By Kristina Goetz
The Cincinnati Enquirer

An exhibit that celebrates the 350th anniversary of Jewish communities in America will travel to only four cities in the nation - and Cincinnati is on the list.

The historic exhibit, called "From Haven to Home," will make its debut at the Library of Congress in Washington in September and then be available for viewing from February to May at the Cincinnati Museum Center. The precise dates are still to be decided.

Hundreds of items - including rare books, manuscripts, photos, motion pictures and audio recordings - will celebrate the contributions of Jews to culture, politics, art and religion.

The Commission for Commemorating 350 Years of American Jewish History, a group recognized by a joint congressional resolution in 2003, is sponsoring the exhibition. The commission itself marks the first partnership of four national research institutions that provide the public with records documenting the history of American Jewry.

They are the American Jewish Historical Society, the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives (housed on the Cincinnati campus of Hebrew Union College), the Library of Congress and the National Archives and Records Administration. Each institution will provide items for a core exhibit and then augment it when serving as host.

"My hope is that it will provide those who view it with a unique opportunity to experience some of the great moments of American history that are frequently unknown," said Rabbi Gary P. Zola, chairman of the commission and executive director of the American Jewish Archives on HUC's campus.

"In school, children learn about the Holocaust - and that's how they meet the Jew. That's important. But to not mention the impact of the Jew on this nation is a great gap."

The exhibit will be accompanied by community lectures and other scheduled events to celebrate the first Jewish group that settled openly and permanently in North America, in 1654. Museum-goers can follow the history of Jewish settlements across the United States and see how Cincinnati's Jewish community grew to be one of the largest and most prominent in the nation in the mid-19th century, second only to New York. Records of military service honors, recordings of speeches by prominent Jewish leaders and music will also be available.

"Very few artifacts out of the Library of Congress travel," said Douglass McDonald, president and CEO of the Cincinnati Museum Center. "And this is going to be a particularly interesting exhibit."

With Cincinnati's rich Jewish history, "it makes this a great venue to celebrate the accomplishments of those 350 years and also to reflect on some of the challenges."

The Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati has donated $75,000 to pay for a Cincinnati curator for the exhibit. The commission is trying to raise another $250,000 to underwrite the Cincinnati portion of the exhibit's tour, Zola said.

Museum patrons will be able to view Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's federal Order No. 11. It expelled all Jews in the military department of Tennessee, which included parts of Kentucky and Mississippi. Patrons can also see President Abraham Lincoln's order rescinding that measure.

Also on hand: Albert Einstein's declaration of intention to become a U.S. citizen; traditional marriage certificates; a $2 Confederate bill featuring Judah Benjamin, the secretary of war for the Confederate States of America and one of the first Jewish senators in the United States, and President Harry Truman's note recognizing the state of Israel in 1948.

"In a sense, I am hoping, for the American Jewish experience, that seeing these things will be like looking at the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence," Zola said.

Admission to the exhibit in Cincinnati will be free with a ticket to the Cincinnati History Museum.

After a stay in the Queen City, the exhibit will travel to New York and then Los Angeles.