Exhibit honors Jews and democracy
home page

Exhibit honors Jews and democracy

July 16, 2026, 11:58 am Edit
Harry Belafonte at the 1963 March on Washington. Black celebrities worked with Jewish organizations to advance civil rights. Harry Belafonte, of partial Sephardic Jewish descent, and his wife, activist Julie Robinson, attended voting rights events sponsored by the American Jewish Congress. Belafonte was inspired in part by Black performer and activist Paul Robeson, a vocal ally of Jewish Americans. (Image courtesy of the American Jewish Historical Society, New York. From the Records of the American Jewish Congress (I-77))
Harry Belafonte at the 1963 March on Washington. Black celebrities worked with Jewish organizations to advance civil rights. Harry Belafonte, of partial Sephardic Jewish descent, and his wife, activist Julie Robinson, attended voting rights events sponsored by the American Jewish Congress. Belafonte was inspired in part by Black performer and activist Paul Robeson, a vocal ally of Jewish Americans. (Image courtesy of the American Jewish Historical Society, New York. From the Records of the American Jewish Congress (I-77))

The American Jewish Historical Society, the Center for Jewish History, and Yeshiva University Museum present “All We Have Standing Between Us: 250 Years of Jews and American Democracy.” The new exhibition, exploring the rich and often contentious history of Jewish political life in the United States and commemorating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence, opens at the Center for Jewish History on July 21.

Drawing on the American Jewish Historical Society’s collections, the exhibition spans from the Revolutionary era to the present, exploring how Jews have helped shape, debate, and challenge the ideals of freedom, equality, and popular sovereignty at the heart of American democracy. Organized into seven thematic sections, it features such familiar figures as Emma Lazarus, Henry Morgenthau Jr., and Betty Friedan alongside lesser-known Jews whose activism, public service, and ideas pushed the nation to reckon with issues of citizenship, labor rights, and voting access.

Additional highlights of the exhibition include letters and artifacts from former presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Richard Nixon, and Barack Obama, and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt; a Civil War-era physician’s patient diary; a digital interactive featuring Emma Lazarus’ handwritten book of poems; and Picasso drawings of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

A companion podcast produced by AJHS Digital started on July 1 to extend the exhibition’s reach beyond New York. The exhibit will remain on view through December 31. For more information, go to ajhs.org.

read more: