Boyle Heights is a historic neighborhood of Los Angeles, California which was diversely populated by Jewish, Latino, Russian, and Japanese Americans in the mid-Twentieth century. It was once home to the largest Jewish community in the Western United States, however many Jewish families left because of the freeway development in the community and banks redlining the neighborhood. Currently, Boyle Heights is a working-class, heavily Mexican American, youthful neighborhood of almost 100,000 residents.

The Breed Street Shul was built as a place of worship in 1922. After the Jewish community left Boyle Heights, the Breed Street Shul was the last synagogue in Boyle Heights; there had been around thirty when the Jewish population was at its peak. In the 1980s, the Shul was essentially abandoned and was damaged by vandalism, earthquakes, and neglect. Today the mission of the project is to bring together the Jewish, Latino and other communities of Los Angeles by rehabilitating the landmark Breed Street Shul in Boyle Heights. By transforming the campus into a center of arts, culture, education and service for its current neighbors.

This collection represents the initial installment of the Boyle Heights Archive in 2005. This archive was initiated to serve as a setting for studies that explore the ongoing history of Latino/Chicano/Jewish community relations of Boyle Heights.