The Chronicle Volume 16, Issue 2 | May - August 2010 Administered by The Jewish Historical Society of British Columbia Jewish Historical Society of BC Museum Gift Shop: Update 2009/2010 Council of Governors Our museum gift shop is expanding in June and we are inviting our members and friends to have a preview of the products we will be Chuck Davis selling and get 25% off all orders. Some other stock including jewelry Isabelle Diamond will be 50-75% off. We have a number of wonderful items for gifts Marie Doduck for Rosh Hashanah and Chanukah. You can order them in advance Michael Geller and not pay the HST. We are also planning to introduce an internet Bill Gruenthal gift shop this summer that will include fine art and a larger range of Richard Henriquez items that we couldn’t fit in our museum shop. Cyril Leonoff Risa Levine Josephine Margolis Nadel Richard Menkis SAVE THE DATE Anita Shafran Ronnie Tessler Yosef Wosk Sunday, May 30th Mark Zlotnik 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm 2009/2010 Board of Directors JHSBC Members receive 25% off President Gary Averbach all gift shop items Co-Vice Presidents Lani Levine Chris Friedrichs Secretary Debby Freiman Treasurer/Past President Bill Gruenthal Historian Emeritus Cyril Leonoff Shirley Barnett Carole Fader Ed Fitch Metal, glass and gemstone Silver-plated candlestick set Sharon Fitch Mezuzah necklace Norman Gladstone Gillian Levy Phyllis Moscovich Perry Seidelman Shael Smith Linda Tenenbaum On the Cover: Catherine Youngren ORT Schools photos from United Jewish Appeal (UJA), young Cheryl Rimer, JGIBC representative boy with two robots, October 15, 1984. Jewish Western Bulletin fonds. Source: Samuel and Mona Kaplan; Jewish Museum & Archives of BC; L. 14066 The CHRONICLE BOARD OF DIRECTORS By Gary Averbach, President I would like to take this opportunity to welcome back our a larger facility. Our archives are growing and this reloca- Executive Director, Laura Moodie after enduring several tion is the first of many initiatives to ensure the preser- months of cancer treatments. She looks healthier than vation of our community’s history. I would like to extend a year ago and has brought back a special energy to the a thank you to the Snider Foundation, Sheila Nemetz, museum and archives that she is known for. William Nemetz investments, the Alvin Nemetz Founda- tion and Dayhu Investments for their support in the ar- I am proud to announce that our exhibit hall will undergo chives move. Thank you to Joel Barnett, Shael Smith, Lani its first major change since the opening of the museum. Levine, Bill Gruenthal and Jennifer Yuhasz for their help We will be opening the Irene Dodek Oral History Listening in organizing the move. And a very special thank you to Area by late spring to honour Irene Dodek and her contri- Shirley Barnett, without which the archives move would bution to the preservation of Jewish culture through the not have been possible. oral history program. Three listeners at one time will now be able to choose from hundreds of different oral history Lastly, all of this news that I am sharing with you could interviews. not have been possible without the help of our volunteer Board and committee members. There are exciting new I am hoping that this will encourage more people to take projects underway this year and we have new committees on the task of interviewing or being interviewed. Be sure that we need people to join. If anyone is interested in join- to watch our website for news of the opening of this very ing our membership committee, our fundraising commit- special area in honour of one of our most loyal volunteers tee or our marketing committee, I encourage you to con- and one of the founding members of the Jewish Historical tact staff at 604-257-5199. Society of British Columbia. Many thanks to Dr. Arthur and Judith Dodek for their thoughtful donation that will On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to wish make this project a reality. you a chag Shavuot sameach. Speaking of the website, you may have noticed that ours has changed in the last month. The new site now includes an events calendar, 540 photographs from the Nemetz Jewish Community Archives, audio excerpts from our Oral History Collection, and opportunities to upload and share your own content to the site. An online gift shop will be launched in the next few months. Thank you to Lloyd Bar- on, Website Project Coordinator, Steve Burton, Web De- signer and JHS staff for their hard work in building the new website. I’d also like to extend thanks to Michael Schwartz for his services with helping to prepare the exhibit Home Away from Home: Building Identity and Community at Jewish Summer Camps. We were so fortunate to find Michael at just the right time. The opening of the camps exhibit was a great success. Thank you to everyone who contrib- uted their time and financial support to the project. If you haven’t had a chance to visit the exhibit yet, I encourage you to come and explore the show, which will be on dis- The CHRONICLE play until early October. New Jewish Community Centre founders M. Saltzman, White, and Aceman, 1963. Jewish Western Bulletin fonds. Photographer: Franz I am also pleased to announce that after many months of Lindner; Jewish Museum & Archives of BC; L.11542 planning, we are in the process of moving our archives to Currently on display in the Jewish Community Centre Sadie Diamond Rotunda. 