Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Mara Cohen Ioannides
It took a while for Allyn Lord’s interest in the Jewish side of the settlement of the Ozarks to become this week’s Sandwiched In program at the Shiloh Museum of Ozark History.
“I first became interested in the topic when I attended a session at the annual meeting of the Southeastern Museums Conference maybe 20 years ago,” the director of the Springdale museum says. “I discovered not long ago that there was an exhibit on ‘Jews in the Ozarks,’ and, in asking about bringing it here — we still might — I worked with one of the curators, Mara Cohen Ioannides. When I learned that she speaks on the topic, I knew we had to have her here at the Shiloh Museum.”
The museum, says Lord, has “basically nothing” in its vaults to reflect the role of Jewish people in the region.
“It’s a collecting area we need to concentrate on by doing a better job of connecting with the Jewish community here,” she says. “Shiloh Museum is committed to reflecting the diversity of its communities in the Arkansas Ozarks. We increasingly are offering programs, exhibits and events that speak to our audiences and provide them with information about the wide range of people and their stories that are part of the Arkansas Ozark experience. We’re thrilled to have Dr. Ioannides speak on a topic that is little discussed in our area.”
Ioannides grew up “between Trenton, the capital, and Princeton, where the university is” in New Jersey, and earned degrees at Columbia University in New York City, Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and The Spertus Institute of Jewish Learning and Leadership in Chicago. President of the Midwest Jewish Studies Association and a senior instructor in the department of English at Missouri State University in Springfield, she took time out of her schedule to answer these questions about her March 21 presentation at the Shiloh Museum.
Q. What sparked your interest in Judaism in the Ozarks?
A. That’s a really funny story. I was hired to teach technical writing at Missouri State University, and the editor of OzarksWatch Magazine kept coming into my really tiny office telling me that no one had ever done an edition on the Jews of the Ozarks. Every couple of weeks Dr. Don Holliday — he likes to be called Doc Holliday — would do this. I confess he wore me down. I did that issue in 1999. It is still the largest issue and the most republished one. I think that also encouraged me to do my doctorate in Jewish American studies.
Q. Is the history of Jewish people in the Ozarks a familiar one — did they come from back East during the same time period as most settlers, etc.?
A. The history of the Jews of the Ozarks is both familiar and not. The earliest Jewish settlers came as part of the German immigration around the time of the Civil War. You realize I’m giving away my “secrets” here! What made these folks different than the Christians is that they didn’t farm, for the most part; they became merchants. I’ll talk about this in great detail.
Q. What do you hope listeners learn from your lecture?
A. That Jews are part of the Ozarks’ landscape. They are as much a part of the creation of the region as the Christians and the Natives.
Q. Will you also talk about life here now for people of Jewish descent?
A. I will a bit. And I’m always happy to answer questions. I’ll bring various books I’ve written to sell as well. One is a photo history of the Jews of Springfield and the other two are novels about the Jews of Greece, another passion of mine. I do research on the Jews of the region, both Ozarks and Midwestern. I’ve had two fellowships to the American Jewish Archives to do research and helped found the Ozarks Jewish Archive at Missouri State University.