Join the Campaign to Commemorate Jewish Sites at Arlington National Cemetery

The Jewish Genealogy Society in partnership with the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington is raising funds to design, print, and distribute a new brochure about Jewish history in Arlington National Cemetery (ANC). It will includes information about prominent Jews, such as Admiral Hyman Rickover, Gladys Noon Spellman, and sculptor Sir Moses Ezekiel, buried in the Cemetery. It also discusses Jewish burial rites in relation to the Cemetery and touches on the history of Jews in the military. Special monuments like those for the Space Shuttle astronauts, Confederate soldiers, and the new Jewish Chaplains Memorial will be included.

As many of you are no doubt aware, in 2008 JGSGW embarked on a project to index the Jews at rest in Arlington National Cemetery. Our team of volunteers walked the grounds of the cemetery and photographed all markers bearing a Magen Dovid, We created a database with the information culled from the markers and from publicly available records at the cemetery. A searchable website at http://anc.jgsgw.org/index.htm was created and the data and photos were also donated to the JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry (JOWBR). We currently have entries for 5,219 Jews buried in ANC.

Beginning several years earlier, the Jewish Historical Society began to host tours of the Jewish sites and history at ANC. To enhance this experience, JGSGW created a brochure about the highlights. Now, JGSGW and JHSGW have joined resources to create a new brochure that will be available to interested visitors at the cemetery. In March, 2012, the Board of Directors of the Jewish Genealogy Society of Greater Washington voted to donate $3,000 to this effort and we hope that our members and friends will help us reach the goal of $10,00. To honor the Jews interred in the cemetery, we are seeking donations of $50, $100, $250, or $500.

JGSGW is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Donations may be tax-exempt. Consult with your tax advisor for details. If you work for a company that has matching funds, please request a corporate matching donation.

Donations may be sent to:    ANC Fund, c/o JGSGW, P.O. Box 1614, Rockville, MD 20849