NEBRASKA STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY MANUSCRIPT FINDING AID
RG6150.AM: South Street Temple (Lincoln, Neb.)
Records: 1923-2014; 2020
Lincoln, Lancaster County, Nebraska
Size: 2.0 cu.ft.; 2 boxes + oversize
BACKGROUND NOTE
Founded in 1885, Congregation B’nai Jeshurun built their first temple at 12th and D Streets in Lincoln in 1893. After a fire in 1922, the congregation decided to move to the corner or 20th and South Streets. Designed by the Lincoln architecture firm of Davis and Wilson, the new South Street Temple opened in 1924. The building was vandalized on January 13, 2020. On February 21, 2020, the Lincoln Police Department arrested Noah Miller and charged him with criminal mischief/hate crime for spray painting a swastika and racial epithets on the temple building.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
This collection consists of two boxes of records relating to Congregation B’nai Jeshurun (South Street Temple). The records include meeting minutes, reports, bulletins, financial records, and architectural drawings. Also included is one folder containing an oversized card and five additional letters of support sent to the South Street Temple after the building was vandalized on January 13, 2020.
The bulk of this collection is unprocessed. No additional inventory is available.
Note: The Nebraska History Museum holds a “Stronger Than Hate” yard sign that was displayed at the South Street Temple following the vandalism.
Subject headings:
Antisemitism — Nebraska — Lincoln
B’nai Jeshurun Congregation (Lincoln, Neb.)
Lancaster County (Neb.) — Synagogues
Lincoln (Neb.) — Synagogues
South Street Temple (Lincoln, Neb.)
Vandalism
Acc. 2020.0002
Acc. 2026.0094
TMM 03-10-2020; 10-19-2026
