Southern Jewish Historical Society Conference

The Fiftieth Anniversary Conference of the Southern Jewish Historical Society.

Friday, October 16 (The Breman Museum & Cultural Center) Breakfast on your own

• 8:30 am: Buses depart from the conference hotel (Marriott Courtyard Downtown Decatur/Emory)
• 9:00-9:45 am: Registration and time to view exhibits at The Breman
• 9:45-10:00 am: Welcoming remarks

Changes may be made to accommodate speakers and venues

• 10:00-11:30 am: SESSION 1 Plenary Roundtable: The Provincials? Southern Jewish History and American Jewish History in Dialogue (co-sponsored by the American Jewish Historical Society and the Grant Center for the American Jewish Experience at Tulane University in memory of Bernard Wax) Melissa Klapper, Hasia Diner, Mark Bauman, and Michael Cohen (moderator)
• 11:30 am–1:00 pm: Lunch and Janice Rothschild Blumberg Lecture Marni Davis, “A One-Man Boom: Ben J. Massell and the Building of Modern Atlanta” (Introduction by Hollace Weiner)
• 1:15-2:45 pm: SESSION 2 — Concurrent panels: Roundtable: West Virginia Jewry: A Southern Story? Emily Matchar, David Weinfeld, Deb Weiner, and Phyllis Leffler (chair) Panel: Southern Jewish Public History – Archives and Audiences Bruce Cohen, “A Model Approach to Preserve and Share Savannah’s Jewish History: Congregation Mikve Israel’s History and Heritage Committee”,  Anne Parsons and Marilyn Forman Chandler, “Voices Across Time: Recording Greensboro’s History, 1978-2026”, Suman Roy, “Jewish Heritage of Jonesboro, Arkansas: Material Culture and Memory”, and Dale Rosengarten (chair)
• 3:00 pm: Buses from The Breman to the conference hotel
• 5:30 pm: Buses from conference hotel to Congregation Or VeShalom
• 6:00-6:50 pm: Shabbat services and Welcome to Or VeShalom
• 7:00-9:00 pm: Shabbat Dinner and Beeber Family Lecture. The Shabbat Dinner is Sponsored by the Beeber Family and the Helen M. Stern Foundation in Memory of Linda Barash Beeber.  Stephen Whitfield, “Birthmarks, 1976-2026” (Introduction by Mark Bauman)
• 9:00 pm: Buses from Or VeShalom to conference hotel

Saturday, October 17 (Candler School of Theology at Emory University) Breakfast on your own

• 8:30 am: Buses depart from the conference hotel

Changes may be made to accommodate speakers and venues

• 9:00-10:30 am: SESSION 3 Panel: Unearthing and Archiving Cabbagetown’s Jewish History. Jacob Elsas, “Understanding Jacob”,  Nina Elsas, “Murals and Memory in Cabbagetown”, Erich Nunn, “Music, Myth, and History in Cabbagetown”, and Jeffrey Trask (chair)
• 10:45 am -12:15 pm: SESSION 4 — Concurrent panels: Roundtable: Southern Jewish History Through a Queer Lens. Molly Edlein, Gus Kaufmann, Rebecca Stapel-Wax, andMcKenzie Wren (chair). Panel: Being Southern Jews, Representing Southern Jewishness. Rachel Gordan, “Southern First, American Second, Jewish Later: Alfred Uhry’s Staging of Southern Jewishness”, Heather Nathans, “Dixie Fantasia: Performing the Confederacy Onstage, 1861-1865”, Ashley Walters, “Dirty Dancing in the Upstate: Glenn Springs, SC, and Jewish Leisure Culture in the Segregated South”, and Ellen Umansky (chair)
• 12:15-1:15 pm: Boxed Lunch provided by SJHS
• 1:15-2:30 pm: Dr. Lawrence J. Kanter Lecture. Jon Boorstin, “From Leo Frank’s Atlanta to the Library of Congress: The Southern Jewish Roots of Daniel J. Boorstin” (Introduction by Leonard Rogoff).
• 2:45-4:15 pm: SESSION 5 — Concurrent panels. Roundtable: The Past and Future of Studying Southern Jews and the Civil War Adrienne DeArmas, Laura Eckstein, Adam Mendelsohn, Shari Rabin, and Sarah Imhoff (chair). Panel: Southern Jews and Others. Geoff Levin, “Southern Jewish Diplomats and the 19th-Century Islamic World”,  Marilyn Miller, “Ralph Bunche, Rabbi Feibelman, and Black-Jewish Allyship in New Orleans,”Emily Williams, “(Not Quite) Leaving the Jewish Fold: Evangelist Hyman Appelman’s Use of Jewish Identity in Southern Baptist America” and Alison Greene (chair)

Changes may be made to accommodate speakers and venues

• 4:30 pm: Buses from Emory to conference hotel
• 5:00-7:00 pm: Dinner on your own in Decatur — make reservations!
• 7:30-9:30 pm: 50th Anniversary Celebration and Helen M. Stern Cultural Program (at conference hotel, Ballroom). Dessert reception and SJHS Awards and Honors. Performance by Joe Alterman Jazz Trio

Sunday, October 18 (Candler School of Theology at Emory University)

• 8:30 am: Buses depart from the conference hotel
• 9:00-9:45 am: Bagel breakfast and SJHS Annual Membership Meeting
• 10:00-11:30 am: SESSION 6 Plenary Roundtable: New Directions in Southern Jewish History. Max Modiano Daniel, Ashley Larue Low, Jacob Morrow-Spitzer, Mimi Brown Wooten, and Shari Rabin (chair)
• 11:30 am-1:00 pm: Visit “From Tablet to Tablet: Exploring Emory’s Jewish Studies Collections,” an exhibit in the Schatten Gallery, Robert W. Woodruff Library. Introduction: Katalin Rac, Jewish Studies Librarian
• 1:15 pm: Adjournment of Main Conference; Buses from Emory to conference hotel