1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,279 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,320 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,360 --> 00:00:17,480 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Frying and I'm Tracy V. Wilson. Uh. Tracy. 4 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:21,759 Speaker 1: I had a very fun conversation recently, um, because I 5 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:24,439 Speaker 1: had the opportunity to chat with Jeremy Katz, who is 6 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: the director of Archives at the Bremen Museum here in Atlanta, 7 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:30,040 Speaker 1: and he recently wrote a book which is out now 8 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:32,960 Speaker 1: that's titled The Jewish Community of Atlanta, and it's part 9 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:36,000 Speaker 1: of the Images of America series. And in our chat 10 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:38,840 Speaker 1: we talked about the book, but also how he made 11 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:42,360 Speaker 1: history his life's work and the long history of Atlanta's 12 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:46,040 Speaker 1: Jewish community. There are two events that come up in 13 00:00:46,080 --> 00:00:48,600 Speaker 1: the discussion that you've probably heard us talk about on 14 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:51,479 Speaker 1: the podcast before, especially if you're a long time listener. 15 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:54,200 Speaker 1: One of the trial of Leo Frank, which was covered 16 00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:57,960 Speaker 1: by previous hosts Sarah and Dablina, and we ran that 17 00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:01,280 Speaker 1: as a classic episode in April of twenty eighteen. The 18 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:04,720 Speaker 1: other is the ninety eight bombing of the Hebrew Benevolent 19 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:09,600 Speaker 1: Congregation temple. We did an episode on that in and 20 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:12,360 Speaker 1: we're going to run that as an upcoming Saturday Classic. 21 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:15,199 Speaker 1: So now let's jump into my talk with Jeremy, because 22 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:18,040 Speaker 1: there is a lot of great ground to cover, including 23 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:21,360 Speaker 1: a recent acquisition which ties the past to the present. 24 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:24,800 Speaker 1: We're here with Jeremy Kats, the director of Archives at 25 00:01:24,800 --> 00:01:27,760 Speaker 1: the Bremen Museum. So, first of all, because particularly for 26 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:29,640 Speaker 1: people that don't live in Atlanta, and even a lot 27 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:32,440 Speaker 1: of people that do, will you just tell us about 28 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:34,360 Speaker 1: the Bremen Museum and what it is and what its 29 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:36,880 Speaker 1: mission is. Yeah, well, first of all, thank you so 30 00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:39,440 Speaker 1: much for having me on. I'm excited to talk about 31 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:43,560 Speaker 1: this community's history and in the Jewish community of Atlanta. 32 00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:47,880 Speaker 1: The Brema Museum is Georgia's Jewish museum. It is our 33 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 1: mission to connect people to Jewish history, culture, and arts. 34 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:55,400 Speaker 1: Our physical space includes three exhibition galleries and auditorium and 35 00:01:55,480 --> 00:01:59,040 Speaker 1: an archive that holds the largest repository for Jewish history 36 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: in Georgia. So are a very unique institution. Um our 37 00:02:03,160 --> 00:02:07,560 Speaker 1: archive is one of the most incredible collections in the country. 38 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:12,880 Speaker 1: We could have material dating back to colonial America's Jewish 39 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: comedian Savannah that arrived in seventeen thirty three. Up until 40 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:19,400 Speaker 1: present day, we've been doing some collecting during the pandemic 41 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:23,680 Speaker 1: to document the Jewish response to the health crisis. Uh. 42 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:25,919 Speaker 1: And what's also unique about a collection is that we 43 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:33,600 Speaker 1: collect history in all formats, So we have media, artifacts, textiles, documents, photographs. 44 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:36,960 Speaker 1: We do not discriminate against history, and so we have 45 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:41,680 Speaker 1: this really eclectic collection that we use for exhibition purposes, 46 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:45,600 Speaker 1: for research purposes. We get hundreds of research requests from 47 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:51,880 Speaker 1: around the country. Uh, folks, filmmakers, genealogists, students, teachers that 48 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:54,720 Speaker 1: want to access our primary sources. In addition to that, 49 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 1: we also do a lot of secondary source interpretation like 50 00:02:57,400 --> 00:02:59,800 Speaker 1: this book project that we're gonna be talking about. But 51 00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:02,600 Speaker 1: we also have a Google Arts and Culture page. We 52 00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:05,760 Speaker 1: do tons of programming that reached tens of thousands of people. 53 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:10,760 Speaker 1: So we our mission is broad. Um and Uh it's 54 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:12,600 Speaker 1: it's a lot of fun to work at the Free 55 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:14,239 Speaker 1: Of Museum because every day I get to do a 56 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:17,680 Speaker 1: little different, something a little different. I will also just say, 57 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:21,440 Speaker 1: from my own perspective, UH, that museum has had some 58 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:24,240 Speaker 1: of the most spectacular exhibits I could ever imagine that 59 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:28,440 Speaker 1: more resendac exhibit. There may have been awkward tiers on 60 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:30,960 Speaker 1: my part that was a really really good one. Yeah. 61 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:33,400 Speaker 1: We we've had some really fun exhibitions. We had one 62 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:36,040 Speaker 1: Doctor SEUs. We have one that we brought in that 63 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:38,080 Speaker 1: was about Houdini. A lot of people don't realize his 64 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: Jewish heritage, and so it allows us to be a 65 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:44,160 Speaker 1: little flexible because our mission is broad, but we do 66 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:47,080 Speaker 1: focus on local Jewish history, but we can kind of 67 00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:50,400 Speaker 1: dial in and out. We have an exhibition space that's 68 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:53,320 Speaker 1: just for special exhibitions, so we can bring in exhibitions 69 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:57,160 Speaker 1: from around the country or explore topics about Jewish contribution 70 00:03:57,280 --> 00:04:00,640 Speaker 1: to American Jewish history. I love it. Uh. So I 71 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:03,440 Speaker 1: mentioned already that you're the director of Archives at the museum, 72 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:07,040 Speaker 1: and I know it's always fascinating for our listeners to 73 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:09,800 Speaker 1: hear how people ended up in history jobs that are 74 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:12,080 Speaker 1: not particularly when they're not just like standing at Electrin 75 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:15,640 Speaker 1: and teaching UM. Will you talk about your journey to 76 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:20,200 Speaker 1: having a career in history. Was this always your path? Yeah, gladly, Uh, 77 00:04:20,440 --> 00:04:23,520 Speaker 1: like many other history nerds, I didn't really want to 78 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:26,480 Speaker 1: go into teaching history. I wanted to work hands on 79 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:29,320 Speaker 1: with history, and I honestly fell into this career path. 80 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:32,880 Speaker 1: I was an undeclared major. Entering college, I only took 81 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:35,119 Speaker 1: a history class because my friends on my dorm floor 82 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:37,360 Speaker 1: we're also taking a history class, and I was like, sure, 83 00:04:37,400 --> 00:04:41,000 Speaker 1: I'll join you all, um, and I winded up absolutely 84 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:43,800 Speaker 1: loving it, and I got the highest grade of all 85 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:45,480 Speaker 1: my friends. I was like, Okay, I guess I have 86 00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:50,240 Speaker 1: in that for this, and UH decided to declare history 87 00:04:50,279 --> 00:04:54,400 Speaker 1: major and UM my senior year, I had no idea 88 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:56,800 Speaker 1: what I wanted to do with it. Like I said, 89 00:04:56,839 --> 00:04:58,720 Speaker 1: I didn't want to teach. I wanted to work more 90 00:04:58,839 --> 00:05:02,240 Speaker 1: hands on, and so I applied for an internship with 91 00:05:02,279 --> 00:05:05,560 Speaker 1: the local Jewish community that was putting together an exhibition 92 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:09,880 Speaker 1: about Jewish life in central Ohio. And my part was 93 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:14,440 Speaker 1: to research the artifacts and write the labels for the artifacts. 