Series: National Register and National Historic Landmarks Celebrate Jewish Heritage Month

Learn how Jewish Americans have shaped the history of the U.S.

  • Article 1: Marguerite Wildenhain, a Life of Renewal at Pond Farm Pottery

    Woman concentrates, using tips of fingers to carefully finish rim on clay pot.

    Pond Farm Pottery, located outside of Guerneville, California, is designated a National Historic Landmark for Marguerite Wildenhain’s role in the American Studio Pottery Movement. As a master potter and Jewish refugee who fled Nazi Germany during WWII, Marguerite introduced Bauhaus techniques and philosophies to the United States through her teachings, published works, and pottery that she produced while living at the site from 1942 until her death in 1985. Read more

  • Article 2: Eldridge Street Synagogue in New York’s Lower East Side

    Synagogue interior with side balconies, a chandelier, and a circular stained-glass window.

    Eldridge Street Synagogue was built in 1887 for Congregation Kahal Adath Jeshurun, an Orthodox Jewish congregation made up primarily of immigrants from Russia and Eastern Europe. The synagogue illustrates the history of Orthodox Jewish immigration and community in New York City’s Lower East Side from the 1880s through the 1920s. Read more

  • Article 3: Building Community on the Great Plains: B’nai Israel Synagogue and Montefiore Cemetery

    A light-colored building with three arches and the words

    B’nai Israel Synagogue and Montefiore Cemetery illustrate the history of Jewish immigration and community in North Dakota. The cemetery was established by the Jewish community of Grand Forks in 1888. The synagogue was designed in the Art Deco style in 1937 and is the second house of worship constructed by this congregation. Most of its founding members were immigrants from Russia and Eastern Europe. Both the synagogue and cemetery are in active use. Read more

  • Article 4: Reviving Leadville’s Jewish Legacy

    Interior view of the sanctuary (museum) space showing a painted blue ceiling with gold stars.

    Temple Israel is an important testament to Leadville, Colorado’s story of Jewish settlement. Originally known as Oro City, Leadville was once the largest of Colorado’s historic mining towns, experiencing successive booms beginning in 1860. From early days, Jewish merchants, many of them German immigrants, supplied the booming town with goods like clothing and groceries. By 1880, some 400 Jewish residents contributed to Leadville's social and civic life. Read more

  • Article 5: Jacksonville Jewish Center

    Exterior of Jacksonville Jewish Center

    The Jacksonville Jewish Center embodies the growth and development of the local Jewish community of Jacksonville, Florida from the 1950s onward. It is located in the historic Springfield neighborhood and consists of a community center and educational annex. The center, listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2021, served as a place to educate Jewish children and provided a haven where Jewish culture could be cultivated and shared for the local Jewish community. Read more

  • Article 6: Self-Expressionism: Lee Krasner's Jewish Heritage in Art

    Woman with gray hair and blue eyes, wearing a pink blazer.

    The artist Lee Krasner (1908-1984) created a strikingly diverse body of work, ranging in style from realism to cubism to abstract expressionism, and in form from paintings to collages to mosaics. The home Krasner once shared with her husband, fellow artist Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), was designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL) in 1994. Read more

  • Article 7: Frieda Fromm-Reichmann’s “Torah-peutic” Psychoanalysis

    Smiling woman in lawn chair with small black cocker spaniel in her lap.

    Dr. Frieda Fromm-Reichmann (1889-1957) was a psychiatrist who advocated for intensive interpersonal psychotherapy for all patients - including those her colleagues considered too difficult to treat. Her cottage in Rockville, Maryland, was designated as a National Historic Landmark (NHL) in 2021, recognizing Fromm-Reichmann’s innovations in psychotherapeutic treatment. Her Jewish heritage shaped her therapeutic style, jokingly deemed “Torah-peutic” by patients. Read more

  • Article 8: Trinidad's Temple Aaron

    Red brick building with an onion-domed tower, large circular central window, and small minarets.

    Temple Aaron National Historic Landmark in Trinidad, Colorado, is nationally significant architecturally and in association with westward migration of Jewish immigrants from Europe. It is the second-oldest known synagogue in continuous use in its original location west of the Mississippi. Read more

  • Article 9: Saint Thomas Synagogue

    Interior of synagogue with Ark, holding six Torahs, and Bimah (or pulpit) facing it

    St. Thomas Synagogue is a site with deep roots in the Hebrew Diaspora. It is one of five National Historic Landmarks (NHL) in the U.S. Virgin Islands and is the second-oldest synagogue in the United States. Read more

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