Course:ARST575K/LIBR539H/The Jewish Museum and Archives of BC

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The Jewish Museum and Archives of BC is a museum and archives dedicated to Jewish histories and communities of British Columbia. The main office is located on Ash Street in Vancouver, BC and houses its archives offsite on Horseshoe Way in Richmond, BC. The institution was founded by Cyril Leonoff, z”l (1925 - 2016).

The Jewish Museum and Archives of BC
Logo of the Jewish Museum & Archives of BC
Founded January 25, 1971[1]
Address 6184 Ash Street

Vancouver, BC

V5Z 3G9

Website http://www.jewishmuseum.ca/
Hours Monday - Thursday: 9:00am to 5:00pm

Friday: By appointment only

Contact +1 (604) 257-5199

Background and History

In 1971, the Jewish Historical Society of British Columbia was founded with sponsorship from the Canadian Jewish Congress and the National Council of Jewish Women[2]. Cyril Leonoff, a Vancouver-based geotechnical engineer and historian, was elected the founding president. Leonoff’s historical accolades included award-winning books on Jewish-Canadian history in addition to sitting as chair of the City of Vancouver Heritage Advisory Committee and President of the Vancouver Historical Society[3]. Leonoff strongly believed in ensuring future generations appreciated the accomplishments of founding Jewish-Canadian families, a belief that has influenced the archive’s mandate to “collect, preserve, and share community memories of Jewish life in British Columbia''[4]. Leonoff’s commitment and passion to preserving British Columbian-Jewish history granted a level of activism and community control, guaranteeing that the voices of the community would be documented and heard[5]. Since its founding, the archive has evolved into the Jewish Museum and Archive of British Columbia (JMABC), but it’s core mandate has remained steadfast.

For fifty years, the Jewish Museum and Archives has collected and preserved 150 years’ worth of material significant to Jewish life in British Columbia. Members of the archive work to bring awareness of JMABC by collaborating with Jewish-owned organizations and families while simultaneously building connections between the diverse communities of British Columbia. In a 2017 interview, JMABC archivist Alysa Routtenberg discussed the importance of the JMABC’s work:

"If we don’t preserve our history, no one else will… it’s really easy for people to think they’re not important, that their stuff isn’t important, thinking there is no reason why we would want it. People, all the time, bring stuff from the 1970s and 1980s, and they think it’s not important… but, if we don’t do it now, it never gets to be 150 years old"[6].

Current JMABC president Dr. Carol Herbert emphasized that the JMABC wants every Jewish person in British Columbia to be aware of JMABC and recognize it as “your organization”[7]. In many communities, archives represent an accessible part of a community’s collective memory, experiences, knowledge, and culture. Archivist and scholar Sue Mckemmish has argued that such characteristics of a community archive establishes the community’s control of their narrative and allows them to provide “evidence of us”[8], a sentiment reflected in both Routtenberg’s and Dr. Herbert’s statements.

Collections and Holdings

To acquire accessions, the Jewish Museum and Archive relies on the community, often encouraging members not to dispose of their family items but instead, donate the material to the archive where it may be safely stored to preserve the continuing British Columbian-Jewish history. The archive collects both personal and institutional records relevant to the archive's mandate.

Collection of JMABC material

Currently, the Jewish Museum and Archives houses:

  • 325 linear metres of textual records
  • 325,000 photographs
  • 875 oral history interviews.

JMABC's photographic collections include the Fred Schiffer fonds and the Ronnie Tessler fonds, both of which have had dedicated online exhibits.

JMABC is currently collaborating with Vancouver-based Jewish Queer and Trans non-profit, JQT (pronounced J-cutie), on "The BC Jewish Queer & Trans Oral History Project". The goal of this project is to preserve the lived experiences of older Jewish queer and trans adults[9]. Phase I of this project has been completed, with 30 interviews being recorded, transcribed, and added to JMABC's collection of oral histories. Phase II, a public exhibit on the project, is currently in the works.

Organizational Structure

The archive of JMABC describes their accessions according to the Rules for Archival Description (RAD), a multi-level descriptor that identifies the provenance of the record, provides information about who or what created the record, and describes the content of the record. With 50 years’ worth of material, JMABC often reflects on past collections to guide their work. If material is acquired from another organization, the archive may choose to fit their arrangement and description to match the existing material and will slightly break with RAD if necessary.

