Previous Exhibitions: 1976-1994

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HISTORY OF EXHIBITIONS 1976-1994

1994 BRIDGES AND BOUNDARIES: TWO PEOPLES FACE TO FACE
BRIDGES AND BOUNDARIES was a joint project of the NMAJH and African-American Cultural and Historical Museum. The project generated unprecedented critical and popular attention for both the NMAJH and the AACHM.

FACE TO FACE: PHOTOGRAPHS BY DON CAMP AND LAURENCE SALZMANN.
Curated by Karen Mittelman of the NMAJH and Richard Watson of the African-American Cultural and Historical Museum. Presented at the NMAJH. FACE TO FACE focused on the relationship between blacks and Jews through the eyes of two photographers, Don Camp, who is black, and Laurence Salzmann, who is Jewish. Salzmann created a portrait of two peoples often starkly divided, sometimes connected by shared social visions, political ties and friendships. His provocative interviews and photographs revealed the complex ways that reality, social perceptions and stereotypes shape understanding. Camp chose to focus on six individual stories of Jews and African Americans whose lives are interwoven, through their work, families, political and creative passions, or spiritual commitment. His work suggested that even at times when social institutions or political alliances fail, personal bonds have an enduring power to bring people together.

BRIDGES AND BOUNDARIES: AFRICAN-AMERICANS AND AMERICAN JEWS
Organized by The Jewish Museum, New York, and curated by Gretchen Sorin-Sullivan and Julie Reiss. Presented at the AACHM. This exhibition examined the relationship between Jews and African-Americans in the 20th century, highlighting both the historical moments when Blacks and Jews joined together in struggles for civil rights, as well as the moments of tension between these two groups.

1993 "A WORTHY USE OF SUMMER": JEWISH SUMMER CAMPING IN AMERICA
Curated by Jenna Weissman Joselit. A WORTHY USE OF SUMMER: JEWISH SUMMER CAMPS, 1900-1950 explored the social and cultural meanings of Jewish summer camping and its relationship to the ongoing creation of American Jewish identity. Arguing that summer camps were central community institutions, which can shed light on the educational and social values of American Jewish communities, the exhibit examined how different groups of American Jews--from Orthodox to Yiddishist to Zionist--used summer camping as a vehicle for the expression of their ideals.

IMAGES OF SOUTHERN JEWISH LIFE: PHOTOGRAPHS BY BILL ARON
Organized by the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience. A unique exhibition exploring Jewish life in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi through the eyes of noted photographer Bill Aron, IMAGES OF SOUTHERN JEWISH LIFE illuminated the shaping of Jewish identity and community in little-known regions of the South. Aron and Project Director Marcie Cohen traveled from the Gulf Coast of Mississippi to the hills of Arkansas and the bayous of Louisiana, collecting images of Jewish cotton planters, stylish synagogues, and abandoned cemeteries.

1992 CONTEMPORARY ARTIFACTS 1992
Curated by Beverly Haas and Karen Mittelman. The Museum's twelfth annual exhibition of contemporary Jewish crafts featured 70 unique works of art, interpreting the theme of liberation and freedom in Jewish spiritual life. The artists invited responded to the theme in a wide range of ways, some expanded interpretations of the Jewish holidays that traditionally celebrate freedom from bondage--Purim, Passover, and Hanukkah -- and others challenged audiences to consider the theme of Freedom in new contexts.

ORDINARY AND EXTRAORDINARY LIVES: FIVE YEARS OF COLLECTING
Curated by Karen Mittelman. An exhibition showcasing artifacts acquired in the past five years, ORDINARY AND EXTRAORDINARY LIVES illustrated new interpretive directions in the Museum's recent collecting efforts. The 140 artifacts on view reflected the substantial strengthening of existing collections of American Yiddish culture and Jewish religious and communal life in recent years, as well as new holdings in the areas of everyday life, labor and leisure. By juxtaposing the "ordinary" and the everyday with the extraordinary and unusual, the exhibition raised questions about what "belongs" in a history museum: What is worth saving and documenting about the American past? Whose stories should we remember and preserve?

