Jewish Historical Society of Upper Midwest Inc.

“Jamie heilicher and joel mirviss have a family relationship.”

“No committee has authority to act on behalf of the governing body.”

“The financial reports are reviewed by the board and voted on for approval. The 990 is prepared and made available to all board members for review at the administrative offices.”

“All activities of the organization are reviewed and any conflicts of interests are identified before voting on any activities. Board members with a conflict of interest are not included in the final vote. All board members are asked to disclose any conflict prior to such votes. The board members annually are asked to sign a new conflict of interest document at the first meeting.”

“The salary of the executive director is reviewed at the finance committee level while the projected budget is being constructed based on regional position specific job surveys provided by the minnesota council of nonprofits. At the time the board reviews and approves next year's budget any salary increase is explained with what regional surveys were used to determine the appropriate funding level. The board has the final approval in passing the proposed budget.”

“The business records of jhsum are maintained at our kaplan family history center office. The articles of incorporation, bylaws and financial statements are available by requests via appointment, email or electronic scan. The annual report is posted on our website.”

“Education - our first 30 years have been spent creating one of the finest archives of local jewish history in the country. We consistently receive accolades from across the country commending our exhibits, programs, research material and web site. In 2012 we completed the gift of nearly 1000 feet of paper archives and 1,000's of photographs to the university of minnesota andersen library nathan and theresa berman upper midwest jewish archives allowing our collections to be permanently housed at the university. Securing a permanent home for our paper archival materials and photo's allows jhsum to focus on interpretation, education and programming along with more public displays of our unique materials. We are still working to turn our location at the kaplan family jewish history center into an interpretive gallery that will be open to the public. Our new space will showcase many of jhsum's artifacts and photos that tell the story of upper midwest jewish life.”

“Preservation - collection preservation visitors to jhsum website (jhsum.org) can seamlessly search the entire database inventory of our collection's holdings. By making content available through a more powerful, nuanced search interface, containing consistent, controlled terms and more searchable field's users can find what is most helpful in our holdings. New accessions data now appears instantly as it is entered. The largest volume of reference requests we receive is for historic photographs that showcase jewish life in the upper midwest. To expand access to the photo collection through placeography (wiki www.placeography.org - a wiki is a collaborative web site that anyone can edit.). Jhsum has its own portal on the site with seven virtual tours, expanding our tour capacity beyond one twin cities-focused "live" tour each year our resources allow for. You don't have to leave home to tour historic jewish duluth, st. Louis park, st. Paul, minneapolis' north side, west, central and southern minnesota, and the iron range, as well as the synagogues of the upper midwest.”

“Interpretation - our interpretive program promotes use of our materials by researchers, students, jewish organizations and other local and national cultural organizations. Jhsum's has recently completed several grant projects (through legacy funds at the minnesota historical society (mhs)) including 15 entries on synagogues in the upper midwest, 15 entries on institutions (including sophie wirth camp, jack butwin day camp, neighborhood house, jewish educational center, emanual cohen center, jfcs, jewish vocational services, talmud torah, hillel, mt sinai, and more). We continue to work with mhs on additional grants. We also partnered with the adath jeshurun synagogue to archive and make available their rich history (now stored at the university of minnesota andersen library). Our continued exhibit at sholom east spotlights some of the early st. Paul jewish neighborhoods. Do you remember stories of the west side? A neighborhood described as orthodox, yiddish speaking and working class, with many breadwinners holding down blue collar jobs in the garment, needlework and manufacturing industries in downtown st paul. Located at a bend in the mississippi river the area flooded with predictable regularity. It was a source of cheap housing, and quickly became a rich, if worn center of st. Paul jewish life and culture. Most of the early arrivals were single men and families who found work and saved to bring over other family members remaining in the old country. In short order the community set to work establishing various organizations that more than 100 years later continue to build jewish st. Paul.”