Our Work

Our organization, having been formed in 1979, because of the work of two individuals who were interested in preserving the records of Jewish life in northern New Jersey. The Jewish Historical Society of North Jersey was later launched as a result.  At the outset, the main purpose was to collect and maintain an array of documents and photographs from current and former Jewish Patersonian families. 

As time swept by, and the Jewish population expanded, collections found their way into our archives from virtually all of Passaic, Bergen and Hudson Counties.  With the advent of modern technology and the development of the information highway, our activities have morphed into new ways of developing an appreciation and understanding of the heritage of the Jewish population.

We now offer a multiplicity of formats from which students, scholars, genealogists, or visitors may search our vast collections of personal, family, organization, business, or political collections, artifacts, photographs, and oral histories. Access to our collections may be obtained by visiting our facility at 17-10 River Road Fair Lawn, NJ or from our website at JHSNNJ.ORG. In addition to the accessibility of our collections, archived and current periodically released features including Photo Friday, Monthly Memoirs, Who Am I, Newsletters, Announcements of Exhibits, Programs and upcoming Events will also be made available on our website.