The Southern Shmooze
March 2021
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The Charleston Daily Courier, Charleston, SC, March 18, 1862
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Well, you don't get much more Southern Jewish than that! While B. Schur (love that name) was taking orders for matzahs, the firm of Brown & Hyams was selling alligator skins. It was not uncommon for Jewish merchants at the time to trade in hides and meat, often from non-kosher animals.
These two products – matzahs and alligator skins – span the millennia, with matzahs being eaten during the Israelites' exodus from Egypt and alligator skins being a relatively new product for the Charleston community, as related in a Daily Courier article a month earlier: "Messrs. Brown & Hyams exhibited to us yesterday a fresh and superior imported article of homemade leather, made of the skins of alligators taken from the swamps of Mississippi and prepared near New Orleans. Boots made from these skins are now generally worn in New Orleans."
The take-away: Southern Jews have been around for a long time – maintaining age-old traditions while always being an active part of their communities.
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From the Collection:
Getting Our Artifacts Ready
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The walls are up. The cases are built. The mezuzahs are coming in fast and furious (see next article). What's the last thing to move into the Museum? The artifacts, of course – those actual pieces of history that tie us to the people, places, and events of the past. But what happens to fabric that's 136 years old, metal that's 121 years old, and paper that's 158 years old (and made it through several Civil War battles)? Depending on how they've been used, stored, and previously cared for, they may need conservation work done prior to displaying them. Sometimes it's a simple cleaning. More often it requires the expertise and experience of a trained conservator who specializes in different types of conservation.
We are fortunate to have the expertise of and experience of some wonderful local conservators who are now just as excited as we are to see the Museum open.
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Conservator Erin Reynolds of Jessica Hack Textile Restoration gently handles the 1885 wedding dress worn by Bertha Hirsch of New Orleans, Louisiana. |
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Dan Alley of Denali Art Solutions measures a Civil War diary on loan from the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum for a custom-made mount. |
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Conservator Susie Anders carefully applies a tannic acid solution to our c.1900 farm bell owned by the Gamm family of Belcher, Louisiana, stabilizing the oxide corrosion. |
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We're Saving a Spot for YOU... |
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Our collection of donor mezuzahs continues to grow, each with its own special dedication to ancestors, family members, congregations, and communities. If you have already donated at the Mezuzah Society level or above, already received your commemorative MSJE mezuzah, and have not yet sent us a mezuzah to add to our display, please do so in the coming weeks. This is your chance to say, "My family is in the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience!"
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Just as families come in different shapes and sizes, so, too, do mezuzahs. Whether it's old or new, simple or ornate, from Israel or hand-made at summer camp, each represents a connection to Judaism, to family, to tradition, and to home. |
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Prominently displayed in the Museum's entrance lobby, the Mezuzah Society Wall (a portion shown here) will hold our first 160 donor mezuzahs. Visitor will be able to search for mezuzahs by name and read their special dedications. |
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Learn more about joining the Mezuzah Society: |
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Meet the Boss: A Conversation with Jay Tanenbaum
Sunday, March 21, 2021, 7:00 Central
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Join us for an informative talk with MSJE chairman Jay Tanenbaum about what it takes to create a "new" museum. Jay will give us a sneak peek at some of our exhibits, share the latest about our expected opening date, and answer your questions about ways to get involved and share your stories.
To participate in this Zoom program:
You can also watch it on Facebook Live or later on our YouTube channel
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If you missed our latest program
The Stores & Stories of a Southern Jewish Childhood
A Conversation with Author Julie Sternberg
you can watch it here:
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If your congregation or community would like to learn more about the
Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience...
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Listen to Us on the Wireless |
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Last month, our director Kenneth Hoffman joined host Tommy Tomlinson as a guest on the award-winning podcast SouthBound from WFAE 90.7 Charlotte Public Radio. They talked about the Museum's development, its mission, and some of the surprising things visitors will encounter.
And you don't have to live in Charlotte to hear it...