94 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:18,360 Speaker 1: And I absolutely love that that responsibility, and it led 95 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:21,920 Speaker 1: me to um look into grad school for museums and 96 00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:26,200 Speaker 1: an archive programs. And I actually ran into my history 97 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:28,919 Speaker 1: teacher from high school when I was home for the holidays, 98 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:30,919 Speaker 1: and he said, there's this really great program for that 99 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:34,000 Speaker 1: at Right State University, just in my hometown, Date in Ohio, 100 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:36,880 Speaker 1: and so I made an appointment to meet with the 101 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:38,960 Speaker 1: director of the program, who was also the director of 102 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:42,440 Speaker 1: the special collections and archives at Right State University, and 103 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:44,479 Speaker 1: we hit it off, and at the end of the meeting, 104 00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:47,359 Speaker 1: she said, do you want to hold an original print 105 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:49,920 Speaker 1: of the first flight? As they have the largest collection 106 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:53,200 Speaker 1: of Right Brothers papers at Right State University. UH. And 107 00:05:53,279 --> 00:05:55,800 Speaker 1: so she took me back to the vault and she 108 00:05:55,880 --> 00:05:59,400 Speaker 1: handed me an original print that was developed by Wilbird Horble, 109 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:02,560 Speaker 1: the famous print that you see, you know when you 110 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:05,880 Speaker 1: look up the Kittie Hot Flights. And as soon as 111 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:08,160 Speaker 1: that photograph hit my hands, I was like, Yep, this 112 00:06:08,240 --> 00:06:09,880 Speaker 1: is it. This is definitely what I want to do. 113 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:12,359 Speaker 1: Want to work with these primary sources. I want to 114 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:15,840 Speaker 1: go out and grow, preserve, and increase access to these collections. 115 00:06:16,120 --> 00:06:19,000 Speaker 1: And I winded up getting a graduate assistantship at Right State. 116 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:21,360 Speaker 1: So not only was I in the program and learning, 117 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:24,520 Speaker 1: I was also working in their special collections, working with 118 00:06:24,560 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 1: my teachers to get hands on experience, which was a 119 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:33,039 Speaker 1: fantastic um way to receive an education. UH. And then 120 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:36,840 Speaker 1: after graduation, I got a postgraduate internship at the American 121 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:41,640 Speaker 1: Jewish Archives in Cincinnati, which is an incredible institution that's 122 00:06:41,640 --> 00:06:44,920 Speaker 1: been collecting Jewish history and in America since the World 123 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:48,200 Speaker 1: War Two, since the Holocaust. UM. They have an incredible 124 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:52,200 Speaker 1: collection that spans across the entire country and to Colonial 125 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:54,640 Speaker 1: America to the present day as well. UM. And then 126 00:06:54,680 --> 00:06:57,080 Speaker 1: I got the job in Atlanta in two thousand and thirteen. 127 00:06:57,120 --> 00:06:59,680 Speaker 1: I've been here the last I just celebrated my eight 128 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 1: year anniversary at the breman Um and it's hard to 129 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:07,240 Speaker 1: believe it, but it's been an absolutely incredible experience. When 130 00:07:07,279 --> 00:07:09,560 Speaker 1: I first moved here, I knew nothing, really next to 131 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:14,000 Speaker 1: nothing about Atlantaged Jewish history and Jewish life in the South, 132 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:17,360 Speaker 1: and so I've just been a sponge and fascinated by 133 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:20,800 Speaker 1: this topic, trying to absorb everything I can, and working 134 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:25,200 Speaker 1: with this collection has been just uh, the opportunity of 135 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:28,720 Speaker 1: a lifetime and no shortage of things to sort through 136 00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:31,440 Speaker 1: and look at and and absorb. If that's the case. 137 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:34,600 Speaker 1: Oh yeah, where our archive is vast and there's a 138 00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:37,480 Speaker 1: good job security because there's a whole lot to do 139 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:41,520 Speaker 1: and but a lot of fun too. So that brings 140 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:43,400 Speaker 1: us to your book, which is part of the Images 141 00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:46,120 Speaker 1: of America series, and it is titled The Jewish Community 142 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:48,880 Speaker 1: of Atlanta. And I was wondering, how did this book happen. 143 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:51,320 Speaker 1: Was this something where they came to you or did 144 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:55,600 Speaker 1: you go to them? How did it all come together? Yeah? So, um, 145 00:07:55,960 --> 00:07:58,880 Speaker 1: as you all may know, the Images of America series 146 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:01,720 Speaker 1: is massive others, I think close to ten thousand of 147 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:05,800 Speaker 1: these books in this production line by Arcadia Publishing. UM 148 00:08:05,880 --> 00:08:08,440 Speaker 1: and So Atlanta was a little late to the game 149 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:11,600 Speaker 1: that they. You know, there's been the Jewish Community of Savannah, 150 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:14,640 Speaker 1: the Jewish Community of Chattanooga, all these different Jewish communities 151 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:18,160 Speaker 1: from around the country have published Images of America series books. 152 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:22,040 Speaker 1: And so Arcadia has been approaching us for years to 153 00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:25,520 Speaker 1: write this UM and Uh. You know, in the past 154 00:08:25,520 --> 00:08:28,200 Speaker 1: we weren't really quite quite ready yet. We had this 155 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:32,959 Speaker 1: extensive photograph collection, but we there was so much backlog 156 00:08:33,240 --> 00:08:35,480 Speaker 1: that it would have been really hard to write this book. 157 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:37,320 Speaker 1: We had to would have had to sift through some 158 00:08:37,440 --> 00:08:40,280 Speaker 1: really rough inventories to try to find the images that 159 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:43,120 Speaker 1: we were looking for to tell this story. But in 160 00:08:43,160 --> 00:08:46,680 Speaker 1: two thousand seventeen we received grant funding to hire a 161 00:08:46,720 --> 00:08:50,040 Speaker 1: photo archivist who, over the course of the next three years, 162 00:08:50,080 --> 00:08:53,880 Speaker 1: catalog ten thousand images. So in along the way, we 163 00:08:53,880 --> 00:08:55,600 Speaker 1: were kind of had this project in the back of 164 00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:57,520 Speaker 1: our minds like, oh, look, you know, keep an eye 165 00:08:57,559 --> 00:09:01,160 Speaker 1: out for really unique pictures that he meant the Jewish 166 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:06,600 Speaker 1: community and the contributions to Atlanta. And so last in 167 00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:11,000 Speaker 1: two thousand, uh nineteen, we realized we were really ready 168 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:14,959 Speaker 1: to take on this project and tell this story. And 169 00:09:15,120 --> 00:09:17,280 Speaker 1: really since day one, since I started at the brem 170 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:19,480 Speaker 1: and I kind of knew that there was a book 171 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:22,480 Speaker 1: in the archives, that there was this as I was 172 00:09:22,559 --> 00:09:25,880 Speaker 1: going along, you know, and finding having all these aha 173 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:29,560 Speaker 1: moments of like, wow, the Jewish community has contributed it 174 00:09:29,679 --> 00:09:33,200 Speaker 1: disproportionately in so many ways to the city of Atlanta. 175 00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:35,760 Speaker 1: So many icons when you think of this city have 176 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:39,240 Speaker 1: pay homage to the Jewish community. And so along the way, 177 00:09:39,240 --> 00:09:41,440 Speaker 1: I was kind of like had a running list of like, oh, 178 00:09:41,559 --> 00:09:44,439 Speaker 1: like Coca Cola was first sold at the Jewish owned pharmacy, 179 00:09:44,559 --> 00:09:47,400 Speaker 1: and Georgia Tech was started by a Jewish entrepreneur, and 180 00:09:47,480 --> 00:09:50,000 Speaker 1: like Emery University, like everything that you think of when 181 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:52,480 Speaker 1: you think of Atlanta as those connections, and so I 182 00:09:52,559 --> 00:09:54,640 Speaker 1: kind of had a running list. And so when we 183 00:09:54,760 --> 00:09:57,600 Speaker 1: were finally signed the contract, I basically already had like 184 00:09:57,640 --> 00:10:01,320 Speaker 1: the first draft and yeah, and so we formed like 185 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:04,840 Speaker 1: a book review committee made up board members and they leaders. 