organizing papers and other memorabilia of Mizpah Congregation and the general Jewish community. The collection was stored in her home. In 1999, the Board of Mizpah Congregation recognized the importance of its storied history and agreed to house and fund its congregation’s collection, naming Joy as Chief Archivist and Richard as Co-Archivist. Joy Adams resigned as Chief Archivist of the Mizpah Archives in the fall of 2013 due to advancing age, and Max Brener was named to succeed her. The collection at the time consisted of the minutes of Mizpah Congregation dating back to 1894; the sermons and other papers of long-time Mizpah Rabbi Abraham Feinstein; New York Times memorabilia related to Adolph Ochs and his brother, George Washington Ochs (the first Jewish mayor of Chattanooga); events related to Mizpah; family histories from the community; print media clippings; and old papers of Hadassah, Mizpah Sisterhood, and various other local Jewish organizations.
In 2022, a Memo of Understanding (MOU) was signed between Mizpah Congregation and the Jewish Federation of Greater Chattanooga passing ownership of the contents of the Mizpah Archives to the Jewish Federation of Greater Chattanooga. Mizpah Congregation retains its minutes and its ownership of three dimensional objects in its collection. The new entity was renamed the Joy Adams Jewish Archives of Chattanooga in honor of its founder. Since that time, documents and photos from B’nai Zion, Beth Sholom, Hadassah, Jewish Day School, Mizpah Sisterhood and other local Jewish organizations and families have been added to the Archives. Because of a lack of space to house the JAC at the Federation’s Jewish Cultural Center, Mizpah has lent a room in its Religious Activities Building for storage. The JAC and B’nai Zion Congregation are working to establish similar relationship agreement.
Jewish Archives Of Chattanooga Chair: Karen Diamond
Oral History Interviewers: Andy Hodes, Rachel Schulson, Amy Cohn, Stuart Bush FEDERATION STAFF LIASION: Ann Treadwell (Federation Program Director)
PLEASE CONSIDER DONATING YOUR FAMILY’S MEMORABILIA TO THE CHATTANOOGA JEWISH ARCHIVES!
