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 American Jewish Archives Journal Receives Ohioana Library Association Award for Editorial Excellence CINCINNATI, OH: Dr. Gary P. Zola, editor of The American Jewish Archives Journal, has received the prestigious 2006 James P. Barry Ohioana Library Association Award for Editorial Excellence on behalf of the publication. The award was presented at a ceremony that took place in Columbus, Ohio on October 14, 2006. The James P. Barry Award is given annually to an outstanding Ohio-based magazine or journal that relates to literature, the arts, the humanities, or other cultural endeavors. The award is named for James P. Barry, former Ohioana Library Director. The American Jewish Archives Journal- published by The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives (AJA)- is one of only two scholarly journals devoted to publishing learned essays on the history of the American Jewish experience. The AJA -- located on the Cincinnati, Ohio campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) - is the world's largest free-standing research center dedicated solely to the study of the American Jewish experience. In 1995, Dr. Zola succeeded his mentor (and AJA founding director) Jacob Rader Marcus as both Executive Director of the AJA and editor of The American Jewish Archives Journal. The journal began in 1948, one year after the founding of the AJA itself. Zola-an associate professor of the American Jewish experience at HUC-JIR- is a highly regarded expert on the development of American Reform Judaism. Zola has published five volumes on American Jewish history and culture, including Isaac Harby of Charleston, a biographical study of an American Jew who played a pivotal role in the establishment of the first organized attempt to reform Judaism in the United States. "We have always been proud of The American Jewish Archives Journal, which plays an indispensable role in sharing the lessons of American Jewish history with the public at-large," Zola noted. "It is particularly affirming to receive this kind of recognition from the caretaker of Ohio's literary heritage - The Ohioana Library Association." The Ohioana Library Association Since 1929, the Ohioana Library Association (www.ohioana.org) has been collecting, promoting and preserving Ohio's literary and artistic achievements through its special collection-a distinctive array of books and materials based solely on geography. The Ohioana Library Association serves as the "caretaker" of the state's literary heritage and as a resource for information about Ohioans in the arts. The Ohioana Library Association's collection is comprised of more that 45,000 books, 10,000 pieces of sheet music, and approximately 20,000 biographical files on Ohio writers, musicians, artists, and others of note. The organization also publishes The Ohioana Quarterly as a way of highlighting the books received by the Ohioana Library and providing support for Ohio authors. The American Jewish Archives Journal can be found online at: www.americanjewisharchives.org/aja/journal. The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives, founded in 1947 by its namesake on the Cincinnati, Ohio, campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, is committed to preserving a documentary heritage of the religious, organizational, economic, cultural, personal, social and family life of American Jewry. The Marcus Center contains over 15,000 linear feet of archives, manuscripts, nearprint materials, photographs, audio and videotapes, microfilm, and genealogical materials. Founded in 1875, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is the nation's oldest institution of higher Jewish education and the academic, spiritual, and professional leadership development center of Reform Judaism. HUC-JIR educates men and women for service to American and world Jewry as rabbis, cantors, educators, and communal service professionals, and offers graduate and post-graduate programs to scholars of all faiths. With centers of learning in Cincinnati, Jerusalem, Los Angeles, and New York, HUC-JIR's scholarly resources comprise renowned library and museum collections, the American Jewish Archives, biblical archaeology excavations, research institutes and centers, and academic publications. HUC-JIR invites the community to an array of cultural and educational programs which illuminate Jewish history, identity, and contemporary creativity and which foster interfaith and multiethnic understanding. Visit us at www.huc.edu |