FORGOTTEN SPACES: PHOTOGRAPHS BY WIJNANDA DEROO
Organized by The Jewish Museum; curated by Norman Kleeblatt. Dutch photographer Wijnanda Deroo photographs empty spaces: hotel rooms, synagogues, apartment buildings. This exhibition of oversized black and white images of Lower East Side synagogues suggested the vibrant communal life that once existed in these spaces.

1991 CONTEMPORARY ARTIFACTS 1991
Curated by Beverly Haas. Forty-one crafts artists participated in CONTEMPORARY ARTI-FACTS 1991, creating innovative works in three categories: ritual objects for the table, ceremonial body adornments, and the sanctification of ritual through light. The Museum invited Nessa Rapoport, who has written and spoken widely on Jewish feminism, culture and imagination, to comment on the artists' modern interpretations of Jewish ritual.

DIANA FORMAN: THE "BIBLE DOLL LADY"
Curated by William Westerman. Created from a recently-discovered collection of handmade dolls crafted by artist and educator Diana Forman, this exhibition explored the talents and vision of an unusual Jewish woman artist. Mrs. Forman made nearly 800 dolls in her lifetime, and used them to teach Bible tales and Jewish moral values to Jewish children from the 1940s to the 1960s. Her collection of Bible dolls and her life's work of teaching and creating, illuminate the history of Jewish education as well as the creative vision of a self-taught artist.

GOING HOME: HOW AMERICAN JEWS INVENT THE OLD WORLD
Curated by Jack Kugelmass and Jeffrey Shandler. GOING HOME, an exhibition originally developed by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in New York, explored the complex cultural, emotional and religious relationships between Eastern European Jewish immigrants and their countries of origin. Weaving together elements of nostalgia for the Old World and anti-nostalgic images, GOING HOME traced the changing meanings of American Jews' connections to Eastern Europe, examining the ways in which those connections continue to shape Jewish ethnic identity. Drawing on diverse materials including diaries, family scrapbooks and "Old World" cookbooks; images from theater, art and film; political cartoons, advertisements, and tourism brochures, the exhibit analyzed the cultural importance of memory and nostalgia, and the "mythologizing" of the Old World.

1990 CONTEMPORARY ARTIFACTS 1990
Curated by Beverly Haas. The tenth annual exhibition of American Judaic ceremonial art, CONTEMPORARY ARTIFACTS featured an added interpretive dimension in 1990. Artists were invited to submit objects used for home-based rituals -- such as Sabbath candles and hallah covers, seder plates, dreidels, menorahs, or mezuzahs -- and the exhibition focussed on the changing meaning and artistic interpretations of Jewish ritual in the home. Arthur Waskow, the author of several works on contemporary Jewish ritual, curated the exhibition and provided the interpretation of the ceremonial works displayed.

MAY YOU BE INSCRIBED FOR A GOOD YEAR: JEWISH NEW YEAR'S CARDS
Curated by Maxwell Whiteman. An exhibition developed by historian Maxwell Whiteman, who served as guest curator, MAY YOU BE INSCRIBED showcased the Museum's growing collection of Rosh Hashanah greeting cards. Turn-of-the-century pop-up cards, postcards, and early examples of privately-printed New Year's greetings, many also drawn from Whiteman's extensive personal collection, illustrated the evolution of the Jewish New Year card from the late 1870s through the 1930s.

THE INVISIBLE THREAD: A PORTRAIT OF JEWISH AMERICAN WOMEN
Organized by the Anti-Defamation League and B'nai B'rith Women. This photographic exhibition explored the lives of contemporary American Jewish women. Through photographs and accompanying quotes from personal interviews, the exhibit suggested that there is a connecting link - the "invisible thread" - that unites Jewish women regardless of social background or observance of Jewish ritual. The exhibition's diverse subjects included Vermont Governor Madeleine Kunin, film director Susan Seidelman, feminist author Susannah Heschel, an Alabama veterinarian, a dancer, and a Holocaust survivor and her daughter.

SOLOMON NUNES CARVALHO: PAINTER, PHOTOGRAPHER, AND PROPHET IN 19TH CENTURY AMERICA
Organized by the Jewish Historical Society of Maryland. The world's first Jewish photographer, Carvalho (1815-1897) dedicated himself to the most stimulating and creative aspects of the new democratic society of America -- its art, technology and literature. The exhibition examined the life and career of Carvalho as an artist, inventor and Jewish communal leader.

