YIVO Receives $3 Million Gift to Name the YIVO Bruce and Francesca Cernia Slovin Online Museum

(New York, NY) – The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is thrilled to announce a $3 million gift from Bruce Slovin to name the YIVO Bruce and Francesca Cernia Slovin Online Museum. This gift was given in honor and in loving memory of Mr. Slovin’s wife, Francesca.

President of 1 Eleven Associates, LLC, an investment and general brokerage firm in New York, Mr. Slovin is a member of the YIVO Board of Directors as well as Chairman Emeritus of the YIVO Board and Founder of the Center for Jewish History. Both he and his late wife have been longtime supporters of YIVO.

“I have decided to make this gift as a sign of my appreciation for the leadership of YIVO and to support the creation of this online museum. This museum will provide access to YIVO’s meaningful and important archival treasures which are instrumental in preserving the history and culture of the Jewish people,” said Bruce Slovin.

Telling the story of Jewish life in Eastern Europe and Russia over more than 400 years through YIVO’s world renowned archival and library collections, the YIVO Online Museum will provide access to a worldwide audience. This Museum will select from 1.1 million original documents and over 2.5 million pages of books that have been digitized as part of the Edward Blank YIVO Vilna Online Collections project—YIVO’s landmark preservation and digitization initiative—to create English language galleries that reflect the entire spectrum of Jewish life in Eastern Europe and Russia from music, literature, and theater to mercantile guilds, municipal organizations, and rabbinic courts; from traditional ways of life and the education of children to Zionism and revolution. The exhibits will include manuscripts, photographs, sound recordings, posters, and other artifacts. The Online Museum will be integrated with the YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe, the most heavily consulted online reference work on East European Jewish history in the world.

Galleries will be selected and curated by leading scholars. Timelines and commentary will contextualize the exhibits and place them in accessible narratives enabling Jewish people worldwide to reconnect with their heritage in Eastern Europe and Russia that was lost because of the Holocaust, erased under Soviet communism, or forgotten through assimilation. The Museum will also serve as a comprehensive historical and educational platform for both Jews and non-Jews, and will serve as a key resource for Europeans who seek to understand their own countries’ multicultural histories. 

“This Online Museum is the gateway to YIVO’s future as a truly global institution able to reach Jews throughout the world. We are immensely grateful to Bruce Slovin for his commitment to this mission and his generosity,” said Jonathan Brent, YIVO’s Executive Director.

About YIVO

The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is dedicated to the preservation and study of the history and culture of East European Jewry worldwide. For nearly a century, YIVO has pioneered new forms of Jewish scholarship, research, education, and cultural expression. Our public programs and exhibitions, as well as online and on-site courses, extend our global outreach and enable us to share our vast resources. The YIVO Archives contains more than 23 million original items and YIVO’s Library has over 400,000 volumes. yivo.org

About the Edward Blank YIVO Vilna Online Collections

The Edward Blank YIVO Vilna Online Collections project is an international preservation and digitization initiative to reunite YIVO’s prewar library and archival collections located in New York City and Vilnius, Lithuania, through a dedicated web portal. One of the most ambitious preservation and digital initiatives in Jewish history, the Project encompasses up to 12,500 rare or unique volumes and approximately 2 million pages of literary manuscripts, memoirs, diaries, communal records, religious sermons, letters and other materials. Total project costs are estimated at $7 million, of which YIVO has raised $5.9 million to date. vilnacollections.yivo.org