The United States Southwest, encompassing West Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Southern California, reflects the heritage of diverse groups of peoples. From native-born inhabitants to those who chose to settle in this region, each group has contributed to Southwestern culture and society. United States Southwestern history has traditionally focused on the contributions of Native Americans, and people whose ancestral roots are in Mexico and Europe. Until recently, little has been written documenting the pioneer Jewish experience. Visitors to this website will learn that Jewish pioneers not only built Jewish communities, but that they also made significant contributions to the development of the Southwest. The Bloom Southwest Jewish Archives at the University of Arizona Library presents several educational exhibits. First is Jewish Images of the Southwest which presents the Jewish pioneer experience. Second is Synagogues of the Southwest, reinforcing that pioneer Jews placed a priority on maintaining their beliefs, values, and traditions even amid the hazards of the nation's frontier. The Archives is also a resource for historical research, such as for the study of Crypto-Jews in the U. S. Southwest. Between 1992 and 1995, the Archives distributed a quarterly newsletter, Southwest Jewish History (SJH), reporting on its collections. You will find selected SJH articles linked to pages throughout the website. References to the sources used in descriptive sections, a suggested readings list, copyright and permissions information, and a page with links to selected Web sites to visit are also available. Consult the Finding Aids for guides to where materials are housed within Special Collections. Visit the What's New? page to learn about the newest items that have been added. A few years ago we began looking at more contemporary stories. If you like historical photographs, view a slideshow of forty images from the Archive's collections. For questions on access to the Southwest Jewish Archives collections, consult Visiting Special Collections. You will find information on research services for Individual Researchers, Class Use of Collections, Mail, E-mail, and Telephone Requests, Photocopy Service, Photograph Reproduction Service, and contact information. For speedy results, provide the URL to the page on which you found your information. For example: findingaids/sja005.htm Please: do not submit genealogical requests through the comments link on this Web site. Instead, you may consult the Genealogy section provided on the selected Web sites page. About the Southwest Jewish Archives Web site. Please send us your comments and questions.