JUNE 2024
der zamler
JPL’S NEWSLETTER FOR ALL THINGS
ARCHIVES & SPECIAL COLLECTIONS
From left to right: Director of Archives Maya Pasternak, Aleph founder Sonia Sarah Lipsyc, and JPL intern Victor Salles-Papou in the JPL Archives reviewing materials for donation from ALEPH - the Centre for Contemporary Jewish Studies (Centre d'Études Juives Contemporaines) of the Communauté sépharade unifiée du Québec (CSUQ).
Chag Sameach! - חג שמח!
It's been a month of transitions here at the JPL Archives, and we have so much to share with you. We're happy to share a new addition to the team: Lucy Pauker is settling into their role as processing archivist! They've already processed the Walter Joachim Fonds, a celebrated cellist who played with the Montreal and Shanghai Symphony Orchestras. And a new role for a well-known member of the team; Eddie Paul has passed off his Library and Learning Services duties and now wears the hat of Associate Director of Special Collections. In bittersweet news, we say goodbye to Victor Salles-Papou, our full-time intern from l'École des hautes études en sciences sociales. In his 5 months with the JPL-A, he inventoried our Graphic Material Collection and Oral History Collection, as well as processed the first donation to the CSUQ's Fonds: the materials of ALEPH!
A photo of the digitization station (in progress!) in our reference room.
Sam, our Reference Archivist, has been working with Eddie Stone to pull material from the Lilly Toth Collection for a researcher interested in miniatures related to Jewish culture. Ezell and Ellen, the Outreach team, have been busy working on the upcoming episodes of recollections with the JPL and planning events for fall 2024.
Over the coming weeks, Maya and Eddie, Directors of Archives and Special Collections, respectively, will be participating in three conference sessions between the two of them. We'll let you know how they go in our July edition!
Leah, our Digital Archivist, has started building our very own digitization station! She's looking for volunteers to help digitize the tapes in the Oral History Collection, so if you're interested, please fill out the form below.
episode 2 of RECOLLECTIONS with the JPL PODCAST is out now!
Episode 2: Hereness
We're continuing on our journey to discover the roots of the Jewish Left in Montreal. Episode 2 takes us through the cultural impact of Yiddish, the role of Reading Circles, and the diversity of the Left's envisioned future for the Jewish People.
FOR THE RECORD:
A BLOG ABOUT THE WHO, WHAT, WHY, WHERE, AND HOW (OF ARCHIVING)
An example of a poster from the Graphic Material Collection, which reads in Yiddish "You are your Brother's Keeper". Image courtesy the JPL Archives, Graphic Material Collection, ID: 1297_53.
WhAT IS THE GRAPHIC MATERIALS COLLECTION?
Victor Salles-Papou, our outgoing winter 2024 intern, shares about his experience working at the JPL Archives and provides a look behind the curtain of one of our biggest, boldest collections.
Avi Finegold and Jessica Zimmerman in the JPL Archives processing room during the recording of the Epilogue podcast in 2019.
related podcasts
As an extra feature in this month’s edition, we’d like to highlight two other podcasts that have ties to the Jewish Public Library.
Bonjour Chai is a weekly current affairs podcast for the Canadian Jewish community. Hosts Avi Finegold and Phoebe Maltz Bovy tackle everything from politics to fashion to pop culture with opinions, debates, and hot takes. The JPL's writer-in-residence, Emil Sher, was recently featured on the Great Canadian Seder episode in April 2024.
Epilogue is a seven-part series hosted by Avi Finegold and Jessica Zimmerman that first aired in 2019. Each episode focuses on a fascinating story from Jewish history, each episode features an artifact from the JPL Archives, and with that object as a starting point, tells its story.
You may have noticed a commonality between the two; both podcasts are co-hosted by Rabbi Avi Finegold, who previously served on the JPL’s Board of Directors and has a long and rich history with the JPL. Avi’s father, Ron Finegold, was a longtime reference librarian at the JPL, and Avi recently told us with a smile that “some of my earliest memories I have are at the Jewish Public Library.” In 2015, Avi also founded the Jewish Living Lab, an online space for promoting diverse thinking and individual personal identity throughout Canada.
The Organizer, Publication from the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, 1937. Image courtesy the JPL Archives, The Organizer Collection, ID: 1266-[1].
walking tour
Pioneers of the Picket Line: A History of Women in Montreal’s Shmatte Industry
Presented by the Segal Centre and the DWYT, in partnership with the Jewish Public Library
Sunday, June 16, 2024, 2pm EST
Starting point: Parc Ethel Stark, corner of Prince-Arthur and Clark, in the Plateau Mont-Royal
Our colleagues at the Segal Centre are hosting a walking tour this weekend in conjunction with The Great Divide, the upcoming show of the Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre (DWYT). The play is about young immigrant factory workers at the turn of the early 20th century who shaped the history of New York. The walking tour, guided by Melanie Leavitt, will take you on a journey through Montreal's own labour movement, and the women who drove it.
You might recognize the name Melanie Leavitt if you have been listening to recollections with the JPL podcast! You will hear even more from her in episode three, "Labour of Love". This episode will also cover the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, the topic of The Great Divide.
The Great Divide by Alix Sobler offers a poignant insight on the immigrant and refugee experience of the early 20th Century. Winner of the 2015 Canadian Jewish Playwriting Competition, it highlights the profound sacrifices made by those who sought opportunity and a fresh start across the ocean.
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.
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.
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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