THE AMERICAN JEWISH EXPERIENCE
Curated by Kenneth Libo and Alice M. Greenwald. This long-term exhibition had a three-part structure including a timeline, providing a chronological view of American Jewish history counterpointed against world Jewish and American history; an exhibition of more than 300 artifacts, arranged thematically within the three major periods of Jewish immigration provided insight into how American Jews lived and worked, the institutions which they created to support Jewish ideas and values and their participation in the general social, cultural, educational, economic and political life of their regions and the nation; and an audio-visual program providing an overview of Jewish life in the twentieth century.

1989 CONTEMPORARY ARTIFACTS 1989
A juried exhibition

PORTRAITS OF THE AMERICAN JEWISH FAMILY
Curated by Kenneth Libo. The treasured heirlooms of three families, collected over two centuries, provided an intimate perspective on immigration, acculturation and Jewish identity in America. Drawing on the Museum's collections and family collections, the exhibition contrasted a Sephardic, German and East European family experience over several generations.

THE HOLOCAUST
A portfolio of prints by Murray Zimiles. A portfolio of powerful prints, donated to the Museum by the Brandywine Workshop and executed by artist Murray Zimiles, reveal the impact of the Holocaust on an American Jewish artist's creative vision.

LOUIS EDWARD LEVY: SCIENTIST, INVENTOR, HUMANITARIAN
Curated by Maxwell Whiteman. This exhibition honored Louis Edward Levy, an innovator in the field of photoengraving who developed the half-tone printing process still used in duplicating photographs in newspapers. Levy also was a tireless worker on behalf of immigrants of all nationalities and created institutions which were models for other immigrant aid societies.

MOSHE ZABARI: A 25 YEAR RETROSPECTIVE
Organized by the Jewish Museum, New York and the HUC Skirball Museum, Los Angeles. A complement to the diversity of CONTEMPORARY ARTIFACTS, this exhibition revealed the evolution of the work of a single artist, through 60 ceremonial objects created in silver. Zabari is one of the few contemporary artists who has exclusively on works reinterpreting ritual through contemporary media and aesthetics.

1988 CONTEMPORARY ARTIFACTS 1988
Curated by Elaine Silverman and Beverly Haas.

BETWEEN TWO WORLDS
Curated by Kenneth Libo and Sallie Gross. Complementing A CENTURY OF AMBIVALENCE, a smaller installation revealed the story of immigration from Russia to America using clothing, ritual and domestic objects, documents, historical photographs and family heirlooms of Russian Jews newly arrived on these shores to evoke the milieu of the great wave of East European immigrants who transformed American Jewish life.

A CENTURY OF AMBIVALENCE: THE JEWS OF RUSSIA AND THE SOVIET UNION
Organized by the Jewish Museum and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. The first major exhibition to chronicle Jewish life in Russia and the Soviet Union, the exhibition featured nearly 300 photographs and related artifacts to show the changing fortunes of Jewish life in the Soviet Union during the last century. The original exhibition was edited to highlight the experiences in Russia and the Soviet Union as they relate to America, and in particular to reveal the patterns of immigration, both at the turn of the century and the recent immigration of Soviet Jews to this country.

THE HISTORY OF YIDDISH THEATER IN AMERICA
Curated by Kenneth Libo. Extending the themes addressed in HOORAY FOR YIDDISH THEATER, this installation focused on the careers of actors Jacob P. Adler, Maurice Schwartz and Jacob Ben Ami, actresses Molly Picon and Bertha Gerstein and set designers Boris Aronson and Sam Leve. Theater posters, stage maquettes, costume designs, photographs, albums, newspaper announcements and advertisements were featured.

HOORAY FOR YIDDISH THEATER IN AMERICA!
Organized by B'nai B'rith Klutznick Museum and circulated by SITES - extensively supplemented by Kenneth Libo. Documenting one of the most enduring of transplanted cultural expressions, the Yiddish theater, the exhibition explored the theater as a medium of entertainment and education, providing laughter, comfort, nostalgia and acculturation lessons to thousands of recently arrived immigrants.

