Inside the St. Louis Jewish Light’s archive room, over 50 black, bound volumes contain the thousands of newspapers printed over the 60-year history of the St. Louis Jewish community newspaper.

This year, in celebration of the 60th anniversary of the St. Louis Jewish Light, Jewish Light staff will draw from those archives to provide an ongoing series of retrospective pieces, highlighting original Jewish Light articles, photographs and even entire pages.

The first installment of the retrospective series appears in this week’s issue (see page 8), and examines the Jewish Light’s coverage of the Six-Day War, which included an article by then-editor Geoffrey Fisher, who was in Israel at the time of the war.

Editor-in-Chief Emeritus Robert A. Cohn, who has worked for the Jewish Light since July 1, 1969, said the idea for the retrospective series originated with the Jewish Light’s Board of Trustees. Cohn said that in writing this week’s retrospective, he was struck by the contemporary account of what has become a significant historical moment.

“We often quote George Santayana that ‘those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it,'” he said. “In order to gain really historic perspective, it does help to look back. While the event stays the same, how we look at that event and what has unfolded as a result of that event changes,” Cohn said.

Cynthia Kramer, the editorial chairperson of the Jewish Light’s Board of Trustees, said she hopes the retrospective series will remind readers of the role the newspaper has, and continues to play in the community.

“It’s really important that people remember that this paper has long been of service to the community,” she said. “This paper has been there. It’s been the center of information and knowledge for this community for 60 years, and continues to look forward to the future,” Kramer said.