The collection Jewish Life in America, c1654-1954 covers different materials related to the history of Jewish communities in America from their first arrival in New York in 1654 to the integral part that they play today. The material is based on original manuscript collections from the unique holdings of the American Jewish Historical Society in New York. The collection includes six major organisational collections and twenty-four collections of personal papers. The personal collection contain letters, scrapbooks, autobiographies, notebooks and other materials relating to the late 17th through to the mid-20th century.