Collections : [Florida Atlantic University Libraries]

The Arlyn Austin Katims Civil War Collection focuses upon the Civil War from the Union position. Within the collection are illustrations, currency, and a number of artifacts from the era. Items of special interest include an authentic mourning card from Abraham Lincoln's funeral and newspapers reporting Lincoln's death.

The collection consists of manuscript music, print music, personal songbooks, personal papers, programs, and pictures. Music books have been cataloged and relocated to Rare Books. Audio recordings have been relocated to Judaica Sound Archives.

The collection of Cantor Shabtai Ackerman consists of manuscript music, print music, personal songbooks, personal papers, programs, and pictures relating to his professional life as a cantor. Music books have been cataloged and relocated to Rare Books. Audio recordings have been relocated to Judaica Sound Archives. Cantor Ackerman was a world-renowned cantor with a powerful dramatic tenor voice. He was wounded by the Nazis in World War II and chanted services in the great Moscow Synagogue as a refugee in 1945. After the War, he was appointed permanent Cantor of the Baron De Rothschild and Ahavas Achim (Fraterna) Synagogue in Bucharest. He also served as Chief Cantor for the Great Synagogue of Tel-Aviv, Congregation Beth Abraham Hillel Moses in West Bloomfield, Michigan, and Temple Beth Israel in Deerfield Beach, Florida. He received an honorary doctoral degree in music from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, where scholarships in his name have since been established. Cantor Ackerman received two Kavod awards from the Cantors Assembly of America. He passed away on July 27, 2007.

The collection of Cantor Irving Obstbaum consists of manuscript music, print music, personal songbooks, personal papers, programs, and pictures relating to his professional life as a cantor. Music books have been cataloged and relocated to Rare Books. Audio recordings have been relocated to Judaica Sound Archives.  Cantor Irving Obstbaum served the congregation of Temple Beth-El in New York for over 40 years.  Along with his responsibilities to his congregation, he served as Executive Director of the Jewish Ministers Cantors' Association that helped find and place other qualified cantors to other Temples. He was also well known for giving lectures and sermons on various Jewish and Hebrew musical topics throughout New York.