The Southern Shmooze
March 2022
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Purim: The Jewish Mardi Gras? |
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Here in New Orleans, the sights, sounds, and, yes, smells of our recent Mardi Gras celebration still linger in the air, even as the Lenten season of our Christian neighbors begins.
But for Jews around the world, there is one more festival to celebrate: Purim. No, Purim is not "the Jewish Mardi Gras," although there are some similarities, as well as a shared time of year (like Chanukah and Christmas in December). And like Chanukah, Purim celebrates the thwarting of an attempt to destroy Judaism. It centers on the story of Esther, one of the most famous heroines in the Bible, who, along with her uncle Mordecai, saves the Jewish people from the Persian villain Haman. It is celebrated today with festive parties, costuming, noisemakers, and the public reading of the Book of Esther. Traditional triangular cookies called hamantaschen are enjoyed, with their origins and entomology debated still.
Purim celebrations have long been a part of the Southern Jewish experience, as shown in these wonderful newspaper items from across our region:
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Alexandria Gazette, Alexandria, VA, February 28, 1885
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The Weekly Advertiser, Montgomery, AL, March 26, 1867
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The Greenwood Commonwealth, Greenwood, MS, March 18, 1954
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The Houston Post, Houston, TX,
March 3, 1904
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Across the South, in towns big and small, Jewish women have been important activists for local and national issues. Individually and as part of organizations like temple sisterhoods, Hadassah, and the National Council for Jewish Women, Southern Jewish women have been leaders in advocating for suffrage, educational reform, civil rights, and expanded career opportunities for women. Whether quietly or formidably, these women changed Southern—and American—history.
Come and explore the many stories of Southern Jewish women at the Museum this March, as we celebrate Women's History Month. It would make your mother happy!
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Collection Highlight
Portraits from Port Gibson’s Past
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On a trip to his family’s historic home in Port Gibson, Mississippi, Ken Langsdorf hardly expected to walk away with images of his great-great-grandparents. But these two portraits of Samuel and Henrietta Bernheimer are precisely what he and his wife, Phyllis, brought home after that trip twenty years ago. The Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience is now home to these portraits, supplementing the business records of S. Bernheimer & Brothers already held in our permanent collection. |
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Born in Hohenhems, Austria, Samuel Bernheimer (1812–1883) established S. Bernheimer & Brothers in the 1850s after moving to Port Gibson by way of New York City, Charleston, and Liberty, Mississippi. Samuel and his growing family, including members of the Cahn family, soon expanded the store into a successful business that sold both domestic dry goods as well as specialty goods from Europe.
Henrietta Cahn (1827–1904), likely born in Germany, married Samuel and they had their first son, Marcus, in 1847. The Bernheimer home on Walnut Street was purportedly used by General Grant as his headquarters following the brief Battle of Port Gibson on May 1, 1863. Shortly after the Civil War, the Bernheimers built a large building that later served as the Cotton Exchange, a hub of activity for the region. While many of Samuel and Henrietta’s children stayed in the region, Marcus Bernheimer moved to St. Louis and helped establish the Merchant Exchange there. Marcus is the great-grandfather of Ken Langsdorf.
Although the portraits are undated, it is possible they are examples of salted paper prints. Salts prints, a process using sodium chloride that peaked in popularity in the 1840s to 1860s, are typified by a smooth yet faded appearance. Our Bernheimer prints are larger than cartes de visite, but may be a related type of cabinet card, which ranged in size from 4.25” to 6.5” respectively. This is less likely and would require unframing the portraits to confirm. We look forward to uncovering the mystery in the coming months!
Ken would love to hear from folks who had Bernheimer relatives in Port Gibson or St. Louis.
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Top Images: Samuel and Henrietta Bernheimer portraits, undated. Donated by Kenneth and Phyllis Langsdorf to the MSJE Permanent Collection.
Bottom Image: Bernheimer & Bro. advertisement, Daily Southern Reveille, Port Gibson, MS, March 13, 1858.
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We Got a Makeover!
Our website has a new look
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With spring just around the corner, we've gotten a head start on Spring Cleaning by giving our website a good going over. We've made it easier to navigate, explore, and share, with some new features, including: a searchable Mezuzah Society Wall, artifact highlights from the Collection, a new programs calendar and new opportunities for Virtual Tours. Check us out!
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Upcoming Events:
Foodways in the Museum Collection
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You do not want to miss this exclusive event with Michael Twitty, author of the Cooking Gene, Thursday, March 10 from 6:00-7:30pm Central at MSJE! This event will have limited seating so please confirm your attendance promptly to secure your place.
