If you’re enjoying the Ten Decades of Tzedakah page in The Observer during Federation’s centennial year, you’re benefiting from the Federation Archives and the valuable information it contains about the history of our Federation.

Thanks to the generosity of the Clarence and Judith Lapedes Family Foundation, we’re assured that the archives will be well-maintained and available to future generations of the Dayton Jewish community.

The JFGD Archives and Special Collections Fund in Memory of Debra L. Schwartz is a new restricted endowment fund of the Federation Foundation, established under the guidance of Andrew and Pamela Schwartz in memory of Andrew’s mother, Debra Lapedes Schwartz.

This fund is dedicated to the preservation and conservation of the archives and special collections of the Federation and will also provide internship opportunities, as appropriate, to students interested in pursing archival work.

Pamela, a professional archivist, says, “It is a pleasure to share what I have learned with budding archivists.” Sara Boteler, a graduate student in Wright State University’s archives and museum management program, is hard at work under Pamela’s guidance, sorting, scanning, filing and cataloging in the archives.

Pamela says “the need to collect” runs in her family, from her grandfather Jerome Greenhause, an avid collector of sheet music and instruments; through her father, Dr. Allan Spetter, a historian fascinated with the use of information in research. Dr. Spetter spent many years at Wright State, and Pamela is thrilled that the family connection can continue with Wright State interns.

Andrew’s mother, Debra, was a native Daytonian who loved to tell stories about the town and the community, and who also liked to collect things. He says, “She would have been enthusiastic about the archives project” as well as the sentiment and commitment to create the new fund. Andrew and Pamela are most appreciative of the Lapedes family support to set up the new endowment.

You may honor Debra’s memory, and help ensure our history is available to future generations, by making a contribution to the JFGD Archives and Special Collections Fund in memory of Debra L. Schwartz. To do so, contact Sheila Myers at 610-1555, ext. 120.