November 25, 2008
Katherine Tane
952-381-3360
history@jhsum.org

Research Award Established in Honor of Dr. Linda Mack Schloff

In honor of the contributions Dr. Linda Mack Schloff has made to the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest as Director of Collections, Exhibits and Publications, JHSUM’s Board of Directors has established the Dr. Linda Mack Schloff Research Award Endowment Fund. 

During Linda’s 22 years with JHSUM, she was passionately committed to collecting records and artifacts from a wide variety of Jewish groups and individuals in the Midwest. As a historian, she was equally passionate about connecting people in the community to those collections and widening the audience for stories of Jewish life in the upper Midwest.

The Dr. Linda Mack Schloff Research Award was established to recognize and carry on the spirit of Linda’s work by ensuring that JHSUM’s diverse collections are used to interpret the rich story of Upper Midwest Jewish life to the wider community. A $2,500 annual award will be made to a scholar who will use JHSUM materials to complete original research. “This award will be of great benefit to scholars making use of the unique and invaluable JHSUM collection and honors the person who did more than anybody else to establish it,“ said Dr. Jonathan Sarna, Brandeis University professor of American Jewish History. “I can think of no more appropriate way of honoring Linda's remarkable legacy.”

The award will further open the JHSUM collections to researchers from around the world.  “The Dr. Linda Mack Schloff Research Award provides the opportunity for scholars to receive support to use an archive dedicated to Jewish experience in the Upper Midwest and to Jews from this region who played significant roles nationally and internationally,” said Riv-Ellen Prell, Professor of American Studies at the University of Minnesota.

The award endowment fund was established with a generous gift in honor of Linda from her husband Dr. Leonard Schloff and is part of JHSUM’s Face the Future with Your Past endowment campaign. Prior to giving the first award, the fund will be grown to $50,000.

For more information on how to contribute to the fund, please contact Katherine Tane, Executive Director of JHSUM. Designated gifts to the Dr. Linda Mack Schloff Research Award Endowment Fund will be matched.
About the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest

For nearly 25 years, JHSUM has been gathering and presenting the stories of the Jewish people of the Upper Midwest. Everyone is an important part of the story. The Society encourages individuals to donate personal stories, documents, photographs and artifacts to its collections.  JHSUM collections are housed in two prominent locations: the Eloise and Elliot Kaplan Family Jewish History Center on the Barry Family Campus in Minneapolis and the Nathan and Theresa Berman Upper Midwest Jewish Archives in the Andersen Library at the University of Minnesota. JHSUM is a partner agency of the Minneapolis Jewish Federation and the United Jewish Fund and Council of St. Paul.