Conference

Discovering Maine’s Jewish History: The Second Maine Jewish History Conference

Sunday, April 3, 2011 — Roberts Union, Colby College

Follow the links below to online versions of the conference presentations.

10:00 — Morning Plenary Session

Words of welcome and thanks: Dean Lori Kletzer and Professor David Freidenreich, Colby College

Opening keynote address: “The Jewish History of Small-Town Maine in National Perspective”

Professor Lee Shai Weissbach, University of Louisville

11:30 — Morning Panel Sessions

Dynamics of Jewish Life in the First Half of the 20^th Century

• “Fitting In and Moving Up: Harris Isaacson in Lewiston-Auburn, 1900-1922” – Elliott Epstein
• “The Jewish History of Aroostook County” – Natalie Cohen
• “Jews in Waterville in the  Early 20^th Century” – Kimiko Kossler ’12
  

Respondent: Hasia Diner, New York University

Jewishness in Maine

• “Judaism with a Downeast Flair” – Beth Hillson
• “Patterns and Practices of Religious Life in Waterville” – Jena Hershkowitz ’12
  
• “Sound and Light: Jewish Artists and Musicians in Maine” – Deborah Weisgall

Respondent: Harriet Freidenreich, Temple University

Jewish Merchants

• “The History of Levine’s: The Store for Men and Boys” – Sara Miller Arnon and Julie Miller-Soros
• “The Jewish Merchants of Lewiston’s Lisbon Street” – Phyllis Graber Jensen
• “The Middle Merchants: Portland’s Jewish Mercantile Community” – Zack Barowitz

Respondent: Michael Hoberman, Fitchburg State University

Jews and Gentiles

• “Is It Good for the Jews? Maine Jewry between Civic Idealism and the Politics of Reality” – Abraham J. Peck
• “Summit Springs, the Jewish Alternative to Poland Springs” – Harris Gleckman
• “Change Over Time: Jewish–Gentile Relations in Waterville” – Miles de Klerk ’13
  
• “The admission of Jews to Maine’s Colleges during the Interwar Years” (poster) – David Freidenreich and Madeline Kurtz ’14 [click here for the research on which this poster is based]
  

Respondent: Richard D’Abate, Maine Historical Society

Guided Tour of “Lobster and Latkes: Jewish Life in Maine” – Robyn Wardell ’11

1:45 — Afternoon Panel Sessions

In the Wake of World War II

• “A Community of Jewish Displaced Persons in Eastport? Local Reactions to the Quoddy Village Proposal” – Jackie Gronau
• “In the Land of Limitless Opportunities: Holocaust Survivors Meet the Jerusalem of the North” – Abraham J. Peck
• “From Away: The Experiences of Gisèle Baroukel Miller in Waterville” – Hannah Dhonau ’14
  
• “Jewish Mainers Who Fell in the Line of Duty” (poster) – Jim Friedlander and Margie Weiner ’12
  

Respondent: Rob Weisbrot, Colby College

Leisure and Social Life

• “I Met Your Father in Old Orchard Beach” – Steve Hirshon
• “Portland’s Maimonides Club: Pleasant and Profitable Evenings” – Susan Cummings-Lawrence
• “Jews in Vacationland” – Amy Eklund ’11
  

Respondent: Ardis Cameron, University of Southern Maine

Transmitting Jewish Identity in Maine

• “Maine Summer Camps with a Jewish Twist” – Nancy (Silverman) Levinsky ’83
  
• “Food and Jewish Identity in Waterville” – Madeline Kurtz ’14
  
• “Planting Our Roots and Raising Our Children as Back-to-the-Land Jews” – Deena Weinstein

Respondent: Meaghan Dwyer-Ryan ’96, Boston College

Setting Down Roots and Pulling Up Stakes

• “Bath’s Jews, 1920–1975: Coping with Modernity” – Nathan Cogan
• “Seeking Sanctuary: The History of Old Town’s Temple Israel” – Melissa Ladenheim
• “Modern Tzedakah: Jewish Philanthropy in Waterville in the 1950s” (poster) – Yichen Jiang ’13 [click here for the research on which this poster is based]
  

Respondent: Lee Shai Weissbach, University of Louisville

Guided Tour of “Lobster and Latkes: Jewish Life in Maine” – Spencer Kasko ’12

3:00 — Afternoon Plenary Session

Culminating keynote address: “The Local, the National, and the Global: Maine’s Jews in Modern Jewish History”

Professor Hasia Diner, New York University

“Discovering Maine’s Jewish History” was co-sponsored by the Jewish Studies Program at Colby College and its Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement, in collaboration with Documenting Maine Jewry and Maine Historical Society.

2010-11 public programming on Maine’s Jewish history was made possible by the Legacy Heritage Jewish Studies Project, directed by the Association for Jewish Studies (AJS). This project promotes sustained Jewish studies programming in small to mid-sized communities and seeks to foster relationships between scholars and the wider communities in which they work. Support for the project is generously provided by Legacy Heritage Fund, Ltd.