Samuel Gruber
Saving American Synagogues
In 2006, the Fitch Foundation awarded a Fitch Mid-Career Research grant to Dr. Samuel Gruber. Gruber is the Director of the Jewish Heritage Research Center in Syracuse, New York. Gruber’s project was to better promote the documentation, protection and preservation of historic synagogue buildings in the United States. His goal was to facilitate the protection and preservation of surviving historic synagogue buildings. Gruber produced a book, a preservation manual and web-accessible materials pertaining to the history, architecture, and religious significance of older American synagogues.
Caption: The congregation of Temple Society of Concord in Syracuse, New York, has successfully nominated the 1911 synagogue (designed by Arnold W. Brunner and Alfred Taylor) to the National Register of Historic Places, and in anticipation of the building’s centennial, is planning ways to protect and preserve the structure for another century. (Credit: Samuel D. Gruber)