186 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:09,000 Speaker 1: It was a very kind of committee judicious process that 187 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:13,440 Speaker 1: we went through it to edit and select images. But 188 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:15,079 Speaker 1: it was one of the most It's been one of 189 00:10:15,080 --> 00:10:19,199 Speaker 1: the most rewarding projects that I've worked on in UH 190 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:21,360 Speaker 1: in the archives to see it come to fruition and 191 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:25,280 Speaker 1: shine light on this little known subject of Jewish life 192 00:10:25,280 --> 00:10:38,640 Speaker 1: in Atlanta. I'm glad you mentioned how little known it is, 193 00:10:38,679 --> 00:10:41,760 Speaker 1: because I don't think people realize that the Jewish community 194 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:45,160 Speaker 1: has been part of Atlanta from literally day one. Um. 195 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:47,240 Speaker 1: And you mentioned in the introduction of the book, there's 196 00:10:47,280 --> 00:10:50,280 Speaker 1: a great line where you say Atlanta's Jewish community is 197 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:53,400 Speaker 1: a microcosm of Jewish life in America. And will you 198 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:55,960 Speaker 1: talk a little bit about You've already touched on some 199 00:10:56,080 --> 00:10:59,400 Speaker 1: but about how you know Jewish life in Atlanta began 200 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:02,600 Speaker 1: and also how it has become that kind of microcosm 201 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:05,320 Speaker 1: that mirrors the rest of the country. Just like you said, 202 00:11:05,400 --> 00:11:09,320 Speaker 1: it was day one when Atlanta was incorporated in there 203 00:11:09,320 --> 00:11:12,400 Speaker 1: are already two members of the Jewish community there, Henry 204 00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:16,480 Speaker 1: Levy and Jacob has that had a business, a dry 205 00:11:16,520 --> 00:11:20,400 Speaker 1: goods store in the city. Um and like so many 206 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:24,679 Speaker 1: other frontier towns. It's hard to uh, it's it's very 207 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:29,240 Speaker 1: easy to forget that Atlanta was once this frontier railroad town, 208 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:31,760 Speaker 1: you know, knowing what it is today, but it was 209 00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:37,120 Speaker 1: this kind of backwoods place for its early life. UM. 210 00:11:37,280 --> 00:11:42,680 Speaker 1: And like so many other frontier towns, the Jewish community 211 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:50,400 Speaker 1: began with peddlers that were immigrants that settled in ports cities, 212 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:52,960 Speaker 1: were given a pack of goods lent to pack of 213 00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:55,840 Speaker 1: goods by a supplier, and they would then take those 214 00:11:56,360 --> 00:11:58,800 Speaker 1: those goods door to door. Eventually they would save up 215 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:01,520 Speaker 1: enough money to get a buy ache or a horse 216 00:12:01,559 --> 00:12:05,200 Speaker 1: and buggy and spread further out into the countryside. And 217 00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:08,560 Speaker 1: once they saved up enough money and found enough found 218 00:12:08,559 --> 00:12:11,000 Speaker 1: a place that was hospitable enough for them, they would 219 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:16,079 Speaker 1: then settle down, uh and open a physical store. And 220 00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:18,400 Speaker 1: that's how the Jewish community got started in Atlanta, and 221 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:21,160 Speaker 1: how it got started throughout the rest of the country. UM. 222 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:26,760 Speaker 1: And throughout that entire process, UM, there were they disproportionately 223 00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:30,880 Speaker 1: contributed to the community. The UH. There's this misconception that 224 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:34,280 Speaker 1: the Jewish community is homogeneous. That's not true at all. 225 00:12:34,320 --> 00:12:36,720 Speaker 1: There's a lot of diversity within the Jewish community and 226 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:39,200 Speaker 1: that was true in Atlanta and so many other cities 227 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:41,800 Speaker 1: throughout the country. Uh, you have the you know, the 228 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:46,160 Speaker 1: Eastern European Jews, the Central European Jews, the Saphardic Jews, 229 00:12:46,240 --> 00:12:49,160 Speaker 1: mis Rocky Jews that came to Atlanta and made a 230 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:53,880 Speaker 1: very diverse tapestry of Jewish life in Atlanta, and oftentimes 231 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:56,760 Speaker 1: those communities didn't really get along, so that there were 232 00:12:56,800 --> 00:12:59,800 Speaker 1: kind of oil and water in Atlanta just like others 233 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:04,840 Speaker 1: days around the country. And also this microcosm uh in Atlanta, 234 00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:09,560 Speaker 1: there's some major instances of anti Semitism like so many 235 00:13:09,559 --> 00:13:12,679 Speaker 1: other places around the country have experienced, and that was 236 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:15,840 Speaker 1: chew in Atlanta as well. There were three major instances 237 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:20,360 Speaker 1: of anti Semitism, the lynching of businessman Leo Frank, the 238 00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:23,360 Speaker 1: temple bombing during the Civil Rights movement, and the deliberate 239 00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:26,880 Speaker 1: expulsion of Jewish students from Emory's Dental School in the 240 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:31,080 Speaker 1: nineteen forties and nineteen fifties. UM. But another really significant 241 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:34,960 Speaker 1: point of this microcosm is that the charity and the 242 00:13:35,000 --> 00:13:39,240 Speaker 1: benevolence of the Jewish community. UM. The first nonprofit in 243 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:43,000 Speaker 1: the state of Georgia was the Hebrew Orphans Home, which 244 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:45,599 Speaker 1: still exists today as a Jewish Educational loan fund, but 245 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:48,200 Speaker 1: when it was founded, it was an orphanage to care 246 00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:51,880 Speaker 1: for those less fortunate in the community. And uh that's true, 247 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:54,600 Speaker 1: not just for taking care of the Jewish community, but 248 00:13:54,600 --> 00:13:56,959 Speaker 1: but beyond. You know, there were members of the Jewish 249 00:13:56,960 --> 00:13:59,560 Speaker 1: community that set up free health clinics and all sorts 250 00:13:59,600 --> 00:14:02,840 Speaker 1: of different services, not only for the Jewish community, but 251 00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:05,400 Speaker 1: for the general community as well. So, you know, talking 252 00:14:05,400 --> 00:14:09,720 Speaker 1: about charity, anti Semitism, the diversity, how Jews wound up 253 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:12,240 Speaker 1: in these small towns to begin with. That's the story 254 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:15,400 Speaker 1: that can be told really throughout the entire country as 255 00:14:15,440 --> 00:14:18,480 Speaker 1: well as in Atlanta. Uh. Yeah, our listeners may recall 256 00:14:18,559 --> 00:14:21,640 Speaker 1: we did an episode actually on the Temple bombing UM 257 00:14:21,680 --> 00:14:24,520 Speaker 1: a while back and talked about you know, that's strange 258 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:26,720 Speaker 1: just the way it played out with the backdrop of 259 00:14:26,760 --> 00:14:30,360 Speaker 1: the Civil rights movement UM. And it really some people 260 00:14:30,360 --> 00:14:33,040 Speaker 1: call it the bomb that healed because it helped heal 261 00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:35,800 Speaker 1: some of those old wounds that were created by the 262 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:38,720 Speaker 1: Leo Frank case, which was a very traumatic experience for 263 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:41,920 Speaker 1: the Jewish community. Really, up until Leo Frank, the Jewish 264 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:46,840 Speaker 1: community had UM succeeded in ways that other Jewish communities 265 00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:49,800 Speaker 1: had it because in the South, social lines are drawn 266 00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:52,880 Speaker 1: by color of skin rather than religion, and so they 267 00:14:52,920 --> 00:14:55,400 Speaker 1: weren't really the ostrac sized community. And so the first 268 00:14:55,440 --> 00:14:58,120 Speaker 1: time maybe in their lives, especially if they were fleeing 269 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:01,480 Speaker 1: persecution in Europe, they were first treated as first class 270 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:05,400 Speaker 1: citizens and given this opportunity to succeed. But by the 271 00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:09,360 Speaker 1: turn of the twentieth century, there's these massive ways of 272 00:15:09,440 --> 00:15:13,840 Speaker 1: immigration from Europe and other places around the world. You 273 00:15:13,920 --> 00:15:16,520 Speaker 1: have a rapid change in terms of terms of the 274 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:19,760 Speaker 1: industrialization of the South. UM that led to a lot 275 00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:24,760 Speaker 1: of nativism, a lot of prejudice against UM minority communities, 276 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:28,920 Speaker 1: particularly a community like the members of the Jewish community 277 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:32,440 Speaker 1: that were very successful business owners, a lot of animosity 278 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:36,120 Speaker 1: towards them, especially with child labor. UM. You know, had 279 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:39,240 Speaker 1: young boys and girls working in factories that were owned 280 00:15:39,280 --> 00:15:43,160 Speaker 1: by Jewish entrepreneurs, and that UM stirred up a lot 281 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:47,720 Speaker 1: of anti Semitism. And Leo Frank, who was a UM 282 00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:52,800 Speaker 1: Jewish businessman, a superintendent of the National Pencil Factory, really 283 00:15:52,880 --> 00:15:56,000 Speaker 1: became kind of the brunt of this powder keg that 284 00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:59,520 Speaker 1: exploded when this little girl named Mary Fagan was found 285 00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:02,320 Speaker 1: dead in the basement of the factory, and he was 286 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:05,480 Speaker 1: convicted of the crime, sentenced to death by hanging. Went 287 00:16:05,520 --> 00:16:07,840 Speaker 1: all the way to the United States Supreme Court, where 288 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:10,920 Speaker 1: the verdict was upheld seven to two. The two dissenters 289 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:12,920 Speaker 1: argued that he didn't get a fair trial because of 290 00:16:12,960 --> 00:16:16,880 Speaker 1: all the anti Semitism surrounding it. Actually, those two dissenting 291 00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:20,600 Speaker 1: arguments are now common law. So if Leo Frank was 292 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:22,640 Speaker 1: tried today, I think whether there would have been a 293 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:27,359 Speaker 1: mistrial um and so that that had a lasting repercussions 294 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:32,080 Speaker 1: in terms of the legal landscape of the United States. 