Why did we make a podcast?
As outsiders to the Montreal’s Jewish community, we (Ezell and Ellen, members of the Archives and Special Collections outreach team) have spent our two years at the JPL absorbing as much as possible of the many narratives held within our archives, so that we can do them justice in our outreach endeavours. As our knowledge grew, we noticed more and more how integral Jewish leftist organising was to the history of Montreal broadly. We also noticed moments of history repeating itself in current news (which you can hear us talk about at the beginning of episodes three and four). Things like record-breaking strikes in the public sector, and increased police presence in response to fears of communist influence. Small pieces of the puzzle started to point to a bigger picture: the number of files dedicated to Lea Roback’s activism in her fonds, or how the Jewish Public Library -- which went by the name of the Jewish People’s Library until the 1950s -- had opened its doors officially on May 1st, 1914, known to many as May Day. We wanted to know more.
Call to May Day Assembly in Yiddish, English and French, 1943, from the Sholem Krishtalka Collection, ID: 1099_[058]_17.
When Ester Reiter’s book A Future Without Hate or Need: The History of the Jewish Left was dropped on our desks by Eddie Paul, the ball started rolling. The more we learned, the more we heard things like “oh you should talk to Aaron Krishtalka, he was at the Winchevsky School during the era of the Padlock Law” or “have you talked to Melanie Leavitt yet? She’s Léa Roback’s niece, and she does walking tours of Montréal’s leftist history!” At this point we realized that the collections we hold in the JPL Archives really come to life when mediated by the stories of these subject experts and community members. Their personal histories engage in ways that aren’t always possible to tell through our usual, ocular-centric (as in, visually focused) outreach approaches.
A sneak peek into the dizzying world of audio editing.
While we wanted to provide something new for our existing audiences, we also wanted to reach new audiences unfamiliar with the JPL, our archives, or the history of the Jewish left in Montreal from which we emerged. It is no coincidence that the JPL’s anniversary falls on May 1st. And this year, to mark our 110th anniversary, we launched the podcast on the first of May to those we know and honour, and to podcast listeners in general to discover!
Of course, work on the podcast began much earlier than this. Our brainstorming began in early Summer of 2023. Production began by late summer. By the Autumn, the context of October 7th heightened every mention of Zionism, Jewish solidarity, left and right-wing politics. We discovered a historical legacy here in Montreal that was missing from the conversation in most forums. In this climate, telling stories of Jewish activism here in North America and centering the histories of those who champion mutual aid, tolerance, and solidarity across a plethora of identities, became even more poignant.
This week, we hit one thousand downloads of our podcast — an exciting milestone! To all those people who have listened so far and sent us your thoughts, we appreciate you joining us for this ride. To those who have yet to hear it, find out more on our recollections Podcast page, or subscribe anywhere you listen to podcasts!
If you enjoyed this podcast and are in Montreal, join us on September 19th, 2024 at the Museum of Jewish Montreal for Behind the Curtain: Meet the cast of recollections with the JPL.
