Support YIVO's Centennial!
Dear Friend,
March 24, 2025, marked the Centennial of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. Reaching this anniversary is itself a remarkable achievement. To arrive at this milestone as a vibrant, expanding organization is both a celebration—and a call to action.
Founded in 1925 by scholars in Vilna, Poland (now Vilnius, Lithuania) who understood the importance of documenting and studying all aspects of Jewish life, YIVO has grown into an international institution: a center for scholarship, a hub for cultural programming, and a destination for lifelong learners around the world.
YIVO could easily have become the province of intellectuals alone—Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud were members of the first Honorary Board—but the founders had broader aspirations. They perceived the inherent value in chronicling the lives of ordinary people and enlisted these people as volunteer zamlers (collectors) to help build YIVO’s collections.
This deliberately inclusive approach has allowed the institute to continually evolve and flourish. YIVO at 100 is a testament to the founders’ expansive and enduring vision. Over 5 million pages from our collections have been digitized and are available online. In the past year alone, these archives have been accessed over 700,000 times. From lectures and concerts to exhibitions and online courses, YIVO remains committed to making Jewish history accessible to all.
As we begin our second century, we are proud to celebrate with events in New York, Warsaw, and Vilnius; a major conference on YIVO in America; international study tours; and the publication of 100 Objects from the Collections of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.
With warm regards,
Jonathan Brent
Executive Director & CEO