295 00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:35,840 Speaker 1: But even though that verdict was upheld in the Supreme Court, 296 00:16:36,480 --> 00:16:41,360 Speaker 1: the Governor of Georgia, John Slayton, looked at all the 297 00:16:41,440 --> 00:16:44,640 Speaker 1: evidence and decided to commutely a Frank sentence from death 298 00:16:44,640 --> 00:16:49,200 Speaker 1: by hanging to life in prison. But unfortunately Lynch law 299 00:16:49,520 --> 00:16:53,240 Speaker 1: was very much so enforced at that time, and a 300 00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:57,880 Speaker 1: group of very powerful members of the Marietta which is 301 00:16:57,880 --> 00:17:01,000 Speaker 1: a suburb of Atlanta where a Fagan was from, and 302 00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:04,760 Speaker 1: other members of the Atlantic community UH including a former 303 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:10,760 Speaker 1: governor including a judge, um organized this mob to abduct 304 00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:13,600 Speaker 1: him from prison and lynch him outside of town, and 305 00:17:13,640 --> 00:17:17,080 Speaker 1: so that was a very traumatic experience for the Jewish community, 306 00:17:17,080 --> 00:17:19,679 Speaker 1: and a lot of people book end that with the 307 00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:23,399 Speaker 1: temple bombing because it was outpouring of support for the 308 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:27,439 Speaker 1: Jewish community following the bombing. You are obviously a font 309 00:17:27,680 --> 00:17:30,679 Speaker 1: of information, right you just I mean I I didn't 310 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:32,840 Speaker 1: tell you that I was going to ask you about 311 00:17:32,880 --> 00:17:35,199 Speaker 1: any of that beforehand, Um, and you just have it. 312 00:17:35,359 --> 00:17:37,520 Speaker 1: So I'm wondering. I know you said you turned in 313 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:41,000 Speaker 1: a essentially a first draft, was ready when you had 314 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:43,760 Speaker 1: signed this book deal. But I'm wondering what your research 315 00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:47,200 Speaker 1: process was like because I imagine, Uh, the hard part, 316 00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:49,399 Speaker 1: as we all know, is editing and taking out the 317 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:52,560 Speaker 1: things that just there's not room for. What is that 318 00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:55,480 Speaker 1: process of building up and pairing back like for you 319 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:57,600 Speaker 1: on something like this when it is a subject that's 320 00:17:57,640 --> 00:18:01,919 Speaker 1: so important and obviously that you're passionate about. Yeah, it 321 00:18:01,960 --> 00:18:05,080 Speaker 1: was a difficult process because there's so much that we 322 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:07,639 Speaker 1: could have included in this book and the Images of 323 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:12,080 Speaker 1: America series, Um, they're very strict about how many images 324 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:14,280 Speaker 1: you can include and how many pages it can be. 325 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:16,000 Speaker 1: I don't know if you've noticed, but all the books 326 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:18,879 Speaker 1: are exactly the same length, and so I had to 327 00:18:18,920 --> 00:18:21,920 Speaker 1: work very hard with our committee. We put together a 328 00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:26,800 Speaker 1: book review committee made up of very uh passionate and 329 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:32,440 Speaker 1: knowledgeable people that helped guide me on this journey as 330 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:37,959 Speaker 1: we um cold information or added information that was incredibly 331 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:41,120 Speaker 1: important to make this book as well rounded as it is. Really, 332 00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:46,359 Speaker 1: the goal of this book was really was threefold. Was 333 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:49,919 Speaker 1: first and foremost to showcase the remarkable photograph collections at 334 00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:53,160 Speaker 1: the Fremum Museum, which measured tens of thousands of images. 335 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:55,159 Speaker 1: So that was obviously why it was very hard to 336 00:18:55,720 --> 00:18:59,280 Speaker 1: select the right images. Even today, I'm like, do we 337 00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:01,320 Speaker 1: slept the right ones? I keep coming across these other 338 00:19:01,320 --> 00:19:05,280 Speaker 1: ones that are better. The second reason was to to 339 00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:09,360 Speaker 1: really make this community's history highly accessible in a low 340 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:12,480 Speaker 1: barrier fashion. Um. You know, this book is available wherever 341 00:19:12,520 --> 00:19:15,520 Speaker 1: books are sold, and it is written for audiences of 342 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:19,320 Speaker 1: all ages. Um, there wasn't really something like that exists 343 00:19:19,320 --> 00:19:22,280 Speaker 1: that existed. Um, you know when I first came here, 344 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:24,680 Speaker 1: I was trying to be a sponge and absorb all 345 00:19:24,680 --> 00:19:27,480 Speaker 1: this community's history so that I could do my job, 346 00:19:28,040 --> 00:19:31,080 Speaker 1: and UM, I was having trouble finding something like this. 347 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:34,920 Speaker 1: It was there was either like really highly academic literature 348 00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:38,640 Speaker 1: on it that was, you know, a little beyond what 349 00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:42,879 Speaker 1: the lay person would be interested in reading, or it 350 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:46,359 Speaker 1: was not it was like maybe self published, and so 351 00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:49,000 Speaker 1: it was really hard to find. It wasn't highly accessible, 352 00:19:49,680 --> 00:19:51,159 Speaker 1: And so that was another reason why I wrote the 353 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:53,840 Speaker 1: book is that, Um, you know, I just kept having 354 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:56,960 Speaker 1: all these aha moments when I started working here because 355 00:19:57,000 --> 00:19:59,919 Speaker 1: I had to really search out this content. And luckily, 356 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:02,840 Speaker 1: being in the arguivist at the museum, you know, I 357 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:07,439 Speaker 1: had unbridled access to all these primary sources. Uh. And 358 00:20:07,520 --> 00:20:11,080 Speaker 1: just through my day to day responsibilities of helping people 359 00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:15,720 Speaker 1: access the archives and process collections and present this information 360 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:19,360 Speaker 1: to the public. Um, I just kept coming across all 361 00:20:19,359 --> 00:20:23,040 Speaker 1: these significant contributions and and things that I just hadn't 362 00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:25,960 Speaker 1: seen anywhere else. Uh. And so that's another reason why 363 00:20:25,960 --> 00:20:28,720 Speaker 1: I wrote the book, is that just really for my 364 00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:31,440 Speaker 1: own purposes and for people in the future, that it's 365 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:33,520 Speaker 1: just kind of something they can easily grab off the shelf. 366 00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:37,320 Speaker 1: It's not like a massive volume that's dense and full 367 00:20:37,320 --> 00:20:41,560 Speaker 1: of text. Um, it's very image driven. It's it's kind 368 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:44,679 Speaker 1: of like a thirty thousand foot view that you know, 369 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:47,960 Speaker 1: basically anyone with the fourth or fifth grade reading level 370 00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:51,320 Speaker 1: can pick up and and learn something about this community's 371 00:20:51,359 --> 00:20:54,159 Speaker 1: history in a very visual way. Yeah. The visuals make 372 00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:56,119 Speaker 1: it so rich, and I wanted to talk about just 373 00:20:56,160 --> 00:20:58,600 Speaker 1: a couple of them to give listeners and kind of 374 00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:00,800 Speaker 1: a sense of how this whole thing were works and 375 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:04,280 Speaker 1: how you're using the imagery to open up discussions about 376 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:08,399 Speaker 1: the Jewish community's history. Here on pages forty and forty one, 377 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:11,359 Speaker 1: there's a really lovely two page spread of a photo 378 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:14,800 Speaker 1: of a shopkeeper, and you use that as the way 379 00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:17,359 Speaker 1: to to be the entry point to talk about the 380 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:20,840 Speaker 1: Jewish communities relationship with the black community in Atlanta. Will 381 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:22,959 Speaker 1: you talk about that a little bit. Yeah, I'm so 382 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:25,679 Speaker 1: glad you mentioned that, because this book is really supposed 383 00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:28,600 Speaker 1: to start discussion. You know, we we had such limited 384 00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:31,520 Speaker 1: space to work with that we wanted to include those 385 00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:34,879 Speaker 1: those important nuggets that we wanted people to learn about, 386 00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:37,600 Speaker 1: but also to be a jumping off point. I really 387 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:39,720 Speaker 1: kind of say that, like each of these chapters could 388 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:42,280 Speaker 1: be its own book. I mean, there's still much there 389 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:44,960 Speaker 1: that you could go into. UM, but related to the 390 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:49,879 Speaker 1: Jewish business owners relationship to the Black community, UM, A 391 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:54,000 Speaker 1: lot of these businesses were owned by either first generation 392 00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:59,160 Speaker 1: immigrants or second generation immigrants who had fled persecution themselves 393 00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:03,480 Speaker 1: from around the world and came to America. And here 394 00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:09,800 Speaker 1: they are confronted with another minority community facing prejudice. And 395 00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:13,040 Speaker 1: even though they may not have felt the prejudice upon themselves, 396 00:22:13,119 --> 00:22:17,160 Speaker 1: because typically Jews are lighter skinned, um, so they could 397 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:21,400 Speaker 1: pass as as members of the white community, they sympathized 398 00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:25,000 Speaker 1: and empathized with the plight of the black community. And 399 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:31,200 Speaker 1: and Jewish businesses were uh the first to hire blacks 400 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:34,399 Speaker 1: and sales positions and not just doing the day to 401 00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:39,159 Speaker 1: day cleaning or sweeping or you know, the entry level positions, 402 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:42,400 Speaker 1: but at at a management level. Um. They were also 403 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:45,040 Speaker 1: the first businesses to offer credit to members of the 404 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:48,400 Speaker 1: black community. And even some of the department stores were 405 00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:51,720 Speaker 1: the first to have dressing rooms for the black community. 