YIVO Hosts Series of Events Celebrating its 100th Anniversary
(New York, NY) – This year, the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is celebrating its 100th anniversary. This momentous occasion marks a century of dedication to preserving, studying, and perpetuating the history and culture of East European Jewry worldwide. Throughout the year, YIVO will be hosting a series of public programs celebrating the 100 years since its founding.
The programs will cover topics such as the YIVO Library and Archives, klezmer music, recent scholarship on YIVO's history, and more. The spring season will culminate in a two-day conference focused on YIVO in America, it's role in the post-war evolution of Yiddish and Jewish studies; and YIVO's future vision.
"It's incredible to take stock of the profound impact YIVO has had on Jewish culture and scholarship as we reflect on its 100 years of work. YIVO's pioneering collecting, exhibitions, publications, educational initiatives, and programming have shaped the fields of Jewish studies, Yiddish studies, and Holocaust studies," said Alex Weiser, YIVO's Director of Public Programs. "Countless films, exhibitions, books, art pieces, and theatrical and musical works have drawn on YIVO's collections. From YIVO's training of young scholars to its short-lived Jewish art section involving Marc Chagall, to the Klezmer Revival which was born in its Sound Archive, YIVO has been a nexus for the transfer of knowledge. Our events throughout 2025 will explore YIVO's historic contributions and its continued role in Jewish scholarship and culture."
The schedule of events is:
A Trip into the Archive: The Case of Otto Schneid
LECTURE
March 27, 2025 | 1:00pm ET | On Zoom
Cost: Free
Alyssa Quint discusses art historian Otto Schneid and the creation of YIVO’s Museum of Jewish Art, Judaica, and Art History, a defunct project from the early days of the Institute.
The YIVO Sound Archive and the Klezmer Revival
LECTURE
April 24, 2025 | 1:00pm ET | On Zoom
Cost: Free
YIVO sound archivist Eléonore Biezunski tells the story of the Max and Frieda Weinstein Archive of YIVO Sound Recordings in relation to the revitalization of klezmer music since the mid-1970s.
The Making of an East European and Holocaust Historian: Lucy S. Dawidowicz and the YIVO in Vilna, New York, and Offenbach
LECTURE
May 7, 2025 | 1:00pm ET | On Zoom
Cost: Free
This talk by Nancy Sinkoff will explore the influence of the YIVO on Lucy S. Dawidowicz (1915-1990), a postwar American Jewish public intellectual and historian, who was central to the field that is now called “Holocaust Studies.”
New Trends in YIVO Scholarship
PANEL DISCUSSION
June 11, 2025 | 1:00pm ET | On Zoom
Cost: Free
Join YIVO for a panel discussion sharing new research on various historic YIVO initiatives featuring presentations by William Pimlott, Kamil Kijek, and Nicolas Vallois, followed by a conversation led by Jessica Kirzane.
YIVO in America
CONFERENCE
Day 1 | June 22, 2025 | 7:00pm-9:30pm ET | In Person & On Zoom
Day 2 | June 23, 2025 | 10:00am-9:30pm ET | In Person & On Zoom
Cost: Free
Join us for a celebration of YIVO’s 100th anniversary with a conference focusing on how YIVO’s founding vision for Jewish social sciences has been realized in America since its headquarters shifted to New York City in 1940.
Enjoy a concert performed by Arturo O’Farrill and his Afro Latin Jazz Ensemble featuring Jewish and Yiddish classics in Afro Latin big band versions and Latin classics in Klezmer arrangements.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.
For more information contact:
Shelly Freeman
Chief of Staff
YIVO
The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, now in its Centennial year, is dedicated to the preservation and study of the history and culture of East European Jewry worldwide. For 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 outreach to a global community. The YIVO Archives contains 24 million unique items and YIVO’s Library has over 400,000 volumes—the single largest resource for the study of East European Jewish life in the world. yivo.org / yivo.org/the-whole-story