We’ve been here before
Three women reclined together at beachside, n.d. Courtesy of the JPL Archives, Photograph Collection, ID: 1255_PR017844.
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On Tuesday, May 27, my colleague Ezell and I had the opportunity to attend a day-long conference organized by our friends at the Montreal Holocaust Museum, titled Antisemitism and Holocaust Education in Quebec. After having spent this engaging day hearing from academics working both in Quebec and beyond, and from education professionals from the province, a pit in my stomach that had formed months ago became more pronounced. Much of what was discussed during this day of learning gave words to a sense I’m sure many of us Jewish people have felt in the last many months: in so many words, things are not entirely fine.
The issues in front of us, as individuals, as a community, have changed in the last twenty months. The specifics of how that looks will differ from person to person, but I believe the experience of feeling as though we are living in the inside of our history is widely felt at the moment. Right now, Antisemitism is being met with broad indifference. Yet, somehow, the horrors of each news cycle happen in the space of days that still need to be lived.
Photograph of campers at meal time, Camp B'nai Brith, Lac Long, Quebec, c. 1931-1933. Courtesy of the JPL Archives, Manny Batshaw Fonds, ID: 1059_1_[36].
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As an Archivist here at the JPL, I feel very lucky that my work days happen in and amongst our community’s history. Normal moments at work are filled with images of joyful community celebrations, pamphlets written by teenagers energized by the hope of our collective future, and even the tame records that tell of the daily minutiae of our institutions which have carried on through all kinds of circumstances. Through the lens of these archival records, the past can feel like a mirror of the present. Often that relationship is issued as a warning, but when approached another way, it can foster a sense of durability, and it can be something that we draw strength and resolve from.
Assorted Habonim programs dated between 1930-1960. Courtesy of the JPL Archives, Henry Rabin Fonds, ID: 1157_[5].
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Our history in the cities and countries where many of us have begun to feel ill at ease in is nonetheless rich. It is a history that speaks to both change and consistency in equal measure. It holds lessons about how to navigate the changing world around you because the world is always, and always has been, changing. In other words, we’ve been here before. We have literally been here before. We have been inside moments that feel like history in the actual moment itself before. We have the documentation, the ephemera, that tells the stories of what we’ve done in these moments. Right now, our community’s historical documents can be both windows into the past, and roadmaps for the future.