JEWISH THEMES/CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN ARTISTS
Originated by the Jewish Museum, New York. This exhibition, which included more than 50 paintings, sculptures and graphics by 24 artists, explored contemporary artists' responses to issues of Jewish interest, including the Holocaust, the attraction of Israel and religious rituals.

1987 CONTEMPORARY ARTIFACTS 1987
Curated by Elaine Silverman and Beverly Haas.

AMERICAN JEWISH LIFE AND THE CONSTITUTION
Curated by Maxwell Whiteman. Showcasing a prayer for the country recited in Richmond on the adoption of the Constitution, composed with George Washington's name in Hebrew acrostic and a first edition of George Selikovich's pioneering translations of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution into Yiddish, the exhibition revealed the importance of the Constitution to the Jewish community and the role of one minority group in helping to safeguard the rights of all.

THE ISAIAH SCROLLS
Curated by Linda Steinberg. Part of Philadelphia's "Passport to the World" exhibition programs highlighting the written treasures if nations throughout the globe as a salute to the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution, this environmental installation evoked the caves overlooking the Dead Sea where a scroll inscribed with the Book of Isaiah was discovered amid a cache of writings hidden by an ancient monastic Jewish community.

A PEOPLE IN PRINT: JEWISH JOURNALISM IN AMERICA
Curated by Ken Libo. Created in tribute to the centennial of the Jewish Exponent, this exhibition, which placed the contributions of contemporary Jewish journalism in a historical context extending back to the Colonial era, demonstrated the importance of developing a community voice to help define a community to itself and to effectively communicate minority concerns to a broader society. Journalists' correspondence, newspapers, cartoons, paintings and newspaper materials such as printing blocks and a Yiddish typewriter were featured. The exhibition was subsequently presented at the Jewish Museum in New York.

1986 TEN BY TEN
Curated by Beverly Haas. In celebration of the Museum's 10th anniversary, the annual crafts show highlighted the works of ten artists who represented the highest standards of artistic excellence, commitment to the creation of Judaica and a history of participation with the Museum.

SAVING THE ARK
Curated by Deenah Loeb. Providing insights into the art of conservation, this exhibition documented an urban archaeological "dig" which resulted in the Museum's saving a monumental handcarved folk art Torah from demolition and conserving and preserving this unique treasure.

ON EAGLES' WINGS: A DECADE OF COLLECTING
Curated by Linda Steinberg. Using materials drawn entirely from the Museum's collections, the exhibition portrayed the varied components of American Jewish identity -- home life, participation in the broad national experience, involvement in the Jewish community, and response to the idea of a Jewish homeland -- from the perspective of the individual, the family and the community.

A JEWISH BESTIARY
Drawings by Mark Podwal. Creatures both real and fanciful were featured in Podwal's contemporary zoology of Jewish lore to create a modern rendition of a medieval tradition.

LEONARD BASKIN: THE FIVE SCROLLS
Organized by the Maurice Spertus Museum of Judaica, Chicago. A series of 37 watercolors, commissioned by the Central Conference of American Rabbis, illustrating Ecclesiastes, Esther, Song of Songs, Ruth and Lamentations, provided a visual interpretation of the powerful poetry and narrative themes of the Bible. A small installation of works by Leonard Baskin from the Museum's collections complemented this exhibition.

1985 BEAUTY OF HOLINESS (CONTEMPORARY ARTIFACTS)
Curated by Elaine Silverman and Beverly Haas. The annual crafts show was presented through an installation design which interpreted, through ritual art, a full range of Jewish holiday and life cycle celebrations.

A DIARY: THE RITES OF PASSAGE OF A JEWISH WOMAN IN AMERICA
Collages by Michele Zackheim. Examining her identity as a Jewish woman in America through an exploration of her European heritage, the artist used original verse and collaged graphics to create a statement which was at once personal and universal.

THE DISCOVERY ROOM: A LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FOR CHILDREN
Designed as an adjunct to SLATEBOARD TO SOFTWARE and a demonstration of contemporary teaching techniques, this interactive exhibition included a "Bible Baseball" computer game, seek and find activities, puppets and art projects relating to Jewish history and tradition.

