AUGUST 2024
der zamler
JPL’S NEWSLETTER FOR ALL THINGS
ARCHIVES & SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
special event announcement
Event poster featuring a cutout from an archival image of a group portrait of refugees looking out train window, post-World War II Europe, from the Joint Distrubution Committee, c. 1950s. Photograph Collection, ID: 1255_PR008978.
Behind the Curtain:
Meet the cast of
recollections with the JPL
Thursday September 19, 2024, 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Museum of Jewish Montreal, 5220 Saint-Laurent Boulevard
Event in English
We’re pulling back the curtain and reuniting the voices behind recollections with the JPL – the Jewish Public Library’s new limited series podcast on the history and progression of the Jewish Left in Montreal. Join us for a night of cocktails and conversation in celebration of this broadcast and the storied history of the Jewish Left. The evening will include a live discussion with our podcast panel and guests are encouraged to share their experiences of the Left for a chance at a special shout-out in episode five. There will also be a curated selection of archival materials related to the history of the Jewish Left in Montreal, presented gallery-style for your enjoyment.
news from the stacks
A close-up from the Rare Books Collection in the archival stacks.
A huge thank you to our
volunteers and interns!
This summer we have had the pleasure of welcoming volunteers and interns helping with translation, research, and conservation of materials in our collections. Instead of focusing on what our staff have been up to this month, we’d love to highlight each of their projects for you.
Leora, a McGill University student intern, has been here all summer working to re-organize and re-house the Rare Books collection that is kept in the archival stacks. A few years ago, the books were all placed into a mix of custom-made and archival boxes for safe keeping and organized according to publication year. This meant that in some cases, several books were in one box, which wasn’t as user friendly to find books as expected. Eddie Paul has re-catalogued them, and those that are in good condition can stand freely on the shelves, while the more delicate books remain in custom-made boxes, as seen in the photo above. By the time this project is through, all the books will be stored upright, which is much better for their longevity, and being able to see them helps with their findability!
Former JPL President and Professor of Jewish Studies Anna Fishman Gonshor in the process of translating archival materials from Yiddish to English, July 2024.
Kat, a volunteer from McGill University's Information Studies, has been creating file level descriptions for the photograph collection, a huge and very needed challenge. The photograph collection is one of the biggest in the JPL Archives with approximately 20,000 items, and improving its searchability is a dream we hope to fulfill. Check out our October 2023 blog post if you’re interested in learning more about the photograph collection.
Former JPL President and Professor of Jewish Studies Anna Fishman Gonshor, pictured above, is currently translating descriptions in the fonds of renowned poet Ida Maze from Yiddish to English to increase accessibility to this remarkable woman's collection. Maze maintained strong ties to the JPL throughout her life in Montreal, often hosting story time for children. To have Fishman Gonshor working on this translation, herself a fixture of JPL’s history, is one of the many ways we see the tapestry of our library’s community weaving ever more beautiful patterns.
Rivka Augenfeld, one of our Yiddish translators from the JPL community, hard at work during our recent Yiddish Translate-a-thon.
Speaking of Yiddish to English translation, we hosted two successful Yiddish translate-a-thons last month, where our volunteer translators translated a whopping 52 files from the Israel Rabinovitch fonds! This means that both Yiddish and English speakers will be able to find out what is in the files of this passionate musicologist and former editor of the Keneder Adler newspaper.
We’re happy to announce that we will be making the Yiddish translate-a-thons a monthly affair. If you have experience with Yiddish translation and would like to volunteer for this project, please fill out the volunteer form below.
For those with other interests in volunteering with the JPL Archives, the form below is open for you, too!
episode 4 of RECOLLECTIONS with the JPL PODCAST is out now!
Episode 4: A Red Cover
Secrets, Spies, and Soviets: Episode 4 focuses on a pivotal time in world history, from the 1930s to the 1950s, which encompasses the struggles of the Second World War and the resulting political turmoil of the Cold War.
current on-site exhibitions
110th anniversary EXHIBIT FOR the Jewish Public Library!
May - October, 2024
Jewish Public Library, Building Lobby
The Jewish Public Library opened its doors on May 1st, 1914 in a modest cold water flat at 669 rue St. Urbain with a small collection of 500 books. From the beginning, the Library was more than mere shelves and texts. It quickly became the meeting place for literary and cultural exchange, maintaining a link to the still flourishing Jewish communities in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, while promoting the community’s growth in its new Quebec home. With the creation of the Yidishe Folks Universitet (YIFO) or the People’s University, the Library also became a centre for continuing education. Currently in its seventh physical home, the JPL continues to respond to the needs of immigrant groups through its collections, programmes, and services.
To mark this anniversary, our opening season of the re:collections podcast is a celebration of the JPL’s Jewish leftist roots in Montreal. This opening season weaves together interviews with scholars, activists, teachers, and fellow archivists that discuss topics such as Jewish immigration to Canada, Jewish languages and culture, labour and feminist movements in the 20th century, and the diversity of political ideologies that existed within the 'left'.
Not Quite Right: Politics and the History of the Jewish Left in Montreal
May - October, 2024
Jewish Public Library, across from circulation desk
Montreal Jews from many walks of life have long used their platforms to stand up for what they believe in and to make the world a better place. Jewish activists have been integral in Montreal, Quebec, and Canada’s progress towards fair labour conditions, gender equality and language diversity. In conjunction with our new podcast, re:collections, we have selected a sample of materials from the JPL’s Archives and Special Collections to illustrate some of these barriers, successes, and commemorations.
FOR THE RECORD:
A BLOG ABOUT THE WHO, WHAT, WHY, WHERE, AND HOW (OF ARCHIVING)
Portrait of two people fishing from a canoe, Camp Wooden Acres, Quebec, 1965. Photograph Collection, ID: 1255_PR004352.
Our blog will be back in September!
After publishing 16 monthly blog posts for you since we started der zamler; For the Record is in need of a vacation! In the meantime, if you missed any of our previous blog posts, they can all be found on JPL Curates at the link below.
Der zamler is a Yiddish term meaning “the collector” and is related to the verb zamlen, which means “to gather.” In using this name, we join a long history of people dedicated to gathering and preserving Jewish culture around the world. A heartfelt thank-you goes to Sam Bick for the initial idea and to Anna Fishman Gonshor for providing the cultural context.
All non-archival photography, unless otherwise credited, by staff of the JPL Archives.
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Jewish Public Library
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