Zachary M. Baker, Reinhard Family Curator of Judaica and Hebraica Collections, Stanford University Libraries will be giving a talk on The Taube-Baron Collection of Jewish History and Culture and The Samson / Copenhagen Judaica Collection held at Stanford University.

The talk will be given in the Kiev Judaica Collection Reading Room in the Gelman Library (rm. 710) on The George Washington University Campus, 2130 H. Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20052, on Wednesday, May 9, 2007 at 3:00 p.m.

Professor Salo Wittmayer Baron (1895-1989) of Columbia University, held the first Jewish History chair established in the United States (1930-1963). His 20,000-volume collection was purchased by Stanford in 1985 and includes Hebrew editions of the Bible dating from the 15th century, rare volumes of Jewish literature and history from Eastern Europe and around the world, works on Jewish Americana, Jewish anthropology and sociology, and thousands of pamphlets and journals.

The Samson Collection, acquired by Stanford in 2003, includes close to 2,000 works printed in over 115 locations from 1517 to 1939. These books cover a wide range of topics, including Bible and Talmud texts and commentaries, Jewish law and ritual, Jewish liturgy, rabbinical responsa, treatises on Jewish law (halakhah), scientific works in Hebrew, kabbalah, apologetics, bibliography, the sciences, ephemeral publications relating to the Jewish communities of Denmark and other Northern European countries, and even poetry. The books in the Samson Collection belonged to the Jewish Community of Copenhagen, Denmark, until the early 1980s, when they were purchased by Herman R. Samson, a native of Copenhagen.

Invitation to Zachary M. Baker talk on the Taube-Braon and Samson/Copenhagen Judaica Collections

For more information, call (202) 994-7549 or email speccoll@gwu.edu

The Gelman Library is installing an exhibit entitled “From Strength to Strength” to honor University President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg’s tenure as president of The George Washington University. The exhibit documents President Trachtenberg’s enduring legacy and impact on Washington, D.C., The George Washington University, and on The Gelman Library System, as well as his inimitable insights on the well-lived life.

The exhibit will open on April 16, 2007 and will run until July 2007. The opening coincides with a reception on the same date in honor of President Trachtenberg from 4 p.m. until 5:30 p.m. hosted by Charles Manatt, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The George Washington University, and Jack Siggins, University Librarian. Comments will begin around 4:40 p.m.

The exhibit is located in the Gelman Library’s First Floor Exhibit Room immediately to the right of the entrance to the library at 2130 H. Street, NW, Washington, D.C. The reception will take place in room 207 of the Gelman Library on the second floor.

All members of the GWU community and the Washington, D.C. area are invited to visit the exhibit, or view its content online here.

George Washington University President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg publicly thanked Mike Harreld, Regional President of PNC Bank, for the generous donation by PNC Bank to GWU of the PNC-Riggs National Bank Records at a gala reception held by the Gelman Library System on March 15, 2007 from 4:30 p.m. until 7 p.m. Representatives from PNC Bank, the George Washington University administration, the Gelman Library System, and the press were in attendance.

Tyler Anbinder, Chair of the History Department at GWU, also spoke about the critically important nature of the Riggs National Bank Records for historians doing research into 19th Century Banking; Anbinder spoke about how this collection is one of the three most important collections of U.S. Bank history preserved anywhere in the world.

Image courtesy of Jessica McConnell, GWU Staff Photographer

PNC Bank announced on Thursday, October 5, 2006 the gift of its
PNC-Riggs Bank Records from 1810 to 2005 (bulk 1896-1949) to the Gelman Library System’s Special Collections Department.

The gift represents the second largest collection ever given to the Gelman Library and the gift with the highest appraised value at some $5.2 million.

Image courtesy of Sonia McCormick, PNC Bank.