Oral History Project

The Chicago Jewish Historical Society recognizes the importance of primary sources in the understanding of our history. Early on, we created an oral history project to capture the first-hand experiences of a wide spectrum of Jewish Chicagoans. Since the inception of the project in 1977, we have conducted over 200 oral histories.

Thanks to a generous bequest from the Rose Shure Trust, the project was reestablished in 2018 as the Rose L. and Henry N. Shure Chicago Jewish History Library. This valuable collection, consisting of audio interviews and written transcripts, has been digitized and will be prepared for public access.

Stay tuned for updates.