Capital Campaign for New Museum Reaches Halfway Point with $50 Million Raised to Date.

Business Editors

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 16, 2003

The National Museum of American Jewish History Receives $5 Million Gift from Business Leader and Philanthropist Ed Snider 

With a $5 million gift from Ed Snider, Chairman of Comcast-Spectacor, the National Museum of American Jewish History today announced that it has reached the halfway mark in the campaign to raise $100 million for a new building on Independence Mall in Philadelphia.

"Today is a major milestone; it marks the halfway point in our quest to turn a dream into bricks, mortar and glass," said D. Walter Cohen, Chairman, National Museum of American Jewish History. "This $5 million gift from Mr. Snider, along with the more than two dozen gifts from members of our Board of Trustees and of donors to the Capital Campaign of the Museum, cement our project firmly in place."

The announcement that the campaign has raised $50 million came during an event held at the Museum. To underscore that the campaign has reached the halfway mark, guests were treated to half-servings of cake on plates cut in half, and toasted with half-filled glasses of champagne. Each guest also received a silver half-dollar as a memento that half the funds have been raised.

Plans for the landmark Museum, dedicated to the history and contributions of American Jews throughout the last 350 years, were announced November 2002. During the event the Museum announced a lead gift of $25 million by philanthropist Sidney Kimmel.

"I thank Sidney Kimmel for making the lead gift, and also those of you who have already joined him in creating the new National Museum of American Jewish History. It is a wonderful thing when any ethnic group can immigrate to a foreign country, work hard, worship freely and reach a level of success it otherwise might have never known," said Mr. Snider. "For American Jews, the United States has provided, and continues to provide, a fertile environment for education and experience, and our story should have a home we can proudly call our own. When we say 'only in America,' it is with reverence - for only in America could we have found such opportunity, acceptance and freedom."

After receiving the gift from Mr. Snider, Museum Trustee George M. Ross said, "We have been blessed by the generosity of people who believe in the vision for a new National Museum of American Jewish History.

"Everywhere we travel in the country to tell the story of our plans, we are met with enthusiasm and support," continued Mr. Ross, who also serves of the NMAJH Capital Campaign with Museum President Myles H. Tanenbaum. "It continues to be a very uplifting experience."

The NMAJH Takes Its Place on Independence Mall

The new National Museum of American Jewish History will be located on the Museum's current site on Independence Mall. Of the original building, only the facilities of Congregation Mikveh Israel will remain.

The new 80,000 square foot, five-story building of glass and stone will house dramatic, interactive galleries and exhibition halls, a state-of-the-art resource center and an auditorium for films, lectures and performances. Its tower will be topped with an eternal light that can be viewed from all parts of the Mall, representing American freedoms and the endurance of the Jewish people.

A team of acclaimed professionals has been assembled for the project, including:

-- James Polshek, Design Principal of the Polshek Partnership in

New York, lead architect

-- Patrick J. Gallagher, President of Washington D.C.-based

Gallagher & Associates, museum planning and exhibition design

-- Dr. Jonathan Sarna of Brandeis University in Waltham,

Massachusetts, the pre-eminent historian specializing in

American Jewish history, contemporary Jewish life and Judaism

in the Americas, exhibition planning and consulting

-- David Grubin, acclaimed director, writer and cinematographer,

narrative

-- Gwen Goodman, Executive Director of the National Museum of

American Jewish History

Slated to open in late 2006, the groundbreaking for the new National Museum of American Jewish History is scheduled for late 2004, during the 350th anniversary of the first Jewish settlement in America.