Lottery win for historical study
A £73,000 grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund is supporting a 12-month research project showcasing the historic cultural and economic contribution of Jews to six regional areas.
The Connecting Small Histories project has been undertaken by the Jewish Small Communities Network, in partnership with Swansea University.
Seven volunteers are documenting the Jewish heritage of Cumbria, Somerset, St Anne’s, Bradford, Eastbourne and Sunderland. The findings will be published in a “heritage hub” on the JSCN website and presented at a history festival in Manchester at the project’s conclusion.
Research lead for Eastbourne Anne Goldstein cited the the value of the JC archives in providing clues to the seaside town’s Jewish presence before the establishment of a synagogue in 1922. For example, a story about Bevis Marks synagogue arranging for kosher meat to be dispatched for Jewish holidaymakers in the summer of 1878.
For the Bradford element, JSCN director Ed Horwich highlighted the legacy of German Jewish immigrants in the city’s wool industry. He further noted that Taunton in Somerset had a Jewish mayor, Myer Jacobs, as far back as 1877.
Mr Horwich told the JC the project was important because “the Jewish community is forgetting this legacy and because you have a non-Jewish community out there interested in the Jewish involvement in its area”.
He added that the research would demonstrate that Jewish residents had made their mark on communities, often with enduring impact.
Professor Patricia Skinner, a historian and project lead at Swansea University, said the research was extending “our public history and heritage work into a new and exciting area”.
Costing a total £120,000, the project was originally intended to conclude in April. But the finishing date may have to be pushed back due to delays caused by the Covid crisis.