Celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month

From the Desk of Emily S. Hager, Director of Programming & Education

Since 2006, May has been recognized as Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM), marking the unique role that Jews have played in shaping American society, entertainment, culture, and history. During JAHM, people across the nation come together to celebrate the contributions that American Jews have made, and continue to make, to our diverse communities. This month, we’ll highlight some of the ways that the museum celebrates the Jewish American experience in Southern Arizona.

Jewish immigrants have been a part of America for over 370 years. In 1654, a group of 23 Portuguese-speaking Sephardi refugees traveled north from Brazil to New Amsterdam, and settled in what we now call Manhattan, New York. Two hundred years later, Ashkenazi Jews, primarily from Germany, started traveling to Southern Arizona, seeking opportunity, adventure, and the possibility of a new life. Inspired by those early immigrants, we sought to contextualize, understand, and represent stories of Jewish migration through a community-sourced exhibition. The photographic memoir project, Mapping Migration, asked Jewish residents of Southern Arizona to contribute three images: the oldest known photograph of their ancestors,  a photograph depicting their family in migration, and then a more contemporary photos. Families featured in Mapping Migration have photos of their ancestors from well over a hundred years ago, from places as far away as Russia, Ukraine, and more. The photos show wonderful events like weddings, graduations, and bar/bat mitzvahs from various time periods.

Mapping Migration helps illustrate that diaspora does not eliminate one’s community but rather, people in a community can adapt, transform, and become even more resilient. These qualities are exactly what JAHM is about: celebrating the resilient community that Jewish Americans have created across the United States. At TJMHC, we honor those Jewish immigrants that made Southern Arizona their home for future generations. Mapping Migration showcases just a small percentage of American Jews in Southern Arizona and we’d love to include your family’s story as well. Please reach out to TJMHC Director of Programming & Education, Emily Hager, for more details