Central Synagogue’s history began as Congregation Ahawath Chesed in 1846. It merged with Congregation Shaar Hashomayim in 1898, and became known as Central Synagogue in 1917. For almost 200 years, our Archives Department has maintained many important documents from the congregation’s history, including the Ahawath Chesed Board of Trustees and other special meeting minutes from 1845–46 and 1864–1910. In the early years, these minutes were kept in 19th-century German script. From 1900 on, the minutes were kept in English.

We invite you to peruse the indices of these minutes, organized by subject matter, date, and participants. The slight overlap in years of indices is due to congregational governances’ various formats in certain years. If you would like to view the complete minutes from a specific date, please contact our .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Meeting Minutes Index 1840–1898

Meeting Minutes Index 1898–1910

Meeting Minutes Index 1911–1919

Meeting Minutes Index 1920–1955