Saint John Jewish Historical Museum, Jewish historical museum in Saint John, Canada

The Saint John Jewish Historical Museum is a community-history museum in Saint John, New Brunswick, opened in 1986 by founder Marcia Koven. Its permanent exhibits, yearly new displays and occasional travelling shows are built from artifacts donated by local Jewish families, and it keeps a library and archive of Jewish history open by appointment.

Solomon Hart, a businessman from England, immigrated to Saint John in 1858 and founded the city's existing Jewish community. Solomon and Sarah Hart established the city's first synagogue in 1889. Immigration from northern and eastern Europe raised the community to about 1,400 members in the 1920s; out-migration later cut it to roughly 300 by the 1960s. Marcia Koven opened the museum in 1986, building on a Jewish Historical Society already established in the congregation.

The museum grew out of a community-history model: its artefacts come from donations by local Jewish families, and the Jewish Historical Society already existed within the congregation before Marcia Koven opened the museum in 1986. The congregation itself now numbers roughly two dozen families, and the museum's outreach includes school tours, educational kits and tours from cruise ships visiting Saint John.

The museum runs on a community-history model, with exhibits drawn from donations by local Jewish families. Its library and archive of Jewish history can be consulted by appointment, so researchers should arrange access in advance. School groups and passengers from cruise ships calling at Saint John are received for tours.

The museum grew out of a community-history model: its holdings come from donations of artefacts and the participation of Saint John's Jewish families, and a Jewish Historical Society already existed within the congregation before Marcia Koven opened the museum in 1986. Its work was recognised by the American Association for State and Local History in 1987, the Church and Synagogue Library Association in 1996 and the Province of New Brunswick in 2000.