406 00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:54,600 Speaker 1: There was this kind of saying in the department store 407 00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:56,879 Speaker 1: business that you could you could buy, but you couldn't 408 00:22:56,880 --> 00:23:00,600 Speaker 1: try because they didn't have, um, just rooms for them. 409 00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:04,399 Speaker 1: So there is a deep connection. And also the the 410 00:23:04,520 --> 00:23:08,840 Speaker 1: Jewish community was particularly those those first couple of generations. 411 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:11,440 Speaker 1: They were impoverished, you know, they came here with next 412 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:15,360 Speaker 1: to nothing, and so they would settle next to the 413 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:19,320 Speaker 1: black neighborhoods because that's where where they could afford, and 414 00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:20,800 Speaker 1: so they would set up shop. And so there was 415 00:23:20,800 --> 00:23:25,480 Speaker 1: a close relationship between these minority communities and a kind 416 00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:31,520 Speaker 1: of symbiotic um mutually beneficial relationship where they could help 417 00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:35,440 Speaker 1: each other um get by with their day to day 418 00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:39,960 Speaker 1: needs and necessities. In my head, I just thought like, Oh, 419 00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:42,359 Speaker 1: I would love for you to like co author a 420 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:44,719 Speaker 1: book with someone from like the King Center and do 421 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:47,080 Speaker 1: a really deep dive on that. I think it would 422 00:23:47,080 --> 00:23:49,520 Speaker 1: be amazing. I love that idea. I mean, and this 423 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:52,639 Speaker 1: is going back like long before the civil rights movement, 424 00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:55,840 Speaker 1: like we're talking about like the nineteen teens on. I mean, 425 00:23:55,880 --> 00:24:00,159 Speaker 1: it's it really goes back long before it was in 426 00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:15,080 Speaker 1: the mindset of people in in the national spotlight. There's 427 00:24:15,119 --> 00:24:18,119 Speaker 1: also another really it's it's more of a lighthearted topic. 428 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:20,760 Speaker 1: But there's a fun picture that really stood out to 429 00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:23,720 Speaker 1: me when I was reading through this book, and it's 430 00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:26,760 Speaker 1: on page sixty one. It's five women and they're all 431 00:24:27,320 --> 00:24:30,000 Speaker 1: looking very elegant. They have beautiful long gowns on, but 432 00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:32,560 Speaker 1: they also have these very chic coats with the fur 433 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:35,760 Speaker 1: trim and they look very giggly and it's snowing, and 434 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:38,439 Speaker 1: the caption mentions that they're on route to an event 435 00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:41,399 Speaker 1: at the Mayfair Club. Will you talk about the Mayfair 436 00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:45,159 Speaker 1: Club and what it was and how it functioned. Yeah, definitely. 437 00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:46,960 Speaker 1: That's one of my favorite pictures too. I think it 438 00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:49,760 Speaker 1: really captures like a site geist there of the time 439 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:54,119 Speaker 1: and the Mayfare Club was was significant because Um I 440 00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:57,640 Speaker 1: mentioned earlier this diversity in the Jewish community and how 441 00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:00,640 Speaker 1: the Eastern European Jews that came over of the nineteen 442 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:04,399 Speaker 1: teams didn't exactly jive with the Central European Shoes that 443 00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:08,800 Speaker 1: came over in the late eighteen hundreds. UM, because there 444 00:25:08,840 --> 00:25:12,200 Speaker 1: was a generational gap, there was an economic gap, there 445 00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:16,879 Speaker 1: was a religiosity gap, UH and so UM they formed 446 00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:20,719 Speaker 1: their own congregation, they formed their own social clubs. If 447 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:24,160 Speaker 1: you've seen The Last Night at Bally Who by Alfred Jury, 448 00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:27,879 Speaker 1: the award winning playwright. He's the only UH person to 449 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:31,280 Speaker 1: have won the Triple Crown, which is a Tony, the 450 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:35,280 Speaker 1: Academy Award, and the Pulitzer UM. He wrote this trilogy 451 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:39,679 Speaker 1: about Atlanta's Jewish history that drive Miss Daisy. People are 452 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:42,600 Speaker 1: very familiar about with that, the Academy Award winning film 453 00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:45,879 Speaker 1: that started as a Broadway play. UM. There's other two 454 00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:47,920 Speaker 1: two plays that are part of this trilogy are The 455 00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:50,840 Speaker 1: Last Night at Ballet Who, which is about this division 456 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:53,399 Speaker 1: in the community of a member of the German Jewish 457 00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:56,960 Speaker 1: community inviting a member of the Eastern European Jewish community 458 00:25:56,960 --> 00:25:59,760 Speaker 1: to this dance called bally who uh and the whole 459 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:04,080 Speaker 1: intra ethnic prejudices between these two communities coming out. But 460 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:06,360 Speaker 1: the third one was about the Leo Frank case called 461 00:26:06,359 --> 00:26:10,639 Speaker 1: Parade Uh. And so the Mayfair Club existed kind of 462 00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:14,840 Speaker 1: in between this this division. So there was a Standard 463 00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:18,000 Speaker 1: Club which was for the Central European German speaking Jews, 464 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:21,159 Speaker 1: and there was the Progressive Jewish Progressive Club, which was 465 00:26:21,200 --> 00:26:25,159 Speaker 1: for the Eastern European Yiddish speaking Jews. And but the 466 00:26:25,160 --> 00:26:28,679 Speaker 1: Mayfair Club kind of occupied this rare space in this 467 00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:33,480 Speaker 1: deeply divided Jewish community UM and at the time of 468 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:36,040 Speaker 1: its founding in nineteen thirties, so that picture is actually 469 00:26:36,080 --> 00:26:40,040 Speaker 1: from the their founding. That was their first event at 470 00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:43,119 Speaker 1: the Biltmore UM. At that time, I mean, this Jewish 471 00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:48,480 Speaker 1: community was essentially segregated. We have this, uh, incredible population 472 00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:51,080 Speaker 1: study that was done a little bit later the nineteen forties. 473 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:54,800 Speaker 1: It perfectly illustrates this division because you can see one 474 00:26:55,560 --> 00:27:01,040 Speaker 1: grouping of enclave of the Jewish community north of constantly 475 00:27:01,080 --> 00:27:03,800 Speaker 1: on Avenue, which is a major thoroughfare in Atlanta, and 476 00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:07,760 Speaker 1: another enclave south and constantly on Avenue. UM. And that 477 00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:10,160 Speaker 1: was kind of the dividing line, was constantly on Avenue. 478 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:15,040 Speaker 1: But by the time that the Holocaust and the birth 479 00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:17,800 Speaker 1: of the State of Israel, but even before that, the 480 00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:20,760 Speaker 1: Mayfair Club was founded in the thirties, UM, we start 481 00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:24,280 Speaker 1: to see, especially when it comes to the second generation, 482 00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:29,320 Speaker 1: the third generation members of the community, it starts to homogenize. 483 00:27:30,119 --> 00:27:32,800 Speaker 1: Not only are they becoming more Americanized that they're not 484 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:36,320 Speaker 1: they don't have these kind of traditional roots in Europe 485 00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:40,000 Speaker 1: that they're reflecting on. It's more of these American values, uh. 486 00:27:40,040 --> 00:27:42,880 Speaker 1: And also starting to focus on their share Jewish values, 487 00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:47,480 Speaker 1: particularly after the Holocaust. UM. You know that that obviously 488 00:27:47,520 --> 00:27:51,440 Speaker 1: was a traumatic experience for the Jewish community and they realized, 489 00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:53,199 Speaker 1: you know, we have a lot more in common that 490 00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:57,080 Speaker 1: we have in differences. Uh. And also the founding of 491 00:27:57,119 --> 00:28:00,199 Speaker 1: the State of Israel was a really a huge rallying 492 00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:03,800 Speaker 1: call for the Jewish community to come together and work 493 00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:07,879 Speaker 1: together to support Jews in the community and around the world. 