Remembering Arthur Welsh

This coming June will mark the centennial of Arthur Welsh's death in an airplane crash.

The story of Welsh, a Russian Jewish immigrant who settled in Washington, is one of our favorites. Likely after seeing an airplane demonstration at Fort Myer, Virginia, in 1908, he asked the Wright Brothers to hire him. After he persisted, they eventually agreed. He became one of their most trusted pilots and instructors, training several pilots (including "Hap" Arnold, head of the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II) and demonstrating the new technology of flight until his untimely death when his Wright Flyer C crashed at College Park airfield on June 11, 1912.

To commemorate the centennial of his death, we are collaborating with the College Park Aviation Museum to create a small exhibition and hold a special program. As part of the prep, we recently met with Paul Glenshaw, the exhibition's researcher and designer, and Tiffany Davis, Collection Curator at the Museum.

We ventured together to pay our respects to Welsh at Southeast Washington's Adas Israel Cemetery. This picture shows, from left, Paul, Tiffany, me, and Lisa.

Interested in learning more about this remarkable Jewish Washingtonian? Visit the online exhibition we created several years ago, and come join us at the program in June!

Exhibition Opening at French Embassy

Last night I, along with JHSGW board member Howard Morse (seen here), attended a special reception and exhibit opening at the Embassy of France for an exhibition about Hélène Berr, the French equivalent of Anne Frank. The exhibit “Hélène Berr—A Stolen Life” created by The Mémorial de la Shoah, is only on view for a few days at the embassy and then will travel to New York and eventually to the Virginia Holocaust Museum in Richmond, VA. This touching exhibit is based on Hélène’s journal, a beautifully written account of her life in Nazi-occupied Paris. Her journal was saved by her cook and only published in 2008. Hélène, just like Anne Frank, still believed in the goodness of people, even through all of the indignities and horrors she experienced. I am moved by her overwhelming positive view of humanity at its darkest hour.

JHSGW will commemorate Holocaust Remembrance Day, Thursday, April 19th at 7pm at the Embassy of France. I hope you will join us and La Maison Française as we remember courageous acts of women resisters, who proved that people are indeed good and stand up to injustice.

Looking for summer interns

Want to gain valuable museum/public history experience while learning about D.C.-area Jewish history and contributing to a small organization?

JHSGW is looking for some interns for this summer. Read about the experiences of our former interns Stacey, Sam, and Shelly. (Note: Your name does not need to begin with "S" to intern here!)

Interns work in a variety of activities, including (but not limited to):
1. Archives/collections management
2. Research
3. Education/Programs
4. Outreach/Marketing/Membership
5. Publications
6. Website/Exhibitions

Since we have a small staff, there's a good chance you will be dabbling in all of the above fields during the course of your internship!

Interested? To apply, please send the internship application, along with your resume, a cover letter (no more than one page) detailing your interest in this internship and how it fits your goals, and a writing sample to: David McKenzie, Interpretive Programs Manager (dmckenzie@jhsgw.org) by April 1.

The writing sample can be whatever you would like. Some have sent academic papers. Others have sent exhibition texts, archival finding aids, or other materials they've composed for their classes, internships, or jobs. Just as long as it gives us the chance to see how you write, it's fine with us.

The internship is unpaid. Number of hours per week is flexible; schedule will be during normal business hours (9-5 Monday-Thursday). Schedule must be consistent from week to week.

Any questions? Contact David McKenzie at dmckenzie@jhsgw.org or (202) 789-0900.

JHS Testifies @ City Council Hearing

Honored to be asked to testify at an oversight hearing at the DC City Council before Councilmember Tommy Wells in support of DC Community Heritage Project grants. That's me on the left with my back to the camera.

We have twice received these small grants to fund projects that combine the humanities and historic preservation-- once to convene a public meeting with esteemed academics to discuss what stories we should tell in our historic sanctuary and then to help fund the educational panels that now grace the sanctuary with those stories.

Unfortunately our city has too few resources available for humanities or historic preservation related projects. Perhaps by our presence today we have begun advocating for more support.

Object of the Month: February 2012

Archives Record
Object #: 2002.11.2
Donor: Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington
Description: Newsclipping featuring Jewish Community Center women basketball players practicing, February 22, 1935, Washington Times, included in JCC scrapbook.
From left to right, Betty Kronman, Alto Schnitzer, Dorothy Shatzman (with ball), Sally Parker, and Helen Bushlow.

Background: This 1935 newsclipping of JCC basketball players is from a collection of scrapbooks that document the JCC at 16th & Q Streets, NW. The scrapbooks date from 1919 to 1941 and include many newsclippings, program invitations, photographs, and calendars of events documenting lectures, music recitals, and sporting events.

The photo in this clipping is featured in a documentary, Jewish Women in American Sport: Settlement Houses to the Olympics. Executive Producer Dr. Linda Borish of Western Michigan University visited our archives while conducting research for the film. We are proud that she selected this photograph for inclusion in the documentary. Join Dr. Borish and the Jewish Historical Society for a noontime screening of the film on Tuesday, March 6, 2012, at the Goethe-Institut.

Do you have material documenting a local Jewish athlete that you’d like to donate to the Jewish Historical Society? Contact us at info@jhsgw.org or (202) 789-0900.

Shabbat Service Honors Chaplain Alexander Goode

This past Friday, February 3, 2012, when the congregation gathered to welcome Shabbat at Washington Hebrew Congregation, the service marked the anniversary of the sinking of the WWII transport boat the Dorchester and the remarkable bravery of the Four Chaplains-- all of whom gave their lives that frigid night in the waters off Greenland so others could live.

Among the four chaplains was Rabbi Alexander Goode, who grew up in Washington and who was a member of Washington Hebrew. His name was among those on the yartzeit (memorial) list read aloud during the service. Rabbi Goode's name is the first listed on the new Jewish chaplains memorial pictured above at Arlington National Cemetery.

The story has been memorialized in many ways and guest speaker, Rabbi Arnie Resnicoff, himself a former Navy chaplain, recounted it adding details from his service in Vietnam, the Far East and Middle East.

As the service concluded, Rabbi Bruce Lustig reminded us that the Dorchester sunk in just 27 minutes--- a startling reminder of the fragility of life and the sacrifice of the Four Chaplains that cold night 69 years ago.

White House Liaison Visits!

This morning we welcomed Jarrod Bernstein, Director of Jewish Outreach in the White House's Office of Public Engagement, to the Museum.

Archivist Wendy Turman (wearing the white gloves below!) gave Jarrod a taste of the archives focusing on some of our items related to the presidency (including a panoramic photo of President Coolidge dedicating the Washington DCJCC in 1925).

We are proud that our building has presidential connections. When President Ulysses S. Grant attended the synagogue's dedication service in 1876, he became the first sitting US president to attend a synagogue service.

We are now "connected" and exploring ways to work together.