Dear Megan, Thank you for your really nice message!
Thanks very much also for the update on Union City and especially for the history of Kisber's and the forward thinking of Mr. Kisber to take such a courageous stand and actions at a time when that was not only ahead of the time by challenging the prevailing racism and Jim Crow mores of the South, but very dangerous to do! Amazing and heartwarming! Thanks to you, I looked at Congregation B'nai Israel's website at https://congregationbnai-israel.org/ and some of the images there. What a rich history, founded in 1885 (the first congregation in Jackson dates to the mid-1850s), and the building and the stained glass windows are indeed striking. What really caught my eye--and seems to be unique--is that there are stained glass windows on the Ark. If I ever have the fortune to find myself in your area, I would definitely like to visit the synagogue. I have long been a lover of historic architecture and especially of shul buildings. I appreciate your telling me a bit about the neighborhood and Jewish life there past and present. It very nicely supplements what I learned from Stella. Be well. Elliot ================================================ Elliot H. Gertel *עלע־הערש גערטל / אליהו־צבי גרטל* AJL-ALA Liaison Member, ALA EMIERT Jewish Information Committee, 2020-22 Chair, 2020 AJL Fanny Goldstein Merit Award Committee Irving M. Hermelin Curator Emeritus of Judaica The University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Michigan eger...@umich.edu On Thu, Jun 18, 2020 at 4:40 PM Megan Shulman <megshul...@gmail.com> wrote: > Dear Elliot, > > Thank you for such a warm welcome! > > Yes, Medina is fairly close to Union City! Unfortunately, due to declining > membership due to an aging population, the Union City synagogue closed a > few years ago. The remaining members joined our synagogue B’nai Israel, > located in Jackson, which has had a presence there for over 150 years. The > building features indescribably beautiful stained glass that glows in the > night and is now on the Historical Register. > While I have never heard the term “Jew Store,” Jews in this area were > often owners of upscale department stores. In Jackson, Kisber’s, owned by > the Kisber family, was known for its high class items and exemplary > customer service. In the 1950s, Kisber’s became the first store to > integrate racially in terms of both staffing and customers. Anyone who > opposed this decision would be met by Mr. Kisber himself and he would > politely, yet firmly, state his stance on his hopes for a fully integrated > society in Jackson. While Kisber’s was eventually replaced with larger > department stores like Macy’s, Jackson is still blessed to have several > independent Jewishly owned retail stores like Robert’s Jewelers. > I’m excited to be volunteering with the AJL! > > Megan > > On Thu, Jun 18, 2020 at 2:52 PM Elliot H. Gertel <eger...@umich.edu> > wrote: > >> Hello, Megan, >> >> Welcome! Great to have you join AJL in such an active role. >> >> If I'm not mistaken Medina is not far from Union City, which makes me >> think of Stella Suberman, O"h (1922-2017), a presenter at the 1999 AJL >> Annual Conference in Boca Raton where she spoke about her fascinating, >> slightly fictionalized memoir (mostly changing names) with the somewhat >> troubling title--at least to this Northerner!--*The Jew Store* (Chapel >> Hill, N.C.: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 1998) about growing up Jewish >> in a rural Northwestern Tennessee town with a population of 5,318 in the >> 1920s when her family settled there. Stella made it clear that many small >> Southern towns had dry goods stores that were called "Jew stores" back >> then. It's a great depiction of her experiences being raised in the only >> Jewish family in a small Southern town. >> >> Thanks for pitching in with *AJL Reviews!* >> >> Hope to "see" you at AJL Digital Conference in two weeks and future >> in-person conferences. >> >> Best regards, >> Elliot >> >> ================================================ >> Elliot H. Gertel *עלע־הערש גערטל / אליהו־צבי גרטל* >> AJL-ALA Liaison >> Member, ALA EMIERT Jewish Information Committee, 2020-22 >> Chair, 2020 AJL Fanny Goldstein Merit Award Committee >> Irving M. Hermelin Curator Emeritus of Judaica >> The University of Michigan >> Ann Arbor, Michigan >> eger...@umich.edu >> >> >> On Thu, Jun 18, 2020 at 1:30 PM Sally Stieglitz via Hasafran < >> hasafran@lists.osu.edu> wrote: >> >>> Dear Safranim, >>> >>> Please join me in welcoming Megan Shulman to our AJL News and Reviews >>> team! Megan is one of our new co-editors for children's/teen's reviews. >>> >>> Here is Megan's "hello" to you all: >>> >>> My name is Megan Shulman, and I am, after many years of being involved >>> with our synagogue’s leadership team and community, newly Jew-by-Choice. I >>> am a transplant to the Deep South by way of New York, and enjoy learning >>> about the diverse historical Jewish experience in our rural city in West >>> Tennessee. I have fifteen years of experience as a school librarian, but >>> have also worked as both a public and academic librarian. I have a passion >>> for diverse, quality Jewish children’s and young adult literature. I am >>> recently disabled, and make my home in the tiny town of Medina, Tennessee >>> with my five year old son Calvin and my husband Andrew. I am very excited >>> to soon be serving the AJL! >>> >>> Wishing you all Shabbat Shalom, >>> Sally >>> >>> >>> -- >>> Sally Stieglitz >>> Communications and Marketing Coordinator | Long Island Library >>> Resources Council >>> sstiegl...@lilrc.org | 631-675-1570 x2005 >>> http://www.lilrc.org >>> >>> [image: ORCID] http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1552-9188 >>> >>> >>> >>> LILRC is a member of the Empire State Library Network (ESLN >>> <https://www.esln.org/>) >>> >>> Follow LILRC on Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/LILRCouncil/> Twitter >>> <https://twitter.com/lilrc> Instagram >>> <https://www.instagram.com/lilrcevents/> >>> __ >>> Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual >>> author >>> and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries >>> (AJL) >>> ================================== >>> Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: >>> hasaf...@lists.service.ohio-state.edu >>> To join Ha-Safran, update or change your subscription, etc. - click >>> here: https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran >>> Questions, problems, complaints, compliments send to: galro...@osu.edu >>> Ha-Safran Archives: >>> Current: >>> >>> http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.service.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html >>> Earlier Listserver: >>> >>> http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html >>> AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org >>> -- >>> Hasafran mailing list >>> Hasafran@lists.osu.edu >>> https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran >>> >>
__ Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) ================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: hasaf...@lists.service.ohio-state.edu To join Ha-Safran, update or change your subscription, etc. - click here: https://lists.service.ohio-state.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran Questions, problems, complaints, compliments send to: galro...@osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.service.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html Earlier Listserver: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org -- Hasafran mailing list Hasafran@lists.osu.edu https://lists.osu.edu/mailman/listinfo/hasafran