494 00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:10,359 Speaker 1: So the Mayor Fair Club was kind of the first 495 00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:15,760 Speaker 1: uh um semblance of this homogenization in the Jewish community 496 00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:19,360 Speaker 1: of Atlanta. What do you think if you could pare 497 00:28:19,400 --> 00:28:21,560 Speaker 1: it down? And I know you've talked about several of 498 00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:25,440 Speaker 1: the kind of key events of Jewish history in Atlanta, 499 00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:27,320 Speaker 1: but what do you think are are two or three 500 00:28:27,359 --> 00:28:30,320 Speaker 1: of the most important things for people to know about 501 00:28:30,359 --> 00:28:33,360 Speaker 1: Atlanta's Jewish history potentially if they want to learn more, 502 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:36,200 Speaker 1: Like where are the entry points that are best? Yeah, 503 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:38,200 Speaker 1: this is something I've been thinking about. And I didn't 504 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:40,440 Speaker 1: include this in the book because I didn't like, I've 505 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:42,400 Speaker 1: just been thinking about this recently. But I can kind 506 00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:47,080 Speaker 1: of frame Atlanta's Jewish history by three booms and three busts. 507 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:52,440 Speaker 1: The three booms being UM following reconstruction. That's when we 508 00:28:52,520 --> 00:28:55,080 Speaker 1: have UM, you know, the first class of Coca Cola, 509 00:28:55,120 --> 00:28:58,640 Speaker 1: Solana Jacob's Pharmacy, the first nonprofit the state of Georgia founded, 510 00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:02,600 Speaker 1: the first congregation founded UM all you know Jews being 511 00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:05,640 Speaker 1: involved in the Chamber of Commerce, and and all sorts 512 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:09,520 Speaker 1: of different political, social economic things in Atlanta. The second 513 00:29:09,560 --> 00:29:12,720 Speaker 1: boom being after the civil rights movement and integration. That's 514 00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:17,160 Speaker 1: when we get a proliferation of Jewish congregations and we 515 00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:19,680 Speaker 1: start getting we get the first Jewish summer camps and 516 00:29:20,120 --> 00:29:23,920 Speaker 1: the UM and the first Jewish day schools and and 517 00:29:24,720 --> 00:29:28,000 Speaker 1: a Home for the aged, a massive boom in the 518 00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:31,360 Speaker 1: Jewish population at that time. And then following the Olympics 519 00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:34,840 Speaker 1: as well. Uh. And that's really kind of those last two, 520 00:29:35,080 --> 00:29:36,880 Speaker 1: all three of those that are across the board, and 521 00:29:37,120 --> 00:29:39,239 Speaker 1: in terms of Atlanta and it's growth, but also in 522 00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:42,480 Speaker 1: terms of the Jewish communities growth, and after the Olympics 523 00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:46,440 Speaker 1: that really propelled Atlanta into the twenty first century. That's 524 00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:49,200 Speaker 1: when we start to get all sorts of different festivals. 525 00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:52,160 Speaker 1: For example, the Jewish Film Festival in Atlanta has grown 526 00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:55,400 Speaker 1: into the largest Jewish film festival in the world, the 527 00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:59,280 Speaker 1: largest film festival in Atlanta. Uh. They just concluded their 528 00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:02,880 Speaker 1: their festival for this year. Uh. And all sorts of 529 00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:06,960 Speaker 1: new Jewish entrepreneurs um. For example, this is something I 530 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:08,800 Speaker 1: didn't include in the book, but kind of which I 531 00:30:08,840 --> 00:30:11,880 Speaker 1: had was SPANKS was founded here in Atlanta, but a 532 00:30:11,960 --> 00:30:15,280 Speaker 1: member of the Jewish community. UM, we have all sorts 533 00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:18,360 Speaker 1: of different restaurants that are owned by members of the 534 00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:21,720 Speaker 1: Jewish community that catered to the Delhi and and all 535 00:30:21,760 --> 00:30:25,440 Speaker 1: sorts of different fusion related to Jewish food. UM. And 536 00:30:25,480 --> 00:30:28,560 Speaker 1: so there's been kind of a renaissance uh following the 537 00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:31,680 Speaker 1: Olympics and all these these three different booms. But there's 538 00:30:31,760 --> 00:30:35,360 Speaker 1: also we can't overlook and sweep under the rug these 539 00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:38,120 Speaker 1: bus these three instances of anti Semitism that I mentioned 540 00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:43,320 Speaker 1: earlier that really um are pivotal moments in Atlantis Jewish 541 00:30:43,320 --> 00:30:46,640 Speaker 1: history all started with Leo frank And and caused the 542 00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:51,000 Speaker 1: community to kind of go underground. And I mentioned this 543 00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:53,120 Speaker 1: in the book, that not no member of the Jewish 544 00:30:53,120 --> 00:30:56,600 Speaker 1: community ran for public office for over fifteen years UH 545 00:30:56,680 --> 00:31:00,000 Speaker 1: following the lynching UH. And it was a very traumatic 546 00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:04,880 Speaker 1: experience that has been um healed a little bit by 547 00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:09,040 Speaker 1: the temple bombing, the outpouring of support following that, and 548 00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:12,400 Speaker 1: also the apology from Emory University in two thousand twelve 549 00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:15,680 Speaker 1: apologizing for the anti Semitism that took place in their 550 00:31:15,720 --> 00:31:19,240 Speaker 1: dental school in the nineteen forties and nineteen fifties. UM. 551 00:31:19,320 --> 00:31:21,760 Speaker 1: So some people bookend the Leo Frank case with the 552 00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:25,600 Speaker 1: temple bombing. Some people book end it with the Emory apology. Um. 553 00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:29,040 Speaker 1: But I say, I would say today that the Jewish 554 00:31:29,080 --> 00:31:33,680 Speaker 1: community is definitely feels like Atlanta is supportive, a good 555 00:31:33,680 --> 00:31:37,320 Speaker 1: place to settle and feel comfortable in its framework. You know, 556 00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:39,960 Speaker 1: the fact that my book has been out for literally 557 00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:44,120 Speaker 1: just a matter of months and it's already outdated because 558 00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:47,400 Speaker 1: of John Asta's historic victory becoming the first Jewish senator 559 00:31:47,440 --> 00:31:49,840 Speaker 1: from the state of Georgia. Um that you know, my 560 00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:52,719 Speaker 1: book is already outdated, But I think it's so indicative 561 00:31:52,800 --> 00:31:56,160 Speaker 1: of the contributions that us are making every day to 562 00:31:56,240 --> 00:31:59,280 Speaker 1: this city. Uh and um. You know. So there's a 563 00:31:59,320 --> 00:32:02,720 Speaker 1: lot of different entry points into the Jewish community's history 564 00:32:02,720 --> 00:32:06,040 Speaker 1: in Atlanta. Just depends on what you're interested in. If 565 00:32:06,080 --> 00:32:08,000 Speaker 1: you want to focus on the diversity, if you want 566 00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:11,840 Speaker 1: to focus on the instances of anti Semitism, the contributions, 567 00:32:11,880 --> 00:32:14,640 Speaker 1: the massive contributions that you have made to the city. 568 00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:17,480 Speaker 1: And to think of the Brima Museum as a resource. 569 00:32:17,880 --> 00:32:21,880 Speaker 1: We have this incredible wealth of primary sources that are 570 00:32:21,920 --> 00:32:24,720 Speaker 1: available to the public that we're working every day to 571 00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:29,120 Speaker 1: democratize access to this incredible history. So I'm glad that 572 00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:32,520 Speaker 1: you mentioned John Assof because tying that to something you 573 00:32:32,520 --> 00:32:36,040 Speaker 1: said earlier about the breadth of your collection and how 574 00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:39,560 Speaker 1: you have things both very very old and very very new. 575 00:32:40,120 --> 00:32:43,400 Speaker 1: You made a new acquisition recently that is really quite cool. 576 00:32:43,440 --> 00:32:46,160 Speaker 1: Will you talk about it. Yeah. Just last week I 577 00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:48,800 Speaker 1: picked up the Bible that John ass Off was sworn 578 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:52,800 Speaker 1: in on during his Senate confirmation and it belonged to 579 00:32:52,960 --> 00:32:57,800 Speaker 1: Rabbi Jacob Rothschild, who was civil rights activists rabbi at 580 00:32:57,800 --> 00:33:00,880 Speaker 1: the Temple, the oldest congregation in Atlanta. Uh. He was 581 00:33:01,120 --> 00:33:04,440 Speaker 1: friends with Martin D. King. Actually, he was the chairman 582 00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:07,760 Speaker 1: of the committee that created the first integrated banquet in 583 00:33:07,760 --> 00:33:11,000 Speaker 1: Atlanta that was to honor Martin the King and winning 584 00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:15,040 Speaker 1: Nobel Peace Prize. Uh. So it's really remarkable that John 585 00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:18,480 Speaker 1: Assa reached out to the family to you know, have 586 00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:23,320 Speaker 1: that history perspective and in tying the past, the present 587 00:33:23,360 --> 00:33:25,760 Speaker 1: to the future. And I think it just shows, you know, 588 00:33:26,040 --> 00:33:31,120 Speaker 1: his objectives and his vision of being focused on social 589 00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:34,959 Speaker 1: justice and advancing civil rights. Uh. And we're gonna be 590 00:33:35,040 --> 00:33:39,440 Speaker 1: featuring this Bible in our upcoming exhibition History with Kitzbagh 591 00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:44,440 Speaker 1: what's all about UM archives and featuring content from our archives, 592 00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:47,440 Speaker 1: which as I mentioned, spends from the colonial America until 593 00:33:47,680 --> 00:33:50,960 Speaker 1: now the present day, connecting the past, present and future. 