1 DIRECTOR’S REPORT By Laura Moodie, Executive Director After several months of absence, I have returned to work We are asking our members to contribute to our research with a new vigor and vitality. I have set a list of priorities, by spreading the word about what we are currently look- at the top of which is research for future exhibits. There ing for. Our first request is for names of current or past are currently two major research projects that I would like New Westminster residents or their relatives. We hope to our members to know about. The first is the history of Jew- identify photographs of homes, businesses and individu- ish education in British Columbia and the second is the als from all eras. Documents and photographs that might Jewish population of New Westminster. I am inviting any- seem commonplace or insignificant to you might be akin to one reading this newsletter to think about how they can finding the treasure found in King Tut’s tomb to us. A simple be involved in these projects. photograph can lead a researcher on a quest that has the potential to be the impetus to create an exhibit or book. As you know, the Jewish Museum and Archives col- The museum’s job is to lects, preserves and pres- find evidence, analyze ents the history of Jewish its content and biases, life for the entire province corroborate it with other of British Columbia. The evidence, and use the Museum celebrated its end product to develop third anniversary recent- an interpretation of local ly and over those years Jewish history that has presented a number of some importance to the high-quality temporary present. exhibits. Only one exhib- it, Vancouver: Bridging its In historical research, pri- History was completed in mary resources are the house by staff and is cur- most sought after. These rently being rented out to are first hand accounts of Simon Fraser University’s information. Finding and Teck Gallery at their Har- assessing primary histori- bour Centre Campus. Jewish mercantile businesses, Columbia St., New Westminster, B.C. cal data is an exercise in 1975. Jewish Museum & Archives of BC; L.00357 detective work – it really In order for staff to con- isn’t that much different tinue to plan exhibits, we will always need help with the from the popular television CSI’s. We both solve myster- research portion of the exhibit. We are making extra ef- ies but our work doesn’t include fast-moving action, dan- forts now to document the British Columbia communities ger and blood spatter (usually). Some examples of prima- beyond Vancouver. This summer we are introducing walk- ry sources are: photographs, personal diaries, eyewitness ing tours about Victoria’s Jewish community and have a accounts of events, and oral histories. traveling exhibit that will transverse Vancouver Island. A major research project is just getting underway to collect The Archives operates a very intensive oral history pro- information about the Jewish history of New Westminster. gram and currently has over 700 individual interviews. We will be offering a walking tour and a future exhibit We are always looking for those wishing to interview or be about that city. interviewed to add to our collection. We are also encouraging researchers to write about the Our researchers and volunteers require the ability to use history of the Jewish population in British Columbia and logic, intuition, persistence, common sense and tact. Our hope that they will publish their work in our annual jour- research takes us to archives, museums, cemeteries, li- nal The Scribe. The historical research carried out by mu- braries and people’s homes to locate primary source ma- seum staff and volunteers will be collected from libraries, terial. museums, archives and individuals and should provide The CHRONICLE fodder for future researchers to analyze and write about. 2 DIRECTOR’S REPORT Historical research requires patience, insight, and imagi- of our projects by donating your time or your documenta- nation as well as diligence and the right tools. Often pri- tion.