James Beard Award-winning culinary historian and food writer Michael Twitty will bring new light to the objects in the Museum’s collection, discussing how and why certain objects and stories get saved. We will hear about the collection through the eyes of Twitty, a Black Jewish southerner, and consider how we are expanding the idea of food and foodways.
MSJE Members will receive 15% off book purchases and will be given the opportunity to get your book signed after the event. If you would like to become a Member, Click Here.
Attend in person or virtually!
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Store Items of the Month
The Cooking Gene, by Michael W. Twitty
(We can't get enough of Twitty!)
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The renowned culinary historian offers a fresh perspective on our most divisive cultural issue– race–in this illuminating memoir of Southern cuisine and food culture that traces his ancestry–both black and white–through food, from Africa to America, from slavery to freedom.
Bring your copy to our coming event to get it signed!
Use code TWITTY22 for 10% off your online or in-store purchases of The Cooking Gene during the entire month of March.
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Calling All Teachers
Come visit the Museum... on us!
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MSJE offers both in-person and virtual school tours. Whether your tour happens here at the Museum or right in your classroom, your students will have the opportunity to explore and expand their understanding of the South, of the United States, and even their own community and themselves.
What would you like the Museum to offer you and your students? How can we help you accomplish your goals of engaging and inspiring them? Because we want to get to know you, and we want you to get to know the Museum, we're offering you a free visit to the Museum. Fill out our short Teacher Survey to claim your complimentary Museum ticket and add your name to our teacher email list.
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For more information on school tours, email Lizzi.
And share this opportunity with any teacher you know!
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This Month in Southern Jewish History |
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ALABAMA: March 1, 1881
Amelia Greenwald is born in Gainesville to German Jewish immigrant parents. She attended the Touro Infirmary Training School for Nurses in New Orleans. As a nurse in the U.S. Army during and after World War I, she established the first American hospital in Coblenz, Germany and received the Polish Golden Cross of Merit (shown here) for opening the Jewish Nurses’ Training School in Warsaw in 1923.
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ARKANSAS: March 15, 1886
Fiction writer Thyra Samter Winslow is born in Fort Smith, where her parents ran a dry-goods store. An avid writer in her youth, Winslow made a career from writing more than 200 short stories, in popular magazines of her day and in published books. She set many of her stories in her native Arkansas. Like other Southern writers (William Faulkner, Truman Capote), Winslow was lured by Hollywood and contributed to several films in the 1930s.
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KENTUCKY: March 19, 1933
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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NORTH CAROLINA: March 23, 1986
Sara Nachamson Evans dies in Durham. A national leader of Hadassah, Sara Evans was known as the “Southern Voice” of the Zionist women’s organization. Evans signed fifty-five affidavits of support on behalf of Jewish refugees escaping Nazism in the 1930s. She also played a leadership role in the local United Way. As the wife of six-term Durham mayor Emanuel "Mutt" Evans, Sara helped built support for Israel and create Judaic studies programs at Duke and UNC.
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MISSISSIPPI: March 27, 1917
The Daily Commonwealth newspaper, in Greenwood, prints the following notice: The Jewish Ladies Aid Society will give a Moving Picture Show Benefit next Friday night. Your patronage is solicited to help these noble women in raising funds for their new synagogue. Marguerite Clark in "The Fortunes of Fifi" will be shown at the Greenwood Theater. Pictured is actress Marguerite Clark (not Jewish) and dog (religion unknown).
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LOUISIANA: March 31, 1953
Mayor J.L. Johnson, of Lake Providence, makes a proclamation honoring recently deceased local resident Raye Sarsar Stockner. Among other things, Johnson declares that Stockner, "led an exemplary life as a wife and mother," and that, "her passing is a great loss to our community." He further encouraged all businesses in Lake Providence to close during her funeral. The Museum has a copy of the proclamation in its permanent collection.
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So Many Ways to Support MSJE... |
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GIVE ONLINE
MAIL US A CHECK
to PO Box 15071, New Orleans, LA 70175
DONATE FROM YOUR IRA
required distribution
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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 (we can help)
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Shalom. Make yourself at home.®
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Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience
818 Howard Avenue | New Orleans, LA 70113
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Banner images (l-r): Members of Congregation Beth Israel in Clarksdale, MS, c.1910. Collection of Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience; Blue Star campers, North Carolina, 2016. Courtesy of Blue Star Camps.
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