Chanukah with the DC Council

L to R: Laura Apelbaum, JHS Executive Director;
Debbie Linick, JCRC;
Irv Nathan, D.C. Attorney General;
Chairman Kwame Brown

The Jewish Historical Society celebrated the first night of Chanukah at City Hall with the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) and D.C. City Councilmembers.  Blessings were said, candles lit, colorful dreidels twirled, and best of all, jelly doughnuts eaten.  Attendees had a special opportunity to see two menorahs from our collection up close, including one handcrafted out of tin in Russia and brought to the U. S. in the 1880s.  If you missed your chance to snack on jelly doughnuts, join the JCRC at City Hall on the last night of Chanukah, Tuesday, December 27th, when they'll repeat the festivities.

More photos from the event!

A Successful Jewish American Heritage Month!

Chairman Brown addresses the crowd
Photograph by Betty Adler

Our Jewish American Heritage Month programs culminated at City Hall last month, where we celebrated with D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown, the D.C. Council, and even the mayor.  This special event, co-organized with the Jewish Community Relations Council, included a kosher deli lunch and our exhibition, Jewish Life in Mr. Lincoln’s City, which was on view in the Wilson Building atrium.


During May we served 625 people through our programs.  Countless others viewed our exhibitions.

Debbie Linick of JCRC,
D.C. Attorney General Irvin Nathan,
JHSGW Executive Director Laura Apelbaum,
and D.C. Mayor Vincent Grey
Photograph by Betty Adler

• We ran 7 adult programs including a walking tour of Jewish Sites in Arlington National Cemetery
• We served 4 youth groups—from as far away as New Jersey and Chicago—through synagogue tours, youth programs, and our living history show
• We partnered with 7 organizations: Jewish Community Relations Council, Foundation for Jewish Studies,

  

  Joan Nathan and Spike Mendelsohn
  speaking at the National Archives

  National Archives, Ford’s Theatre, Historical Society of Washington, D.C., Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia, and Jewish Theological Seminary
• We responded to 6 research requests ranging from a German graduate student, to George Washington University professor to Ohev Sholom rabbi.
• We displayed 3 exhibitions: Jewish Life in Mr. Lincoln’s City, Through the Lens: Jeremy Goldberg’s Washington, and Ties That Bind: Washington-Area Jews and the Birth of Israel.
• We hosted a graduation event for Context.
• We hosted members of the Shomrim Society, a Jewish police fraternity, during National Police Week (seen below)



Photograph by Pat Fisher

• We contributed to Jewish American Heritage Month’s 50 States/50 Stories project by submitting the story of Washingtonian Chaplain Alexander Goode, one of the Four Chaplains who gave their lives during WWII.  Our submission led to President Obama referring to Rabbi Goode in his JAHM proclamation.

Click on photos to enlarge.

Object of the Month: May 2011

Object #: 1999.13.1
Donor: Pearl Franck
Description: Celebration for the 25th Anniversary of the State of Israel, May 1973. L to R: Bernie Rosenberg (celebration chair for Jewish Community Council of Greater Washington), D.C. Mayor Walter Washington, and Isaac Franck (executive director of the Jewish Community Council of Greater Washington)

Background: Isaac Franck became executive director of the Jewish Community Council of Greater Washington in 1949. Franck, working with such influential Council presidents as Rabbi Isadore Breslau, Aaron Goldman, Albert E. Arent, Louis Grossberg, and Seymour D. Wolf, led the Community Council as it addressed a wide range of social and political problems.

While the Council was formed to serve the local Jewish community, it did not shy away from issues that affected the greater good. Among these were issues of civil rights and desegregation, education, assistance to the poor, separation of church and state, equal opportunity, and Home Rule for the District of Columbia. For example, in 1953, the Council lent its name to the Thompson’s Restaurant court case, decided by the Supreme Court. The case ended segregation in public accommodations in Washington, D.C. Following desegregation of public schools the subsequent year, the Council worked with city and religious leaders to encourage a peaceful transition. In 1963, Franck arranged for Martin Luther King, Jr., to address a citywide meeting at Adas Israel. That August, King returned to Washington to give his “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The Council coordinated local Jewish involvement in the historic event. In this photo of the march, Franck is seen in the lower right.

When Isaac Franck retired in 1973, Jewish Community Council membership had more than tripled. The Washington Post wrote that he “gave [the Jewish community] not only a degree of cohesion, he also sought for it a special place because of its location in the national’s capital.” During Franck's tenure, the Council grew dramatically and worked with other organizations and faiths. He enabled 173 local organizations to speak as one while taking action on a wide range of community matters.

Today, the Council continues its important work with a new organizational name, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington.

Do you have material documenting local social justice movements that you’d like to donate to the Jewish Historical Society’s collection? Please contact us at info@jhsgw.org or (202) 789-0900.

Object of the Month: July 2010

To honor our 50th anniversary, we invite you to peek into our archives each month.

From the Archives...
Bicentennial Photograph


Archives Record
Object #: 2008.18.6
Donor: Sandra and Dr. Clement Alpert
Description: 6.5”x10” black and white photograph. Rabbi Louis Gerstein, Amy Gerstein (left) and Cecile and Dr. Seymour Alpert (right) with President Gerald Ford (center) on July 12, 1976 in the Oval Office of the White House.

Background:
On July 12, 1976, as part of the nationwide bicentennial celebrations, rabbis from six colonial congregations presented President Ford with a Bicentennial letter. Representatives were present from Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim (Charleston, SC), Congregation Shearith Israel (New York, NY), Congregation Jeshuat Israel (Newport, RI), Congregation Mikveh Israel (Philadelphia, PA), Congregation Mickve Israel (Savannah, GA), and Congregation Beth Ahabah (Richmond, VA).

Rabbi Louis Gerstein, who served Shearith Israel for 32 years, posed in the Oval Office with his wife Amy, President Ford, and Dr. Seymour and Cecile Alpert. Dr. Alpert was on the Jewish Bicentennial Commission of Greater Washington. The Alperts were active members of Washington, D.C.’s Jewish community. They were philanthropists and leaders in organizations such as the Jewish Community Council, Israel Bonds, and United Jewish Appeal (a predecessor to The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington).

Do you have materials documenting the D.C.-area Jewish community’s bicentennial celebrations? To donate, contact us at info@jhsgw.org or (202) 789-0900.