Home > My Ancestors > Jewish > Timeline: 1950-present

• 1951: Israel's Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion visits Boston.
• 1954: Henry Kissinger graduates from Harvard.
• 1966: Boston philanthropist Kivie Kaplan becomes the national president of the NAACP.
• 1967: 10,000 attend a council given by the New England Zionist Council and the Jewish Community Council of Metropolitan Boston to offer support for Israel in its war with Egypt.
• 1968: The Havurat Shalom is founded in Somerville to serve as a seminary for Jews seeking to become exempt from the draft.
• 1969: The Association for Jewish Studies is founded as an organization for Jewish scholars.
• 1971: The Metropolitan Hillel Council is formed to bring together all the Hillel centers.
• 1976: Elie Wiesel joins the faculty at Boston University.
• 1980: The largest Jewish communities in the Boston area are located in Brookline, Newton, Marblehead, Swampscott, Randolph, Sharon, Framingham, and Needham. There are also large numbers of Jews in Boston and Cambridge.
• 1981: The Synagogue Council is formed to unite Jewish Community centers, synagogues, and the Combined Jewish Philanthropies. Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston is founded.
• 1984: The Jewish Cemetery Association is formed.
• 1987: 6,000 Soviet Jews arrive. Most settle in Allston-Brighton, Sharon, Malden, and Newton.