We are the region's foremost destination and source for American Jewish history. We engage and inspire adults and children through our exhibitions, landmark historic synagogue, public programs, and educational initiatives. We collect, preserve, and share material culture that documents the story of the Jewish community in the Washington, D.C., region as a lens through which broader national and international history may be explored.

We explore the unique Jewish heritage of Washington as a hometown and as the nation's capital.

Founded by volunteers in 1960, the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Washington was incorporated in 1965 as a nonprofit organization dedicated to interpreting Jewish history in the greater Washington area. In 1969, galvanized by the pending demolition of the oldest synagogue building in the nation's capital, Society members arranged for the historic building to be moved three city blocks to its present location (more photos of the move!). After extensive restoration, the synagogue was rededicated and opened to the public as the Lillian & Albert Small Jewish Museum in 1975.