FROM SLATEBOARD TO SOFTWARE: 200 YEARS OF JEWISH EDUCATION IN AMERICA
Curated by Irene Samuelson and Deenah Loeb. Developed in honor of the 90th anniversary of Gratz College, the exhibition examined Jewish teaching methodologies and technologies and institutions, tracing their history and development from the earliest days of the Republic to the present. Focusing on process rather than personalities and institutions, the exhibition documented the movement from rote and passive techniques of learning to interactive teaching methods using computer technology.

THE JEWISH HERITAGE IN AMERICAN FOLK ART
Organized by the Jewish Museum and the Museum of American Folk Art, New York. A major exhibition of more than 200 diverse examples of American Jewish folk art, this groundbreaking exhibition featured ceremonial, decorative and ephemeral works spanning three centuries.

RAPHAEL SOYER ILLUSTRATES I.B. SINGER
Combining the talents of two prominent immigrant Jewish artists, the exhibition showcased a selection of color lithographs by realist painter Raphael Soyer illustrating "The Gentleman From Cracow" and "The Mirror" by Isaac Bashevis Singer.

SELECTED TREASURES FROM KAHAL KADOSH MIKVEH ISRAEL
In cooperation with the Mikveh Israel Archives, Philadelphia. A showcase exhibition of treasures from the synagogue's archives, highlighting materials from the 18th century.

THE CRUCIBLE OF WITNESS: AMERICAN RESPONSE TO THE HOLOCAUST
Curated by Michael Berenbaum. Designed as a supplement to the Museum's permanent exhibition and presented during the 40th anniversary of the liberation of the camps, the exhibition documented through artifacts, photographs, and the papers of Josiah A. DuBois Jr., the American response to the Holocaust.

EZEKIEL'S VISION: MOSES JACOB EZEKIEL AND THE CLASSICAL TRADITION
Curated by Roberta Tarbell. Developed in celebration of the relocation of Ezekiel's monumental sculpture, Religious Liberty, to the grounds of the Museum, the exhibition examined the life and work of an enigmatic expatriate, the first American Jewish sculptor to gain an international reputation.

1984 THE FACE OF HISTORY: PORTRAITS FROM THE COLLECTIONS
Curated by Deenah Loeb. Featuring portraits of prominent figures in American Jewish life as well as ordinary families from the eighteenth century to the modern period, the exhibition highlighted the Museum's portrait collection, supplemented by historic portraits in the KKMI collection.

HANUKKAH LAMP SHOWCASE (CONTEMPORARY ARTIFACTS 1984)
Curated by Gayle Weiss. An in-depth examination of one of the most familiar Jewish ceremonials, this craft show highlighted the rich diversity in form and material displayed in a single traditional ritual object.

PEDDLER OF DREAMS: SIEGMUND LUBIN AND THE CREATION OF THE MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY
Curated by Joseph Eckhardt and Linda Kowall. Chronicling the rise of a young immigrant from itinerant peddler to multi-millionaire movie mogul, a major exhibition documented the career of a neglected film pioneer who made Philadelphia -- for a few years -- the motion picture capital of the world. A significant contribution to film history, the exhibition presented Lubin's life and achievements as an inventor and shaper of motion picture equipment and films as a paradigm of an aspect of the American Jewish experience.

KAHAL KADOSH MIKVEH ISRAEL: CONGREGATION AND COMMUNITY
Curated by Deenah Loeb and the KKMI Committee. Drawing on the rich archival and artifactual treasures of historic Congregation Mikveh Israel, this exhibition portrayed the interaction between this vibrant congregation and the American Jewish and general communities from its inception in 1740 to 1950.

1983 CONTEMPORARY ARTIFACTS 1983
Curated by Beverly Haas.

ODESSA BY THE SEA: THE RUSSIAN JEWS OF BRIGHTON BEACH
Photographs by Carl Glassman. An intimate and revealing look at the lives of recent Soviet Jewish immigrants was presented through photographs documenting the Brighton Beach neighborhood, community institutions and the homes and daily lives of new arrivals.

ODYSSEY OF FREEDOM: THE CANVAS DIARY OF A SOVIET JEWISH EMIGRE
Paintings by Tanya Kornfeld. Works from three periods in the life of Moscow-born artist Tanya Kornfeld-- her "refusenik" period in Leningrad, her sojourn in Israel and her life in America, illustrate the evolution of the artist's work and her response to growing personal and religious freedoms.