Access

The online repository and collection descriptions can be found online at archives.jewishmuseum.ca. The archive’s online repository is hosted on Access to Memory, “a web based, open-source application for standards-based archival description and access in a… multi-repository environment”[10]. Visitors can view digitized images or read archival descriptions to understand what material is housed in a collection or fonds.

Researchers interested in accessing a collection in person must request the material through the archivist and schedule a time to view the material at the archive.

Community Outreach

Programs

JMABC offers a variety of community programs and projects, led by both experts and local community members; this encourages the notion of reciprocal learning proffered by scholars within archival studies and beyond. The type of learning these programs offer - which may be thought of as circular or dialogical learning rather than linear[11] - stimulates community engagement and establishes a sense of pride that simultaneously works against symbolic annihilation.[12]

Historic Walking Tours

Strathcona Walking Tour outside the former Schara Tzedeck Synagogue.

JMABC walking tours are led primarily by the museum's volunteers and introduce groups to the history of British Columbia through the eyes of Jewish communities and families. The following tours are available:

  • Jewish Oakridge Walking Tour
  • Cross Cultural Strathcona Walking Tour
  • Jewish Strathcona Walking Tour
  • Archives Tour
  • Mountain View Cemetery
  • Jewish Gastown Walking Tour

Though these tours tend to foreground Jewish histories, there is significant overlap with other minority communities in the province. For instance, the Cross Cultural Strathcona Walking Tour was developed in collaboration with community initiatives within Chinatown, Japantown, Hogan's Alley, and Jewish Strathcona.[13] By working with other minority communities, the tours (and JMABC's other programs) strengthen ties between a vast number of populations and combat the neoliberal agendas often found within academic libraries and archives which increasingly seek quantifiable results.[12]

Intersections: Speaker Series

The Intersections Speaker Series was last held in October of 2018. Within this series, the museum invites experts to come and lead discussions within their areas of expertise; these discussions are meant to facilitate conversation amongst BC's many diverse communities and have covered topics such as The Gold Rush of 1858 and desecration of Jewish sacred sites.[14]

Food-Related Programs

The Jewish Museum and Archives of BC has created three food-related programs:

  • The Chosen Food Supper Club
  • The Kitchen Stories
  • The Britannia Sukkot Festival

The Chosen Food Supper Club was last held in 2017 and consisted of eight meals from across the world. These dinners were meant to bring Jewish communities and families together to share in their unique histories and memories as part of a larger Jewish community.[15] The Kitchen Stories is a podcast in which the host, Liana Glass, discusses the interrelations between foods and other topics in Jewish life, such as gender, the idea of family, and land. As per their website, "More than just a source of nourishment, foods is a means of communication."[16] The Kitchen Stories currently has two seasons and is ongoing. The inaugural Britannia Sukkot Festival was held in 2017 and is a commemorative dinner of the exodus held within a temporary shelter.[17] These three programs highlight the importance of food within storytelling and constructions of Jewish histories over time.

Exhibits

The museum operates today as an online and digital museum. Since the museum lost its physical museum space in 2010, it now largely displays online exhibits and hosts temporary and travelling exhibits.[18] As of 2021, JMABC has twelve online exhibits on their website, and has hosted two travelling exhibits. These exhibits can be borrowed and travelling exhibits often pass through academic and public institutions, spreading information about Jewish communities in BC to a wider audience.

Publications

JMABC currently has four publications:

  • The Scribe
  • The Chronicle
  • Family History Book Series
  • Educational Resources

These publications are additional resources made available to the community for both educational purposes on Jewish life and community and the archives and museum run by JMABC. The Scribe is JMABC's journal, which covers a range of topics relating to Jewish professionals in different aspects of life. Previous volumes have centered on medicine, scrap metal industry, religion, outlying Jewish communities, and more.[19] The Chronicle is the museum's newsletter and has been running since 2009; it is released biannually to the public online, and members receive physical copies via mail.[20] The Family History Book Series seeks to showcase Jewish families from around the world. It currently has one volume, which centers the Nemetz family from Russia.[21] This project is ongoing. The final publication is an educational resource which has been titled, "The East End Stories Study Guide," which was developed for grades 7-9 in the areas of English and Social Studies.[22] Like the Family History Book Series, this project is also ongoing with other educational resources in progress.

