The October 27 Collections at the Rauh Jewish Archives comprise dozens of individual collections documenting the response to the synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh on October 27, 2018, as well as relevant historic records of the impacted community. These can be grouped into four categories.

The October 27 Tribute Collection contains thousands of letters and objects sent to the Jewish community of Pittsburgh by people all over the world. The collection includes the entirety of a large impromptu public memorial arranged outside the Tree of Life synagogue building between October 28-November 14, 2018. The collection also includes materials mailed directly to local stakeholders, including the three congregations that lost members in the shooting (Tree of Life Congregation, New Light Congregation, and Congregation Dor Hadash), as well as communal response organizations. The October 27 Tribute Collection is believed to be one of the largest collections in the world documenting the modern response to antisemitism. It contains thousands of instances of cross-cultural solidarity, cutting across many religious, racial, ethnic, geographic, and political boundaries. It also documents the wide-ranging impact of the shooting on Jewish identity, especially in North America and Israel.

The October 27 Field Gather Collection contains hundreds of documents and objects collected by Rauh Jewish Archives staff from vigils and gatherings across Western Pennsylvania following the shooting. The collection contains materials from events organized by Jewish as well as non-Jewish groups. These materials include flyers and programs, as well as photographs, speeches, and other documentation. A large media database provides easy access to local and some national coverage of these events.

The Meanings of October 27 Oral History Project explores the lives of more than 100 people from communities across Western Pennsylvania—both Jewish and non-Jewish—and captures their reflections on October 27, 2018 and its aftermath. Narrators share their life histories and reckon with a violent antisemitic attack in their midst. These recordings reveal the personal impacts of an international event and chronicle the rewards and challenges of building bonds between diverse communities.

In addition to materials documenting the direct aftermath of the shooting, the Rauh Jewish Archives holds an extensive historical archive of the local Jewish community. The archive includes the records of the three directly impacted congregations, as well as major communal responding organizations such as the Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh, the Jewish Community Center of Greater Pittsburgh, and Jewish Family & Community Services. These historic records provide the researcher with an opportunity to situate the October 27 attack within a long continuum of Jewish communal life in Pittsburgh.

These collections have been processed to various degrees. Applicants are encouraged to contact the archive directly to determine if the collections will be useful to their specific research inquiries.