125 Years of Jewish Life in Johnstown

Shelley Johannson, from the Johnstown Area Heritage Association, stops by to talk about the new exhibit "Remembrance: 125 Years of Jewish Life in Johnstown." The exhibit opens at the Heritage Discovery Center on Saturday, September 29 and runs until September 2013.

Watch the video for a preview.

Information about the exhibit from the Press Release:

A temporary exhibit, "Remembrance: 125 Years of Jewish Life in Johnstown," is opening at the Heritage Discovery Center on Sept. 28, one year to the day after the Johnstown Community Heritage Project was first announced at Beth Sholom Congregation's Rosh Hashanah services.

The exhibit is a key part of the year-long project, which is a cooperative effort of the Johnstown Area Heritage Association (JAHA) and Beth Sholom.

An opening reception for JAHA members, Beth Sholom members, exhibit contributors, and other invited guests will be held at the Heritage Discovery Center, 4:00 pm on Fri., Sept. 28. Dr. Michael Walzer, a Johnstown native and professor emeritus of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, N.J., will speak at the event. The exhibit opens to the general public on Sept. 29.

The exhibit will be presented in the Heritage Discovery Center's second-floor gallery and covers a broad variety of themes that connect Johnstown's Jewish community to national and world history, including:

• Old-country resources in a new home: Unlike most immigrants from the time period, Jews were fleeing religious oppression and came with their families intending to stay permanently. Specific Johnstown neighborhoods were dominated by Jewish residents. Many Jews became merchants to the community of workers around them, mirroring a relationship established in the Old Country.
• Bolstering economies, inside and out -- This section of the exhibit will trace the development of some of Johnstown's most notable Jewish-owned businesses, from the community's early days through the 1980s.
• "A congregation is not a building" -- Artifacts and photographs will be displayed from Johnstown's synagogues, from Rodef Sholom, the town's first synagogue, to Beth Sholom.
• Culture and politics in a tight-knit community -- This part of the exhibit examines cultural and religious benchmarks, organizations and charitable societies, Hadassah and political interactions.
• Basic principles of the Jewish tradition - This portion of the exhibit illustrates some of the most important Jewish traditions, from holidays to family life.
• A family's journey from Europe to Johnstown, and Israel - The exhibit will trace the stories of specific Johnstown Jewish families, from the time they left the Old Country to the present day.
• Defending two homelands -- Stories told in this section of the exhibit include how the Johnstown Jewish community served during the two World Wars, Holocaust survival, and support for the state of Israel.

After the project concludes in September 2013, the exhibit will be displayed permanently at Beth Sholom Congregation.

For more information visit: Johnstown Jewish Community Project