The Daughters of Israel nursing home in West Orange is celebrating its 100th anniversary with an exhibition of photographs, documents, and memorabilia documenting its service to the New Jersey Jewish community.

The exhibit, organized in cooperation with the Jewish Historical Society of MetroWest, will go on display Sunday, Dec. 10, at the Aidekman Family Jewish Community Campus in Whippany and run until Jan 22.

JHS curator and outreach director Linda Forgosh said she and her staff are preparing the panels that will illustrate the home’s history — decade by decade — from 1906 to 2006.

Forgosh said a wealth of artifacts is available, “thanks to careful records management and the current leadership at Daughters — who made it a point to make sure the history was preserved.”

That history is a source of pride to Lawrence Gelfand, executive director of the home.

“While many things have changed over the past 100 years, there has been one constant goal at Daughters of Israel,” he said. “It is to provide the highest quality of life and care to our aged Jewish community, regardless of their ability to pay.” Daughters is a beneficiary agency of United Jewish Communities of MetroWest NJ.

Today, the home is involved in a two-year, $12 million construction project designed to improve decor, expand wheelchair accessibility, and enhance amenities for its 298 residents.

A century ago, it began modestly as a home for the aged on Stirling Street in Newark in what had been an eye and ear infirmary.

One of the earliest items on display will be a vintage photograph of the home’s original 18 residents sitting on the stoop of the house they were to outgrow in just a few years.

It was the first home for the Jewish elderly in New Jersey, and its founders, a group of women from Newark, began what Forgosh called “a communal undertaking.”

“More often than not, they stepped up and took care of the shortfall in fund-raising,” she said. “It was not the case that there was a government agency to reach out to. The money came from within this Jewish community.”

By 1928, Daughters needed larger quarters and moved to what had been the home of Newark Beth Israel Hospital. In 1957, it purchased land in West Orange. Two years later, they broke ground there for the current Plafsky Family Campus.

Forgosh spent hours poring over decades of board minutes in preparation for the exhibit. She said it has given her special insight into what has kept the institution going for 100 years.

“What struck me was that over the years, everyone who got a job assignment came prepared. There were no foot-draggers in this crowd over the decades.

“To whoever shepherded this institution — they deserve a sense of satisfaction,” she said.

“There were many individuals who set aside a portion of their lives to the Daughters. We’re not talking about just a casual entrance in and out. They attended Sabbath services with the residents. They attended Passover seders with the residents. They made it their pleasure to be there physically. It was not just a case of writing a check. It was a case of checking in as well. That is what made it nice.”