Annual Gala
Statue of Liberty Award Gala
5:30pm
Gala Cocktail Reception
6:30pm
Dinner and Program
8:15pm
Gala Dessert Reception
Cocktail Attire | Dietary Laws Observed
Celebrate 132 years of the American Jewish Historical Society at this year’s annual Emma Lazarus Statue of Liberty Award Gala! Join us at the Center for Jewish History in Chelsea for an evening of history, community, joy, music and great food, as we gather to honor the esteemed career of Dr. Jonathan D. Sarna and his rich contributions to American Jewish scholarship and legacy.
Dr. Jonathan D. Sarna
Jonathan D. Sarna is University Professor and the Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History at Brandeis University. He also chairs the Academic Advisory and Editorial Board of the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives in Cincinnati, and serves as Chief Historian of the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia. He is past chair of the Academic Council of the American Jewish Historical Society.
Author or editor of some forty books on American Jewish history and life, his American Judaism: A History (Yale 2004), recently published in a second edition, won six awards including the 2004 “Everett Jewish Book of the Year Award” from the Jewish Book Council. His most recent books include (edited with Adam Mendelson), Yearning to Breathe Free: Jews in Gilded Age America (Princeton, 2022); the award-winning Lincoln and the Jews: A History, with Benjamin Shapell (St. Martin’s, 2015; 2nd ed, NYU Press, 2025); and When General Grant Expelled the Jews (Schocken/Nextbook, 2012).
Dr. Sarna is the only American Jewish historian ever elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and was also elected to the American Academy of Jewish Research.
Sponsors
Gala Co-Hosts
Friend and Arts & Scholars Sponsor
Friend
Patron
The Karetsky Family
Nita and Steve Lowey
Supporter
Scott and Dianne Einhorn
Ike, Molly & Steven Elias Foundation
Felicia Herman
Ambassador John L. Loeb Jr.
Hedy Zankel
Contributor
The American Jewish Archives
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
John A. Golden
Jonathan Lewis
Jeff Mankoff
Nancy and Martin Polevoy
Rocky Mountain Jewish Historical Society at the University of Denver
Julie Salamon
Rabbi Benjamin J. Samuels and Cong. Shaarei Tefillah
Glenn and Lori Shannon
Keith Stoltz
Jane Weitzman
Justin “Jerry” Wyner
Toni Young
Sponsorships & Tickets
Event Co-host and Title Sponsor – $72,000
- Listing as Gala Co-host on all event materials, with option for program remarks and donor spotlight on the AJHS website
- Two tables for 8
- Admission to private pre-event cocktails with Honoree Dr. Jonathan D. Sarna
- Full-page event journal tribute or ad
- Private, catered VIP tour, for up to eight guests, of AJHS archival collections with Gemma Birnbaum; AJHS Executive Director, and Melanie Meyers; Chair, Collections and Engagement at AJHS
- Zabar’s basket
Cocktail Reception Host – $54,000
- Listing as Reception Host on all event materials, with option for welcome remarks and donor spotlight on the AJHS website
- One table for 10
- Admission to private pre-event cocktails with Honoree Dr. Jonathan D. Sarna
- Full-page event journal tribute or ad
- Private tour of AJHS archival collections and lunch, for up to four guests, with Gemma Birnbaum; AJHS Executive Director, and Melanie Meyers; Chair, Collections and Engagement at AJHS
- Zabar’s basket
Dessert Reception Host – $54,000
- Listing as Reception Host on all event materials, with option for closing remarks and donor spotlight on the AJHS website
- One table for 10
- Admission to private pre-event cocktails with Honoree Dr. Jonathan D. Sarna
- Full-page event journal tribute or ad
- Private tour of AJHS archival collections and lunch, for up to four guests, with Gemma Birnbaum; AJHS Executiv Director, and Melanie Meyers; Chair, Collections and Engagement at AJHS
- Zabar’s basket
Friend – $36,000
- Listing as Friend on all event materials and on the AJHS website
- Admission to private pre-event cocktails with Honoree Dr. Jonathan D. Sarna
- One table for 8
- Full-page event journal tribute or ad
- Private tour of AJHS archival collections and lunch, for up to four guests, with Gemma Birnbaum; AJHS Executive Director, and Melanie Meyers; Chair, Collections and Engagement at AJHS
- Zabar’s basket
Patron – $18,000
- Listing as Patron on all event materials and on the AJHS website
- One table for 6
- Full-page event journal tribute or ad
- Private tour of AJHS archival collections and lunch for two guests with Gemma Birnbaum; AJHS Executive Director, and Melanie Meyers; Chair, Collections and Engagement at AJHS
- Zabar’s basket
Supporter – $9,000
- Listing as Supporter on all event materials and on the AJHS website
- Four Gala tickets
- Half-page event journal tribute or ad
- Private tour of AJHS archival collections for two guests with Melanie Meyers; Chair, Collections and Engagement at AJHS
Contributor – $2,500
- Listing as Contributor on all event materials and on the AJHS website
- One Gala ticket
- Quarter-page event journal tribute or ad
Individual Ticket – $1,500
- One Gala ticket
Event program journal tribute (specs delivered upon commitment)
- Full Page, $3,600
- Half Page, $1,800
- Quarter Page, $900
Questions:
Please contact Annie Cotten at (504) 345-7204 or acotten@ajhs.org
The marbled endpapers featured in this design were taken from a book in the AJHS Rare Book collection, published in Spain in 1814. The title (translated) reads The Mourning of the Inquisition, and the book discusses the history and aftermath of the Spanish Inquisition. This book and other titles about the Jews of Mexico and South America were bequeathed to the AJHS by Martin Zielonka, a rabbi in Texas and a scholar on both Jewish communities in Mexico and the Inquisition in South America. His scholarship was published in the AJHS Journal in the early 20th century. Learn more about him: wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Zielonka