Affiliated Organizations

The Jewish Museum and Archives of BC maintains ties with two main philanthropies: the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, and the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Vancouver. JMABC has also received financial support from the Government of Canada, the Government of British Columbia, and the City of Vancouver. The most recently published issue of The Chronicle also documented contributions from the following organizations:

The museum also accepts donations from community members and relies on continued support from a multitude of channels in order to fund projects, such as the current projects held under JMABC's 50th Anniversary Campaign.[24]

Conclusion

The Jewish Museum and Archives of BC is a unique organization which creates and maintains its community network via extensive programming and exhibitions. Their programs, for instance, foreground families in ways that many organizational archives may never be able or willing to do, largely due to the profession's adversity to claiming personal and family archives as "archival." Food is also a central element to JMABC's programs, bringing diverse Jewish communities together around dinner tables for evenings spent communicating and sharing histories in informal, liminal spaces. JMABC's vast collections and programming around those collections demonstrate an ongoing effort to build an institution - in collaboration with community members and families - which values the idiosyncratic differences between the many distinct yet intertwined Jewish communities of British Columbia and their histories.

COVID-19 Response

JMABC closed their doors to the public in March of 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This has not drastically changed the operations of JMABC due to their strong online presence prior to the pandemic, though it has altered how some procedures are carried out. For instance, researchers will now obtain documents that are compiled by the archivist rather than coming to the archives themselves. Additionally, acquisition efforts are now largely completed via phone.[25]

References

  1. "THE JEWISH MUSEUM AND ARCHIVES OF BRITISH COLUMBIA" (PDF). The Scribe. 38. 2019.
  2. "Cyril Edel Leonoff". The Province. April 16, 2016. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  3. "Cyril Edel Leonoff". The Province. April 16, 2016. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  4. "Archive". Jewish Museum and Archive of BC. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  5. Flinn, Andrew; Stevens, Mary; Shepherd, Elizabeth (October 31, 2009). "Whose memories, whose archives? Independent community archives, autonomy and the mainstream". Archival Science. 9: 71–86 – via Springer Link.
  6. Kuropatwa, Rebeca (March 17, 2017). "Come Celebrate Our History". Jewish Independent. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  7. Herbert, Carol (December 18, 2020). "Jewish Museum Marks 50th". Jewish Independent. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  8. Hobbs, Catherine (2010). "Reenvisioning the Personal: Reframing Traces of Individual Life". Currents of Archival Thinking. Santa Barbara, California: Libraries Unlimited. pp. 213–241.
  9. Dodek, Michelle (July 24, 2020). "Recording LGBTQ+ history". Jewish Independent. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  10. "AtoM". Access to Memory. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  11. Freire, Paulo (2005). Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group.
  12. 12.0 12.1 Caswell, Michelle, Alda Allina Migoni, Noah Geraci, and Marika Cifor. 2017. "‘To Be Able to Imagine Otherwise’: community archives and the importance of representation." The Journal of the Archives and Records Administration 38, no. 1: 5-26. DOI: 10.1080/23257962.2016.1260445
  13. "Cross Cultural Strathcona Walking Tour". Jewish Museum and Archives of BC. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
  14. "Intersections: Speaker Series". Jewish Museum and Archives. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  15. "The Chosen Food Supper Club". Jewish Museum and Archives of BC. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  16. "The Kitchen Stories". Jewish Museum and Archives of BC. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  17. "The Britannia Sukkot Festival". Jewish Museum and Archives of BC. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  18. BC Museum's Association (2017). "The Out of the Box Programer". Round Up. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  19. "The Scribe". Jewish Museum and Archives of BC. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  20. "The Chronicle". Jewish Museum and Archives of BC. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  21. "Family History Book Series". Jewish Museum and Archives of BC. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  22. "Educational Resources". Jewish Museum and Archives of BC. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  23. "Board & Staff" (PDF). The Chronicle. 27. 2021.
  24. "Fifty Years Young: Celebrate the Past and Future of BC's Jewish Community". Jewish Museum and Archives of BC. Retrieved October 3, 2021.
  25. Routtenberg, Alysa. 2021. Interview by Sarah Van Mook.