CUBA 1978: A PHOTO ESSAY BY BILL ARON
Originated by the Pucker Safrai Gallery, Boston. An essay in photographs documenting the once vibrant Jewish community of Cuba, which since the Revolution had dwindled and fallen into decay.

LA NACION: THE SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE JEWS IN THE CARIBBEAN AREA
Originated by Beth Hatefutsoth, the Nahum Goldmann Museum of the Jewish Diaspora, Tel Aviv. The history of the oldest Jewish communities in the new world -- those in the Caribbean area -- was told through a photographic exhibition documenting contemporary jewish life in the region.

PASSOVER OF A 100 YEARS AGO
Curated by Deenah Loeb. A table setting in the Gratz Room, using heirloom candlesticks, seder plates and kiddush cups and Haggadot, recreated a Passover table as it might have been set in the Gratz home.

JEWISH WRITERS OF THE AMERICAS: PHOTO PORTRAITS BY LAYLE SILBERT
Presented in conjunction with a Books and Authors program series, the exhibition comprised 20 photographs of contemporary American Jewish writers and poets.

1982 CONTEMPORARY ARTIFACTS 1982
Curated by Beverly Haas.

THE TALLIT AS A METAPHOR OF COMMUNITY: FIBER SCULPTURES BY LAURIE GROSS
Curated by Alice M. Greenwald and originally presented at the Hebrew Union College Skirball Museum, Los Angeles. Contrasting the ancient art of weaving with the most contemporary of art forms - Xerography, this exhibition of 45 formed and woven sculptures played upon the traditional image of the prayer shawl as a symbol of communion with God and community. BETWEEN HOLY AND PROFANE and THE TALLIT AS A METAPHOR were presented simultaneously and explored the power of symbolism in communicating experience while highlighting the interplay between the ephemeral and the enduring in Jewish life.

BETWEEN HOLY AND PROFANE: XEROGRAPHY BY DINA DAR
Curated by Alice M. Greenwald and originally presented at the Hebrew Union College Skirball Museum, Los Angeles. Dina Dar's work explored the tension between the personal and the universal and between technology and human emotion. A series of 21 color Xerox prints collaged from fabrics, flowers, jewish ritual objects and portraits of the artist's family were displayed.

THE NATHANS' FAMILY ALBUM
Curated by Deenah Loeb. Showcasing a calligraphed album, designed in 1900, which incorporates photography with text to tell the story of a family which traces its American roots to the Revolutionary War.

NEXT YEAR IN PHILADELPHIA: JEWISH NEW YEAR GREETINGS FROM THE TURN OF THE CENTURY
Curated by Deenah Loeb. A small sampling of Rosh Hashanah cards and postcards from the turn of the century, drawn from the Museum's collection and the collection of Marilyn Glass, who subsequently sold these artifacts to the Museum.

SCROLLS OF FIRE: THE FIRST 700 YEARS
Organized by Deicas Art, La Jolla. Complementing AMONG THE NATIONS, this series of lithographs were based on those on view at Beth Hatefutsoth.

AMONG THE NATIONS: JEWISH TRADITION AND THE DIASPORA EXPERIENCE
Organized by Beth Hatefutsoth, the Nahum Goldmann Museum of the Jewish Diaspora, Tel Aviv. The 2,000 year history of Jewish life in the Diaspora, portraying how Jews lived in diverse times and places, responding to local influences, yet preserving traditions of family, community and faith was told through artifacts, videotape, multi-screen slide shows and photographs.

JEWISH GASTRONOMY: A TRADITION IN TRANSITION
Photography by Lawrence Salzmann. Part of the Jewish folkways series, a selection of photographs showed the art of bagel making.

LEGACY OF LAUGHTER
Jewish humor cartoons by Murray Bloom. Part of the Jewish folkways series, the exhibition focused on visual Jewish humor.

MUSICAL EXPRESSIONS OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE: ORIGINAL THEATER POSTERS AND SHEET MUSIC
Presented in cooperation with Gratz College, Philadelphia. The first of a Jewish folkways series, the exhibition featured sheet music and theater posters reflecting the American Jewish musical tradition.

