Dr. Grayson Kirk, president of Columbia University, was this week-end presented with a 268-year-old Hebrew Psalter used in the first commencement exercises at the University 195 years ago.
The book of psalms, printed in Hebrew at Cambridge University in England, was used by the Rev. Dr. Samuel Johnson of Kings College, forerunner of Columbia, and is the only known memento of the first commencement on June 21, 1758. The Psalter remained in the Johnson family, was later presented to an Episcopalian bishop and was lost for many years until it was recently discovered in a used book dealer’s shop.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
