JULY 2024
der zamler
JPL’S NEWSLETTER FOR ALL THINGS
ARCHIVES & SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
Director of Archives Maya Pasternak, giving a presentation for the "Gateways and Gatekeepers" session at the ACJS conference.
Summer is here…
…and we're thankful for the climate-controlled archives!
June was a big conference month for our staff, with Maya, Eddie, and Sam all presenting to a range of audiences. In conjunction with our ongoing collaborative Ethel Stark exhibition, Maya contributed to the talk and exhibition tour "Sharing resources, sustaining archives: Ethel Stark, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, and the preservation of audio heritage" at the Canadian Association of Music Libraries (CAML) conference. She also presented at the Association of Canadian Jewish Studies (ACJS) conference, on a roundtable about "Gateways and Gatekeepers" where she focused on the Regent Photo Studio Fonds. Eddie also brought his research to the ACJS conference, giving a compelling talk called "Mapping doikayt: leftist and latitudes and longtitudes of the early Jewish Public Library imaginary".
Outside of her duties as reference archivist, Sam presented at the Association of Canadian Archives (ACA) conference for the session "Future-Proofing: Centring Care Now for Disability Archives Tomorrow," which was presented with Disability Archives Lab director Gracen Brilmyer and researcher Grace Isibor. They covered the Lab's findings about the experiences of disabled archives users in performing research, and representation of disability within archives.
A screenshot of the new timeline feature to accompany our podcast, recollections with the JPL, on JPL Curates.
In addition to working on upcoming episodes of recollections with the JPL, our Outreach team has put together a timeline to accompany the podcast. We cover a ton of important historical events throughout such a short podcast series, and wanted to provide them all with some context. You can find it at the bottom of the page podcast page on JPL Curates.
Lucy has only been here a month, but along with Leah, the pair have jumped in the archival deep end: they're looking into what to do about the Photograph Collection. It's one of the biggest and most consulted collections at the JPL Archives, which unfortunately contains two different numbering systems from different eras of the archives. The two of them have also been preparing tasks for future volunteer projects, so if you are interested in spending some time in our air conditioned archives, please fill out the volunteer form below!
episode 3 of RECOLLECTIONS with the JPL PODCAST is out now!
Episode 3: Labour of Love
Labour organizing, unions, and activism: this episode highlights the impact language, culture, and Jewish identity had on Montreal's progressive labour history with a special focus on famed organizer Lea Roback.
CURRENT OFF-SITE EXHIBITION
ETHEL STARK,
THE MONTREAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, AND THE PRESERVATION OF AUDIO HERITAGE
February 1, 2024 - July 31, 2024
Marvin Duchow Library, Music Building, McGill University
The Marvin Duchow Music Library’s new exhibit in collaboration with the Jewish Public Library Archives explores the professional achievements of Ethel Stark (1910-2012), a pioneering violinist and conductor who forged new paths for women with the creation of the Montreal Women’s Symphony Orchestra (1940-1965), as well as the role libraries and archives play in preserving audio heritage.
CURRENT IN-HOUSE EXHIBITION
110th anniversary EXHIBIT FOR the Jewish Public Library!
May 1, 2024 - September 29, 2024
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'.
CURRENT IN-HOUSE EXHIBITION
Not Quite Right: Politics and the History of the Jewish Left in Montreal
May 1, 2024 - August 25, 2024
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)
Rita Brianksy, On the Beach, etching, circa 1965-1975. Rita Briansky fonds, ID: 1291_00126.
The blog is taking a summer break…
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.
want more?
Do you want to know more about what is going on with the JPL’s Archives and Special Collections? Check out our highlights on JPL Curates.
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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