1981 CONTEMPORARY ARTIFACTS 1981
Curated by Beverly Haas.

THE AMERICAN JEWISH EXPERIENCE: FROM 1654 TO THE PRESENT
Curated by Allon Schoener. The Museum's first long-term exhibition used photographic enlargements, supplemented by a selection of artifacts, to present a broad overview of three centuries of Jewish life in America. The exhibition, arranged chronologically, was divided into three major Jewish immigrations -- the Sephardic, German and East European.

A PHILADELPHIA SAMPLER: ART AND ARTIFACTS FROM JEWISH COLLECTIONS
Curated by Cissy Grossman. A selection of art, household objects, costumes and ritual works from private and institutional collections.

IMAGES OF POLISH JEWRY: ARTS AND CULTURE
Organized by YIVO Institute. Focusing on the artistic and intellectual life of Polish Jewry prior to World War II, this photographic exhibition provided moving testimony to the richness and vitality of scholarship. literature, theater, cinema and photography itself in the largest Jewish community in Europe before it was destroyed.

1980 CONTEMPORARY ARTIFACTS 1980
Curated by Beverly Haas.

REPRISE: THE ROLE OF THE JEWS IN THE FORGING OF THE NATION (see 1976)

DAVID BENNETT: ILLUSTRATIONS TO THE BIBLE
Organized by the Maurice Spertus Museum of Judaica, Chicago. A translation of familiar Bible stories into visual narratives, this exhibition featured 85 color prints and black and white linoleum cuts of works by an American Jewish artist.

GAN HADOROT: FAMILY GENEALOGY (THE GARDEN OF GENERATIONS)
Organized by the Maurice Spertus Museum of Judaica, Chicago. An exploration of personal identity as a means of understanding the history of a people, this exhibition provided an in-depth examination of a Bavarian and a German Jewish family extending back two centuries.

1979 DAVID ARONSON: A RETROSPECTIVE
Organized by The Pucker Safrai Gallery, Boston. A major retrospective covering more than 35 years presented the art and sculpture of David Aronson, including his works using Christian imagery, revealing the personal history of the artist as well as illuminating aspects of the Jewish experience in America.

LIVING ON THE LAND: JEWISH AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITY IN SOUTH JERSEY (1882 TO THE PRESENT)
Curated by Avi Decter. An exploration of the Jewish farming communities of Southern New Jersey, telling the story of the immigrant pioneers who established agricultural colonies in an effort to revive the biblical dream of tilling the soil.

1978 THE LIVING WITNESS: ART IN THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS
Curated by Mary Costanza. Presented in cooperation with the Coordinating Council on the Holocaust, Memorial Committee for the Six Million Jewish Martyrs, and the National Institute on the Holocaust, this exhibition and its accompanying catalogue presented art created in the concentration camps.

CONTEMPORARY ARTIFACTS: A SHOW OF CRAFTS
Curated by Beverly Haas. The inaugural exhibition of Jewish ritual art and secular crafts created by living Jewish artisans.

HAYM SOLOMON
Organized by the American Jewish Historical Society. The story of financier Haym Solomon told through text and photo-reproductions of materials pertaining to his life and career.

FAITH AND FORM: A CENTURY OF AMERICAN SYNAGOGUE ARCHITECTURE
Organized by the Maurice Spertus Museum of Judaica, Chicago. A photographic exploration of exterior and interior synagogue architecture in America.

1977 PIONEERS AND ADVENTURERS: JEWS ACROSS THE PLAINS AND ROCKIES
Curated by Maxwell Whiteman. The largely unknown story of the 19th and early 20th century Jewish cowboys, gamblers, pioneers and settlers who helped to tame the American west was told through artifacts, photographs and text.

1976 THE GRATZ FAMILY SITTING ROOM
A recreation of the home of noted philanthropist Rebecca Gratz, showing her furniture, art and family memorabilia.

THE INAUGURAL EXHIBITION
THE ROLE OF THE JEWS IN THE FORGING OF THE NATION
Curated by Marvin D. Schwartz. In celebration of our nation's Bicentennial and the opening of the Museum on Independence Mall, this exhibition focused on Colonial Jewry, highlighting Jewish ritual and observance, occupations and the institutions which Jews created or in which they participated.

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