Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art, Tulsa

The Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art (SMMJA) in Tulsa stands as the only Jewish museum in the region and houses the largest collection of Judaica in the Southwestern United States. Originally established in 1966 as the Gershon & Rebecca Fenster Museum of Jewish Art, it was housed for over three decades in the Congregation B’nai Emunah Synagogue. In 2000, it was renamed after its first curator, Sherwin Miller, and relocated to its current home on the Zarrow Campus of the Jewish Federation of Tulsa in 2004.

The museum offers 13,700 square feet of exhibition space, organized across two levels. The upper-level features rotating and permanent exhibits that trace the history of the Jewish people-from the pre-Canaanite period in the Middle East to Jewish life in Oklahoma. The lower level is dedicated to Holocaust education, housing an impactful permanent exhibition of documents, photographs, and personal stories from Oklahoma survivors and liberators of Nazi concentration camps.

The museum’s Herman & Kate Kaiser Holocaust Collection specifically honors both the survivors who settled in Oklahoma and the state’s WWII veterans who helped liberate the camps. In 2020, the museum opened an expanded Holocaust Center, designed to educate visitors about the Holocaust’s causes, events, and enduring impact. This center also incorporates exhibits on the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre and the Muscogee Creek “Trail of Tears,” drawing powerful connections between global and local histories of persecution and resilience.

SMMJA is also home to the Jewish Historical Society of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Jewish Archives and shares its campus with the Mizel Jewish Community Day School. A model synagogue within the museum hosts weekly children’s services, furthering its educational mission.

Recognized by the American Alliance of Museums in 2013, the Sherwin Miller Museum preserves more than 16,000 items-from ancient archaeological artifacts and synagogue textiles to fine art and historical documents-cementing its role as a vital cultural and educational resource for Oklahoma and beyond.