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The Museum Team is Growing |
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We are thrilled to introduce our new Visitor Services Manager, Abbey Lewis. Abbey will be in charge of our frontline staff, museum store, and making sure that you are the most important person to walk into the Museum.
Abbey is from small town Eufaula, Alabama, where, believe it or not, Jews do exist. She found her passion for Southern Judaism by spending many summers at the Henry S. Jacobs Camp as a camper and staff member. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Hospitality Management at the University of Alabama. Abbey started her professional career at The Walt Disney Company and then ventured into the hotel world with Marriott. Abbey loves to cheer on the Crimson Tide and see the world by traveling as much as possible (it was a sunny day in Neuenstein when this photo was taken). She is very excited to join the Museum and cannot wait to welcome you!
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This Month in Southern Jewish History
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SOUTH CAROLINA: March 1846 |
The Occident and American Jewish Advocate newspaper of Philadelphia reports the judgement in the South Carolina case of State vs. Ancker. Disputes between reformers and traditionalists at K.K. Beth Elohim in Charleston led to a rift between the temple's president and board over which kind of new members to admit. While the South Carolina Court of Appeals tried to stay out of religious issues, it eventually sided with the reformers.
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TENNESSEE: March 17, 1888 |
Members of the Concordia Club in Chattanooga celebrate Purim with a traditional masked ball. The Chattanooga Daily Times reported that costumes included Mr. Joe Goldstein as a Rooster, in full feathers, Miss Longood as a Water Nymph, Miss Rena Nassaurer as Summer, surrounded entirely in mosquito netting, and Mr. Henry Rose as Fleshy Lady, "an estimable local hit."
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Suzy Post is born in Louisville. An activist in many fields, Post organized a march of nearly 6,000 to protest President Richard Nixon’s bombing of Cambodia in 1973. She served as the executive director of her local ACLU chapter and founded the Metropolitan Housing Coalition to secure affordable housing. In 2007, Post was inducted into the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights Hall of Fame.
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LOUISIANA: March 22, 1911 |
The cornerstone of the Isaac Delgado Museum is laid in New Orleans's City Park. Isaac Delgado immigrated from Jamaica in the 1850s and made his fortune in the sugar and molasses business. As a philanthropist, he funded a surgical center at Charity Hospital and the art museum, which is now the New Orleans Museum of Art. In his will, he left land to the city for the creation of a trade school, today's Delgado Community College.
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LOUISIANA: March 27, 1882 |
The Times-Democrat in New Orleans reports that the Russian Jewish immigrants on the Sicily Island communal farm had not been overrun by recent Mississippi River flooding. Sicily Island was the first attempt to establish a Jewish agricultural community in the United States. This followed the 1881 assassination of Czar Alexander II and the violent pogroms that followed. Despite the paper's rosy assessment of the inhabitants' situation, the community was indeed completely flooded, and the colony was soon after dissolved.
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Temples Beth El and Ahvath Achim of Tyler host the 12th annual Texas Rabbinical Kallah, a two-day event of study, organizing, and socializing that attracts rabbis from across the state. Program sessions included "Prophets and Prophesy in Midrash," "Jerusalem as Viewed by Travelers," and a meeting of Zionist-minded participants. Rabbis Robert Kahn of Houston and Stanley Brav of Dallas also addressed the city's Lions Club while in town. |
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Do you have a This Month in Southern Jewish History item to share with us for our April issue? Send it to info@msje.org.
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YOUR SUPPORT = YOUR MUSEUM |
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GIVE ONLINE
MAIL A CHECK
to PO Box 15071, New Orleans, LA 70175
DONATE FROM YOUR IRA
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DESIGNATE MSJE
as a recipient of your Donor Advised Fund
DONATE STOCK
or other marketable securities
INCLUDE MSJE
in your estate planning
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Shalom. Make yourself at home.®
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Banner images (l-r): Members of Congregation Beth Israel in Clarksdale, MS, c. 1910. Collection of the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience; Blue Star campers, North Carolina, 2016. Courtesy of Blue Star Camps.
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