Ottawa Jewish Archives

The Ottawa Jewish Archives - Preserving our history

The Ottawa Jewish Archives collections encompass thematic areas including individuals, families, businesses, congregations, and community organizations and associations established and maintained by Ottawa’s Jewish community. The strengths of the collections are in their capacity to promote social histories that may otherwise be lost to time, and to preserve narratives that trace and celebrate the worth of Jewish people and Jewish heritage in Canada’s capital.

Beginning as a grassroots idea in 1969, the Ottawa Jewish Archives opened in the late 1970’s with the support of the Ottawa Jewish Historical Society and the Ottawa Jewish Community Council — now the Jewish Federation of Ottawa. In the fall of 1999, the Archives became an agency of Federation and moved into a purpose built facility within the Soloway Jewish Community Centre.

Operating under the mandate to maintain and make accessible the collective memory of the Jewish community of Ottawa and National Capital Region, the Ottawa Jewish Archives accepts donations of documents, photographs, recorded media, and ephemera that help tell the story of Jewish community life in Ottawa from the 1890’s to the current day.

Click here for a list of services and fees

Opening of the Chapel Street Jewish Community Centre, 1951.

Episode 1: The history of the Adath Jeshurun Synagogue on King Edward Street. Learn about the synagogue, the Byward Market, and early Jewish history of Ottawa. Hear from a local who grew up going to the King Edward Shul and the exciting story of her great grandfather.

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613Archives' third and final episode explores social services in Jewish Ottawa. What does it look like when a community steps up and addresses the needs of all of its members? Learn about Jewish services throughout history, the harmful stereotypes that have prevented Canada’s Jews from getting the help they’ve needed, and the inspiring ways that Ottawa’s Jewish community overcomes them.

Episode 2: This podcast explores the history of a Jewish Ottawa icon, the Rideau Bakery. Learn about the people and the neighbourhood behind the bakery, its old world European roots, and how the bakery was brought into modernity. Hear from the bakery’s owners, descended from the original family baker in the Ukraine.