594 00:33:51,440 --> 00:33:54,400 Speaker 1: That's so cool. UM. How did it come about that 595 00:33:54,520 --> 00:33:57,440 Speaker 1: you guys got to take possession of it? Yeah, so 596 00:33:57,600 --> 00:33:59,480 Speaker 1: it belongs to the family, which we have a very 597 00:33:59,520 --> 00:34:04,560 Speaker 1: close really nationship to. UM. We work UH. Janie Rothchild, 598 00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:07,880 Speaker 1: Rabbi rock Child's widow, we're very very close to. We 599 00:34:07,920 --> 00:34:11,439 Speaker 1: actually had a program all about honoring her, all about 600 00:34:11,480 --> 00:34:15,600 Speaker 1: honoring her couple of weeks ago that attracted close to 601 00:34:15,640 --> 00:34:19,440 Speaker 1: a thousand people. Alfred Jury, the famous playwright, was the 602 00:34:19,520 --> 00:34:24,120 Speaker 1: keynote speaker for the Nice Rothchild Symposium, the first annual UM. 603 00:34:24,200 --> 00:34:27,560 Speaker 1: And we're connected with her, her son Bill Rothchild, who 604 00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:30,640 Speaker 1: it belongs to. UH. And we also have a very 605 00:34:30,640 --> 00:34:33,680 Speaker 1: close connection to the Temple. So the Bible belongs to 606 00:34:33,680 --> 00:34:36,160 Speaker 1: the family, but they want to give it to the 607 00:34:36,480 --> 00:34:39,080 Speaker 1: to the Temple, and we have howls the Temple records 608 00:34:39,080 --> 00:34:42,160 Speaker 1: in the archive. So UM we have a very close 609 00:34:42,200 --> 00:34:45,839 Speaker 1: relationship to both the Temple the rock Child family, and 610 00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:49,600 Speaker 1: they were nice enough to allow us to acquire this 611 00:34:49,760 --> 00:34:52,839 Speaker 1: Bible to put it on display for this exhibition. That's 612 00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:55,200 Speaker 1: also excellent because you know at that point too, it 613 00:34:55,239 --> 00:34:57,480 Speaker 1: will be preserved and cared for in a way that 614 00:34:57,480 --> 00:34:59,520 Speaker 1: that it is not ever lost to history, which is 615 00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:02,759 Speaker 1: so importan Exactly, you know that that this belonged to 616 00:35:02,800 --> 00:35:05,960 Speaker 1: a major civil rights icon. It was used by the 617 00:35:05,960 --> 00:35:09,600 Speaker 1: first Jewish senator for their swearing and ceremony. Uh. And 618 00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:13,919 Speaker 1: now it's going to be in our museum being protected 619 00:35:14,000 --> 00:35:20,319 Speaker 1: for future generations to view and learn about this remarkable history. Um. 620 00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:22,719 Speaker 1: Since you do work as an archivist, and you've talked 621 00:35:22,719 --> 00:35:25,040 Speaker 1: about how much you have really made an effort to 622 00:35:25,120 --> 00:35:29,239 Speaker 1: just take in every piece of information possible. UM. I 623 00:35:29,320 --> 00:35:31,160 Speaker 1: know you had already spent a lot of time on 624 00:35:31,200 --> 00:35:33,160 Speaker 1: all of this before you worked on the book. But 625 00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:36,000 Speaker 1: were there any surprises that popped up while you were 626 00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:39,239 Speaker 1: actually prepping the the book for publication where you like, 627 00:35:39,320 --> 00:35:42,480 Speaker 1: I did not know about this? Yeah, that happened all 628 00:35:42,520 --> 00:35:45,839 Speaker 1: the time. I think the biggest surprise was Jay screen. Uh. 629 00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:48,280 Speaker 1: If you're not familiar with this, it's a genetic test 630 00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:52,439 Speaker 1: that you can take to determine if you are a 631 00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:55,359 Speaker 1: carrier for genetic diseases that you and your partner would 632 00:35:55,360 --> 00:35:57,640 Speaker 1: pass on to your offspring. And this is something that 633 00:35:57,719 --> 00:36:00,919 Speaker 1: I did myself. My wife and I did this uh 634 00:36:01,040 --> 00:36:04,319 Speaker 1: testing And UM, I had no idea that I was 635 00:36:04,360 --> 00:36:07,600 Speaker 1: founded in Atlanta by members of the Jewish community and 636 00:36:07,640 --> 00:36:11,160 Speaker 1: founded by the Marcus Foundation and partnered up with Emory University. 637 00:36:11,239 --> 00:36:15,239 Speaker 1: And this test is available throughout the entire country for 638 00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:18,040 Speaker 1: a hundred dollars, which is you know, for something of 639 00:36:18,080 --> 00:36:21,120 Speaker 1: this nature, Isn't is incredible that they were able to 640 00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:24,640 Speaker 1: offer this service. Um. But I'd say that probably the 641 00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:27,080 Speaker 1: biggest surprise was the pandemic. You know, I was not 642 00:36:27,680 --> 00:36:31,480 Speaker 1: uh that hit like three months before the book was due. Um. 643 00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:35,480 Speaker 1: And Uh. It was certainly a challenge to work in 644 00:36:35,520 --> 00:36:37,399 Speaker 1: a pandemic and try to write this book. I'd say 645 00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:40,560 Speaker 1: there was a silver lining. Um, the fact that I 646 00:36:40,600 --> 00:36:42,840 Speaker 1: was had a lot more time at home meant that 647 00:36:42,880 --> 00:36:44,439 Speaker 1: I had a lot more time to write the book. 648 00:36:44,480 --> 00:36:48,040 Speaker 1: When I'm in the office, I get distracted with researchers 649 00:36:48,120 --> 00:36:51,560 Speaker 1: and co workers coming into ask me about all sorts 650 00:36:51,600 --> 00:36:54,640 Speaker 1: of different questions. Um. But the biggest challenge was that, 651 00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:57,520 Speaker 1: you know, our doors were closed to the public. UM. 652 00:36:57,560 --> 00:36:59,480 Speaker 1: I had access to the archives, but it was a 653 00:36:59,600 --> 00:37:03,319 Speaker 1: very you know, very uncertain time, and so I had 654 00:37:03,360 --> 00:37:05,600 Speaker 1: to kind of like make a running list of images 655 00:37:05,719 --> 00:37:07,960 Speaker 1: that I wanted to go into the archives and scan 656 00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:11,319 Speaker 1: or find, uh and kind of pick a day and 657 00:37:11,360 --> 00:37:13,600 Speaker 1: planning my day out to go into the archives and 658 00:37:13,640 --> 00:37:17,359 Speaker 1: literally just search for images all day because my time 659 00:37:17,440 --> 00:37:20,839 Speaker 1: was so limited in the archives. UM. So the pandemics 660 00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:24,520 Speaker 1: certainly through a curveball. The book doesn't include the pandemic 661 00:37:24,600 --> 00:37:27,799 Speaker 1: because it was just so uh new, you know, It's 662 00:37:27,840 --> 00:37:30,760 Speaker 1: only a book was due in June, the final draft 663 00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:32,960 Speaker 1: was doing June. The pandemic hit in March, so it's 664 00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:35,960 Speaker 1: just too fresh to talk about in the book. So 665 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:37,960 Speaker 1: the book really covers up until the end of two 666 00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:41,640 Speaker 1: thousand nineteen. UM. But there were a number of occasions 667 00:37:41,640 --> 00:37:44,160 Speaker 1: where I was just blown away, I mean throughout my 668 00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:46,960 Speaker 1: entire career as I was kind coming across all these 669 00:37:47,000 --> 00:37:50,840 Speaker 1: different contributions. I mean, we're talking about Coca Cola, Georgia Tech, 670 00:37:51,239 --> 00:37:55,239 Speaker 1: Henry Grady Hospital, Emery University, the Atlanta Braves, the High 671 00:37:55,360 --> 00:37:59,200 Speaker 1: Museum of Art, w A. B Atlanta's NPR station, the 672 00:37:59,200 --> 00:38:02,560 Speaker 1: Georgia quere Am, Mercedes Ben Stadium. I mean, these are 673 00:38:02,600 --> 00:38:07,920 Speaker 1: all icons of Atlanta that pay homage to the Jewish community. 674 00:38:08,080 --> 00:38:11,080 Speaker 1: So you know, not just from the book writing experience, 675 00:38:11,120 --> 00:38:13,719 Speaker 1: just from my experience working in the archives and coming 676 00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:16,600 Speaker 1: across this and being like, why hasn't this already been 677 00:38:16,640 --> 00:38:21,360 Speaker 1: written about somewhere? I mean, this is such incredible contributions 678 00:38:21,440 --> 00:38:26,560 Speaker 1: that shaped this city. Um. And so it's been a 679 00:38:26,600 --> 00:38:28,880 Speaker 1: long haul, but there have been a lot of surprises 680 00:38:28,920 --> 00:38:33,920 Speaker 1: along the way. Uh. This might replicate your answer regarding 681 00:38:33,960 --> 00:38:36,600 Speaker 1: the pandemic being a surprise. But was that the hardest 682 00:38:36,640 --> 00:38:38,759 Speaker 1: aspect of working on this project or was there something 683 00:38:38,800 --> 00:38:43,120 Speaker 1: else that was difficult? There was also the pearing down 684 00:38:43,600 --> 00:38:46,640 Speaker 1: what image just select and also what stories to include. 685 00:38:46,640 --> 00:38:49,560 Speaker 1: I mean, there's so many members of the Jewish community 686 00:38:49,600 --> 00:38:54,760 Speaker 1: that have contributed to the fabric of this of Jewish 687 00:38:54,800 --> 00:38:57,520 Speaker 1: life and general life in Atlanta. And so that's why 688 00:38:57,560 --> 00:39:00,560 Speaker 1: I relied heavily on that committee. UM. I didn't want 689 00:39:00,600 --> 00:39:03,279 Speaker 1: this all to be my responsibility because it would be 690 00:39:03,320 --> 00:39:06,200 Speaker 1: too great of a responsibility. And I don't want people 691 00:39:06,200 --> 00:39:08,800 Speaker 1: calling me and saying, oh, you didn't include my grandpa 692 00:39:08,920 --> 00:39:12,080 Speaker 1: or my grandpa. Um, and so I had to be 693 00:39:13,200 --> 00:39:16,439 Speaker 1: I wanted it to be a selection by committee. UH, 694 00:39:16,520 --> 00:39:18,520 Speaker 1: so I could defer to them as like, oh, well 695 00:39:18,719 --> 00:39:21,480 Speaker 1: we have you know, we only have space for one 696 00:39:21,520 --> 00:39:25,719 Speaker 1: of these two stories. Um. And I would defer to them. 697 00:39:26,080 --> 00:39:28,759 Speaker 1: It's kind of a vote by committee and say which 698 00:39:28,800 --> 00:39:31,440 Speaker 1: story do you think is really important to include in 699 00:39:31,440 --> 00:39:34,080 Speaker 1: the book? Uh? And I really think that. Like I 700 00:39:34,120 --> 00:39:35,960 Speaker 1: said that, this book is a jumping off point. I 701 00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:39,080 Speaker 1: mentioned in the acknowledgement that this is not every single 702 00:39:39,120 --> 00:39:43,719 Speaker 1: story that about Jewish life in Atlanta. It's it's really 703 00:39:43,840 --> 00:39:49,440 Speaker 1: supposed to be a very general, highly accessible, low barrier 704 00:39:49,560 --> 00:39:51,160 Speaker 1: way for people to kind of get their foot in 705 00:39:51,200 --> 00:39:53,960 Speaker 1: the door and interest them. I get them thinking about 706 00:39:54,000 --> 00:39:57,480 Speaker 1: the topic, and if they're interested in learning more, come 707 00:39:57,520 --> 00:39:59,759 Speaker 1: to us, come to the Brema Museum as a resource, 708 00:40:00,200 --> 00:40:04,359 Speaker 1: speak to Emory Universities Jewish studies programs. There's so many 709 00:40:04,400 --> 00:40:08,160 Speaker 1: other places and resources, um, where they can learn more 710 00:40:08,160 --> 00:40:11,359 Speaker 1: about this topic. And then Uh, to close out, because 711 00:40:11,400 --> 00:40:13,400 Speaker 1: I always like to end on enough note, what was 712 00:40:13,440 --> 00:40:16,799 Speaker 1: the most fun part of this project? Um? Well, I 713 00:40:16,840 --> 00:40:19,440 Speaker 1: will say I'll zoom out a little bit because this 714 00:40:19,480 --> 00:40:24,040 Speaker 1: book project is part of a larger initiative to democratize 715 00:40:24,080 --> 00:40:27,640 Speaker 1: access to our archives. So in addition to writing the book, 716 00:40:28,320 --> 00:40:31,200 Speaker 1: we also published a Google Arts and Culture page that's 717 00:40:31,480 --> 00:40:34,080 Speaker 1: We soft launched that in May. We're doing a hard 718 00:40:34,160 --> 00:40:37,200 Speaker 1: launched next month with an Atlanta rollout. Page is going 719 00:40:37,280 --> 00:40:41,440 Speaker 1: to feature dozens of cultural arts institutions in Atlanta. It 720 00:40:41,480 --> 00:40:45,200 Speaker 1: features hundreds of objects from our collection and online exhibitions. 