The Temple B'nai Israel archives were described by Arkansas's former State Historian, Dr. John Ferguson as "the most complete and perhaps the most important religious archive" he had viewed in his 35 years in that position. The collection is housed in climate controlled modern space which was a part of the recent Tenenbaum Center addition to the Temple. The collection includes minutes of every Temple board meeting including leather-bound handwritten minutes of the first organizational meeting in September of 1866. It includes Temple chronicles, cemetery records, rabbis' papers, womens' organization records, and many other topics dating back over a century. New and growing collections include "family files" with individual family histories and documents. Also growing are the collection of b'nai mitzvah programs, religious school items and other topics. The collection extends to historic religious artifacts including a rare handwritten circumcision log book by Jacob Menkus, an early community Mohel.

The Temple archives are not fully processed and are not electronically accessible. Work to advance the organization and accessibility of the archives is an on-going activity and a future goal. Volunteer opportunities are available to move this along.

For more information, email Jim Pfeifer, call 501-224-8887 or 501-247-1817.