06.21.

2010 - Historic treasure of Jewish life and culture gifted to UC Berkeley 6/22/10 4:03 PM

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Press Release

Historic treasure of Jewish life and culture gifted to UC Berkeley

By Jose Rodriguez | 21 June 2010

BERKELEY — One of the world’s preeminent collections of Jewish life, culture and history will have a new home at the
University of California, Berkeley, starting this fall, campus officials and the Judah L. Magnes Museum in Berkeley
announced today (Monday, June 21).

The 10,000-
piece collection
of precious
music, art, rare
books and
historical
archives – part
of the Magnes
Museum since
its founding in
1961 – will be
transferred to
UC Berkeley
over the
summer. The
collaboration
will partner a
world-class
collection with
a world-class
university,
complementing
the school’s
academic
offerings,
raising the
profile of the
Magnes
collection, and
making it more
accessible to
scholars.

The transfer is
being made
possible by gifts
totaling $2.5
million over
five years from philanthropists Warren Hellman, Tad Taube, and the Koret Foundation. These gifts will ensure that the
acquisition is built on a solid and self-sustaining financial model.

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06.21.2010 - Historic treasure of Jewish life and culture gifted to UC Berkeley 6/22/10 4:03 PM

Support from other Magnes Museum donors will finance the renovation of a building at 2121 Allston Way, in the heart of
the city of Berkeley’s arts and commerce district. The 25,000-square-foot space will have a lecture room, seminar rooms
and a state-of-the art space to exhibit the Magnes’ prints, paintings, photographs, costumes and Jewish ceremonial objects.

The new name of the Magnes Museum will be the Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life at The Bancroft Library.

The Magnes’ Western Jewish History Archives, the world’s largest collection of letters, diaries, photographs and other
archival documents relating to the Jewish settlement of the West, will move into The Bancroft Library. Musical manuscripts
and sheet music will be located at the Jean Gray Hargrove Music Library.

“We are excited to acquire, steward and grow this precious cultural asset and ensure that it contributes to a much broader
vision for our already robust Jewish studies programs at UC Berkeley,” said UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert J. Birgeneau.
“We thank Warren Hellman, the Taube Family, and the Koret Foundation, who have stepped forward to help make this
vision possible. We also look to build on the foundation of support created in the last five decades by the many friends of
the Magnes Museum who have given generously and made this collection the treasure that it is today.”

The Magnes Collection – considered among the world’s finest holdings of Jewish history and culture – features Hanukkah
lamps, Torah ornaments, musical recordings, portraits, modern paintings and sculpture that date as far back as the 15th
century. In some cases, long-separated papers of Jewish families will be reunited under one roof at The Bancroft Library.

“The Magnes has been a vital and vibrant part of the cultural life of the Bay Area for almost 50 years,” said Charles
Faulhaber, the James D. Hart Director of The Bancroft Library. “There is such a close fit between the Magnes' Western
Jewish Archives and library collections and The Bancroft's collections on the history of California and the American West
that it seems like a match made in heaven.”

With the upcoming renovation of the Allston Way building, the core Magnes collections of Jewish art and ceremonial
objects will be more available than ever to the public, Faulhaber added.

“I think that this is the best of both worlds – a new and revitalized Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life as an integral
part of The Bancroft, and a prominent physical and programmatic presence at the heart of the Berkeley Arts District,” he
said. “What's not to like?”

That point is echoed by Frances Dinkelspiel, president of the Magnes Board of Directors.

“Moving the Magnes Collection to a new facility in the heart of downtown means it will continue to enhance the cultural life
of Berkeley,” Dinkelspiel said. “The partnership with UC will also introduce the collections to a new generation of scholars.
The board of the Magnes Museum is delighted that the collection will not only be preserved, but will flourish.”

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