721 00:40:45,680 --> 00:40:49,160 Speaker 1: Really cool platform that's highly accessible and easy to navigate, 722 00:40:49,239 --> 00:40:53,320 Speaker 1: very intuitive. We also overhauled our entire collection catalog system 723 00:40:53,400 --> 00:40:57,879 Speaker 1: to the industry leading UM content management systems that put 724 00:40:57,960 --> 00:41:01,799 Speaker 1: the museum on par with oh University in Georgia, Tech 725 00:41:01,920 --> 00:41:04,640 Speaker 1: and the University of Georgia and all these leading archival 726 00:41:04,680 --> 00:41:08,480 Speaker 1: institutions around the country. In some cases, we're eating industry leading. 727 00:41:08,520 --> 00:41:10,920 Speaker 1: We've done some really cool things that only us in 728 00:41:11,040 --> 00:41:14,280 Speaker 1: Yale University have done, which is with our oral history collection, 729 00:41:14,400 --> 00:41:17,200 Speaker 1: which has been a lot of fun to work on. UM. 730 00:41:17,280 --> 00:41:19,920 Speaker 1: We also hold a number of programmatic series. We just 731 00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:23,760 Speaker 1: concluded a six week series all about Atlantic Jewish history 732 00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:27,600 Speaker 1: where we talked with experts in the field. On each week, 733 00:41:27,640 --> 00:41:30,920 Speaker 1: we focused on a different topic and invited those experts 734 00:41:30,920 --> 00:41:33,120 Speaker 1: and on those topics to come and talk about them 735 00:41:33,120 --> 00:41:36,480 Speaker 1: in in great detail, and that reached over a thousand people. 736 00:41:37,040 --> 00:41:40,160 Speaker 1: That wasn't uh. We've done three or four of these 737 00:41:40,160 --> 00:41:43,640 Speaker 1: series throughout the pandemic and reached thousands of people. UM. 738 00:41:43,719 --> 00:41:45,880 Speaker 1: And we're also in the process of putting together a 739 00:41:45,920 --> 00:41:50,399 Speaker 1: whole exhibition called History with Hustbus, Stories Told and Untold. 740 00:41:50,520 --> 00:41:52,759 Speaker 1: All of this content is coming from our archives for 741 00:41:52,800 --> 00:41:57,320 Speaker 1: this big twenty five year anniversary of the Brima Museum, 742 00:41:57,360 --> 00:42:01,520 Speaker 1: and it's really highlighting our archival collection and so UM 743 00:42:01,920 --> 00:42:06,520 Speaker 1: this book is part of a larger scheme to make 744 00:42:06,680 --> 00:42:11,880 Speaker 1: our history more visible, to highlight it to UM and 745 00:42:11,960 --> 00:42:14,359 Speaker 1: share it with the community so that you know, we 746 00:42:14,360 --> 00:42:17,200 Speaker 1: we think that that is a way for people to 747 00:42:17,239 --> 00:42:22,160 Speaker 1: connect with this community that is a very highly transient population. 748 00:42:23,160 --> 00:42:26,320 Speaker 1: Over eight percent of the Jewish population in Atlanta was 749 00:42:26,400 --> 00:42:30,799 Speaker 1: not born here uh and over of those people are 750 00:42:30,800 --> 00:42:35,080 Speaker 1: not affiliated with any Jewish organization. So we are working 751 00:42:35,160 --> 00:42:40,160 Speaker 1: hard to to connect these people that are unaffiliated, that 752 00:42:40,200 --> 00:42:42,719 Speaker 1: are not born in Atlanta. I'm I was one of 753 00:42:42,719 --> 00:42:45,920 Speaker 1: those people when I first moved here UM, and I 754 00:42:45,960 --> 00:42:49,440 Speaker 1: found it hard to to connect with the community at first. 755 00:42:49,440 --> 00:42:51,120 Speaker 1: It took a while for me to to find my 756 00:42:51,200 --> 00:42:55,040 Speaker 1: footing UH. And so projects like the book and Google 757 00:42:55,120 --> 00:42:58,239 Speaker 1: Arts and Culture and making our collection more accessible to 758 00:42:58,280 --> 00:43:04,239 Speaker 1: researchers through our collection. Hallo overhaul or public exhibitions. UM. 759 00:43:04,320 --> 00:43:07,920 Speaker 1: It's a multi pronged approach that stems back to our 760 00:43:07,920 --> 00:43:12,080 Speaker 1: strategic plan to make our contents of our history and 761 00:43:12,120 --> 00:43:15,840 Speaker 1: our archives more accessible than ever before. So the book 762 00:43:15,960 --> 00:43:17,239 Speaker 1: was a lot of fun to work on, but I 763 00:43:17,280 --> 00:43:20,080 Speaker 1: get to work on so many other fun things every 764 00:43:20,160 --> 00:43:23,000 Speaker 1: day to make this history accessible and use the latest 765 00:43:23,040 --> 00:43:26,120 Speaker 1: technology and work with colleagues across the state and across 766 00:43:26,120 --> 00:43:30,440 Speaker 1: the country. UH to really UM bring this history and 767 00:43:30,480 --> 00:43:34,160 Speaker 1: make it more accessible, more searchable, UH than ever before. 768 00:43:34,880 --> 00:43:37,960 Speaker 1: I love it. UH. Lastly, lastly, where can people go 769 00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:41,279 Speaker 1: to find more info about the Bremen Museum. Yeah, go 770 00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:43,480 Speaker 1: to the Breman dot org. You can check out our 771 00:43:43,480 --> 00:43:47,080 Speaker 1: Google Arts and Culture page. Buy our book. It's available 772 00:43:47,080 --> 00:43:50,840 Speaker 1: wherever books are sold. UH and UM, feel free to 773 00:43:50,880 --> 00:43:53,520 Speaker 1: contact me find my information on our website. I'm always 774 00:43:53,520 --> 00:43:56,840 Speaker 1: happy to talk to people about our history, share links 775 00:43:56,840 --> 00:43:59,800 Speaker 1: to where you can find all this information. UM, and 776 00:44:00,120 --> 00:44:02,160 Speaker 1: think of me as a resource and then Prima Museum 777 00:44:02,160 --> 00:44:04,719 Speaker 1: as a resource. Careful what you wish for it here. 778 00:44:06,600 --> 00:44:08,920 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for spending this time with me. 779 00:44:09,360 --> 00:44:12,640 Speaker 1: I really appreciated you. Oh gosh, is my pleasure. Thanks 780 00:44:12,640 --> 00:44:15,840 Speaker 1: for highlighting the book and the Prima Museum, and Uh, 781 00:44:15,960 --> 00:44:19,000 Speaker 1: it's been such a pleasure talking to you. Many many 782 00:44:19,080 --> 00:44:21,640 Speaker 1: thanks to Jeremy Kats for spending time with us, and 783 00:44:21,719 --> 00:44:25,560 Speaker 1: to the Breman Museum, which you can find at the 784 00:44:25,760 --> 00:44:29,640 Speaker 1: Breman that's b R E M A N dot org. Uh. 785 00:44:29,680 --> 00:44:32,520 Speaker 1: They have a lot of great resources online, including UH 786 00:44:32,560 --> 00:44:35,560 Speaker 1: if you want help with genealogy research, there is a 787 00:44:36,160 --> 00:44:38,640 Speaker 1: whole little hook up there. The book once again is 788 00:44:38,680 --> 00:44:41,160 Speaker 1: the Jewish Community of Atlanta, which is part of the 789 00:44:41,200 --> 00:44:44,399 Speaker 1: Images of America series. Do you have some listener mail 790 00:44:44,400 --> 00:44:47,799 Speaker 1: for us to wrap up today's episode? I do, I know. 791 00:44:47,880 --> 00:44:53,240 Speaker 1: I I UM sometimes get get into listener mail repeat 792 00:44:53,239 --> 00:44:55,200 Speaker 1: rets because I will get a lot of mail about 793 00:44:55,200 --> 00:44:57,200 Speaker 1: something and it's sort of exciting to me that people 794 00:44:57,600 --> 00:44:59,600 Speaker 1: are learning about a thing for the first time. This 795 00:44:59,640 --> 00:45:02,640 Speaker 1: is from our listener, uh Karen, who writes hello and 796 00:45:02,680 --> 00:45:04,960 Speaker 1: thank you. Thank you for the wonderful history lessons you've 797 00:45:05,000 --> 00:45:07,839 Speaker 1: created for your listeners all these years. My hour long 798 00:45:07,840 --> 00:45:10,200 Speaker 1: commute to work is much more tolerable because I have 799 00:45:10,239 --> 00:45:14,000 Speaker 1: your insight into all kinds of stories to keep me company. Uh, 800 00:45:14,120 --> 00:45:17,040 Speaker 1: she writes, I finally found a reason to write you. Sidebar, 801 00:45:17,320 --> 00:45:19,239 Speaker 1: you can write us for any reason, just to say hi. 802 00:45:20,840 --> 00:45:23,440 Speaker 1: I listened to the Isidori Duncan episode and freely admit 803 00:45:23,520 --> 00:45:26,759 Speaker 1: I had never heard of her demise. Her life and work, yes, 804 00:45:26,840 --> 00:45:30,879 Speaker 1: but not her death. I'm a theater historian and college professor. Yes, 805 00:45:30,920 --> 00:45:33,799 Speaker 1: a PhD in theater history. Also sidebar, thank you for 806 00:45:33,840 --> 00:45:36,560 Speaker 1: being an educator. Uh, and knew of Duncan from her 807 00:45:36,560 --> 00:45:40,600 Speaker 1: connections to Konstantine Stanislavski and George Bernard Shaw. They talk 808 00:45:40,680 --> 00:45:43,200 Speaker 1: about her being an inspiration. Yeah, I never knew of 809 00:45:43,200 --> 00:45:46,160 Speaker 1: her tragic end or even that she was American. So 810 00:45:46,239 --> 00:45:48,759 Speaker 1: much more for me to learn. Uh. And then she 811 00:45:48,920 --> 00:45:53,279 Speaker 1: gives some uh interesting suggestions for the show, as well 812 00:45:53,320 --> 00:45:56,919 Speaker 1: as sending pictures of her cats, which I love. She writes, 813 00:45:57,160 --> 00:45:59,040 Speaker 1: I really look forward to your shows and have learned 814 00:45:59,080 --> 00:46:02,560 Speaker 1: so much. I'm also appreciative of your approaches and methodologies 815 00:46:02,560 --> 00:46:05,319 Speaker 1: to history, especially that you highlight bias and privilege where 816 00:46:05,360 --> 00:46:08,839 Speaker 1: they have clearly shaped our collective understanding of events. Keep 817 00:46:08,840 --> 00:46:11,719 Speaker 1: doing what you do best, Karen, Um, thank you so 818 00:46:11,800 --> 00:46:14,520 Speaker 1: much for your beautiful kittie pictures. They're so precious. But 819 00:46:14,600 --> 00:46:18,120 Speaker 1: I also just um, it's always thrilling to me in 820 00:46:18,160 --> 00:46:21,440 Speaker 1: a way to realize that that we have accidentally filled 821 00:46:21,480 --> 00:46:24,680 Speaker 1: a gap because, as I said in my intro to 822 00:46:24,800 --> 00:46:26,680 Speaker 1: those episodes, I feel like a lot of people know 823 00:46:26,760 --> 00:46:29,560 Speaker 1: the shorthand of Isadora Duncan as she died in this 824 00:46:29,640 --> 00:46:32,399 Speaker 1: horrific way, but they don't know much about her work. 825 00:46:32,480 --> 00:46:35,160 Speaker 1: So it's interesting to me to get the opposite perspective of, oh, 826 00:46:35,200 --> 00:46:37,080 Speaker 1: I knew all about her work, I did not know 827 00:46:37,120 --> 00:46:39,239 Speaker 1: about that end or that she was American um, which 828 00:46:39,280 --> 00:46:42,320 Speaker 1: is as cool. So if you if you would similarly 829 00:46:42,400 --> 00:46:44,719 Speaker 1: like to share these interesting perspectives with us, you could 830 00:46:44,719 --> 00:46:47,319 Speaker 1: do so at History podcast at iHeart radio dot com. 831 00:46:47,640 --> 00:46:50,120 Speaker 1: You can find us on social media as Missed in History, 832 00:46:50,280 --> 00:46:52,560 Speaker 1: and you can subscribe to the show on the I 833 00:46:52,640 --> 00:46:55,239 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, at Apple Podcasts, or wherever it is 834 00:46:55,280 --> 00:47:03,000 Speaker 1: you listen. M Stuff you Missed in History Class is 835 00:47:03,000 --> 00:47:06,200 Speaker 1: a production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from 836 00:47:06,200 --> 00:47:09,600 Speaker 1: I heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 837 00:47:09,719 --> 00:47:12,640 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. H