Jews in the American South

Did your family settle in the American South?

If you have Southern connections, consider attending the annual conference of the Southern Jewish Historical Society, November 1-4 in Washington, DC. This year's theme is "Honoring the Past for the Sake of the Future."

Speakers will address Jewish responses to Hurricane Katrina in historical perspective, the origins of American and particularly Southern Chanuka celebrations, as well as programs covering Louisiana, Maryland, Texas, Florida, Alabama and Kentucky; archives and resources, Jewish history and more:

*Bagels and Grits: A Jew on the Bayou, writer-painter Jennifer Moses, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

*Builders of the Mishkan: The Jewish Community and Jews in theCommunity of Greenbelt, MD, Sally Stokes

*Introduction to the Hebraic Section, Library of Congress , Peggy K. Pearlstein

*Alexander Ziskind Gurwitz, Hebrew Teacher and Yiddish Memoirist in Frontier Texas, Bryan Stone, Del Mar College, Corpus Christi, Texas

*Nathan Kallison, Ukrainian-trained Harness Maker and Texas Entrepreneur, Nick Kotz, Pulitzer-prize winning journalist

*Benjamin, Yulee/Levy, and Disraeli: Jewish Political Leaders in the 19th Century, Maury Wiseman, University of Florida, Tallahassee, Florida

*A Giving Spirit: The Galveston Movement and Civil Judaism, Wendy H. Bergoffen, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Oshkosh, Wisconsin

*The Impact of Hitler on Jews and Others in Alabama, Daniel Puckett, Troy State University, Troy, Alabama

*Schlesinger of Mobile: Synagogue Music in the Late 19th Century, John Baron, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana

*Zion in the Fields of Kentucky: I.J. Schwartz’s Kentucky as Yiddish-American Epic, Julian Levinson, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan

*Dixie Diaspora: An Anthology of Southern Jewish History, Mark K. Bauman (editor)

*Jewish Roots in Southern Soil: A New History, Marcie Cohen Ferris (co-editor with Mark I. Greenberg)

There's much more. To see the full program, click here.