Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience

Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience

Established	1986 in Utica, MS; 2021 in New Orleans (1986 in Utica, MS; 2021 in New Orleans)
Location
Type	History, Culture, Religion
Collections	Judaica, household items, business records, photographs, letters, and other ephemera
Collection size	4,000+ artifacts and archival pieces
Founder	Macy B. Hart
Executive director	Kenneth Hoffman
Chairperson	Jay Tanenbaum
Curator	Anna E. Tucker
Website	www.msje.org

The Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience, or MSJE, is a private, non-profit museum in New Orleans, Louisiana. The museum explores the many ways that Jews in the American South influenced and were influenced by the distinct cultural heritage of their communities.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6]} Through exhibits, collections, and programs focused on the history of Southern Jews, the museum encourages new understanding and appreciation for identity, diversity, and acceptance.

The museum presents the history of Jews in thirteen states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

The museum is a member of the Council of American Jewish Museums.^[7]

The museum opened to the public on May 27, 2021.^{[8][9][10][11][12]}

History[]

The Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience in New Orleans traces its origins to 1986, when it opened at URJ Henry S. Jacobs Camp,^[13] a summer camp for Jewish children in Utica, Mississippi.  The museum served as a clearinghouse and information center supporting the preservation of Jewish culture in the South, particularly in smaller towns, which were rapidly diminishing in size, as younger generations moved to larger urban areas.  

The Utica site was closed in 2012, and in 2017 New Orleans was chosen as the home for the newly incorporated museum. It is located in New Orleans’s Arts District,^[14] within blocks of the National WWII Museum, the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, the Contemporary Arts Center, and the Southern Food & Beverage Museum. The museum is housed in a renovated 1916 building, occupying its ground floor and half of the second floor.^[8]

Exhibits[]

The MSJE's exhibits were designed in collaboration with Gallagher & Associates^[15] and are divided into four galleries. Galleries One and Three are chronological. Gallery One includes exhibits about colonial history, immigration waves, race relations, the Civil War, Southern Jewish peddlers and merchants, and various ways Southern Jews adapted to life in the South. Gallery Three includes exhibits about how Southern Jews reacted to the Holocaust, oral histories of Holocaust survivors who immigrated to the South, the Civil Rights movement, and the changing demographics of the Southern Jewish experience over time. Gallery Two contains a thematic exhibit exploring the foundational elements of the Jewish religion, including holidays, life cycle events, Jewish values and sacred texts. Gallery Four houses temporary exhibitions and special events.^[8]

The museum's audio-visual components were produced by Cortina Productions.^[16] They include a state-by-state exploration of the museum’s collection and an interactive quilt-making table that allows visitors to design an electronic quilt square representing their identity. These squares are then “sewn” together with other squares, metaphorically representing the concept that everyone can contribute to their community’s strength and diversity.^[8]

Collections[]

The MSJE collection includes more than 4,000+ artifacts, including Judaica, household items, business records, photographs, letters, and other ephemera. Items on display include a Jewish soldier's Civil War diary, a steamer trunk used by a Jewish immigrant who entered the United States through Galveston, TX, a wedding dress worn at a Jewish wedding in New Orleans in 1895, and the c. 1956 cash register from the original Stein Mart, in Greenville, MS.^[8]

The Museum continues to collect artifacts from the thirteen states it represents.

Galleries[]

From the Collection:

• 

  The Jewish Ladies Sewing Circle of Canton, MS, made this quilt in 1885 to be raffled off in support of the synagogue.

• 

  This tzedakah box hung for decades in Temple Sinai, in New Orleans, calling on congregants to support social justice causes.

• 

  While many Southern Jews made a living in the 19th and early 20th centuries as merchants, a few rose to become owners of major department stores.

• 

  These spice boxes come from Helena, AR, and were used in Havdalah services, the ceremony observed at the end of Shabbat each week.

• 

  This receipt holder, with "I Like Cotton" sticker, comes from Galanty's, which was in business in Lake Providence, LA, from 1896-1996. Many of Galanty's customers were cotton farmers.

From the Exhibits:

• 

  A Peddler's Cart

• 

  The General Store

• 

  When Cotton Was King

• 

  Entering a New Era

• 

  Cash Register from the original Stein Mart, Greenville, MS

• 

  For a Deeper Dive

• 

  Foundations of Judaism

References[]