49th Annual Southern Jewish Historical Society Conference
History awaits us in New Orleans — the history we can see, touch and feel, the history our colleagues study and write about, and the history each of us can be a part of as the Southern Jewish Historical Society gathers in New Orleans for our 49th annual conference.
Two of the most historic synagogues in America — Touro and Sinai — will be our venues Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 17, 18, 19. The Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience (MSJE) will be hosting our conference attendees for a special evening on Saturday night. The conference promises a dynamic and thought-provoking exploration of southern Jewish life and culture, with a lineup of distinguished speakers and engaging panels. We are honored to welcome Karla Goldman, Professor of Social Work and Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan, who will deliver a Friday evening keynote at Touro Synagogue reflecting on the Jewish response to—and engagement with—Hurricane Katrina, twenty years after the storm’s devastating impact on New Orleans. Acclaimed journalist and Columbia University professor Nicholas Lemann will present from his forthcoming book, which traces his family’s deep Jewish roots in New Orleans and across the South. Adam Mendelsohn, Associate Professor of Historical Studies at the University of Cape Town and author of Jewish Soldiers in the Civil War, will share his latest research on Jewish involvement in the Confederate military.
In addition to these keynotes, the conference will feature a diverse array of panels examining identity, memory, and place in the southern Jewish experience. Scholars and community leaders will discuss topics ranging from women’s roles in Gulf South Zionist movements to the postwar journeys of Holocaust survivors rebuilding their lives in New Orleans. Cultural expression will be a key theme, with sessions exploring the blending of Jewish and Southern motifs in food and music, as well as the legacies of notable figures such as David L. Cohn, Judah Touro, and Mickey Gil, the beloved “Jewish Queen of Gay Mardi Gras.” The conference will also take a closer look at the intersections of race, region, and religion, including an exciting panel on the contested memory of Judah P. Benjamin and the vandalized monument that now resides at MSJE.
We also have availability for our pre-conference day trip, Thursday, Oct. 16th, to the Historic New Orleans Collection, followed by a walking tour of historic Jewish sites in the French Quarter. Register below.
There’s also New Orleans, y’all. Few cities can equal the Crescent City for all it has to offer. We have arranged with our hotel to hold rooms at our special, conference rate for seven days.
Venez tous! (Y’all come!) Be a part of what promises to be a special conference. Your next steps …
RENEW YOUR SJHS MEMBERSHIP: Members receive a discount on the overall registration rate. If you have not renewed, please do so by accessing this link: Renew
REGISTER FOR THE CONFERENCE: Our co-sponsors have graciously contributed funding and event support to help manage our registration fees. Click on the appropriate link in the upper right to register. [Note for graduate students: We have a limited number of stipends available. Please apply to conference program chairman Jacob Morrow-Spitzer at jacob.morrow.spitzer@yale.edu.]:
- Early Bird Member (Register before Sept. 15th — $225)
- Student Member ($150)
- Early Bird Non-Member ($297)
- ONE-DAY RATE: We will offer a one-day rate of $85, payable at the conference registration desks either at Touro or Sinai synagogues.
RESERVE YOUR HOTEL ROOM: Our conference hotel will be the Renaissance New Orleans Arts Warehouse District, 700 Tchoupitoulas. The hotel is three blocks from the historic streetcar line, a 20-minute walk to the French Quarter and only blocks from some of the best restaurants in New Orleans. A limited number of rooms are on hold, first-come, first serve, with two queen beds; other rooms have one king bed. Buses will meet conference attendees Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning in front of the Renaissance; drop-off will be at the hotel on Friday night and Sunday after the conference concludes. Buses will take us from Temple Sinai to MSJE for a tour and special event Saturday night at MSJE. Afterward, attendees are free to explore the city on their own, or attend a Grant Center for the American Jewish Experience-sponsored event nearby. [NOTE: Rooms are available at the conference rate beginning Tuesday, Oct. 14th, with check out Tuesday, Oct. 21st for those who want to spend extra time in New Orleans before and/or after the conference.) Hotel reservations can be accessed here: HotelRegistration
ADDITIONAL HOTEL CHOICE: We also have reserved rooms at The Higgins, next to the World War II museum. The hotel is approximately a 10-minute walk to the Renaissance or five minutes from the St. Charles Avenue streetcar line to the synagogues. NOTE: Buses will not pick-up or drop off at The Higgins. https://group.curiocollection.com/2b98g0
CONFERENCE PROGRAM: The conference will be held at Touro Synagogue, 4238 St. Charles Ave., on Friday and Sunday; and at Temple Sinai, 6227 St. Charles Ave., on Saturday.
TRANSPORTATION: Buses will be in front of the hotel each morning at 8:00 a.m. Buses will depart by 8:30 a.m.. If attendees wish to take the St. Charles street car, the ride to Touro Synagogue is 20 stops, requires about 30 minutes and ends at the Milan and St. Charles stop; the ride to Temple Sinai is 31 stops and ends at the Calhoun and St. Charles stop. The streetcar stop is a 7-minute walk from the hotel; right out of the hotel, a half-block to Girod, then left three blocks to St. Charles Avenue; board an outbound streetcar. Here’s the link to the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority NORTA with fare information. A single-fare is $1.25; .40 for seniors; cash or coins without an RTA pass. Travel by car is about 20 minutes, but street parking at or near the synagogues is limited.
FOOD: You cannot hold a conference in New Orleans without great food — and kosher, too! Touro Synagogue’s caterer, Jessie Wightkin Gelini, will prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner Friday, and Sunday morning at Touro Synagogue. Kosher Cajun will prepare breakfast and lunch at Temple Sinai on Saturday.
SECURITY: As most if not all have experienced, entry into synagogues now is managed by security officers. Thus, entry into our conference venues this year will be somewhat different than in the past. Touro and Sinai require that SJHS ensure that those entering their premises are registered for the conference. Each attendee will need to be wearing a lapel pin displaying our conference logo just like the one in the upper right hand corner of this registration page. We will have board members on each bus Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings, and at the entry to each synagogue. We will have lapel pins each morning as people enter the buses. Those without lapel pins will be required to enter through the synagogues’ usual security protocols — scanners supervised by guards — and receive a lapel pin at the registration desk. Bags also may be subject to search.
DAY-TRIP: We have limited availability for our day trip on Thursday, Oct. 16th. A bus will meet day-trippers at 8:30 a.m. outside the Renaissance, then off to the Historic New Orleans Collection for a step back into the past of this city and region with Collection staff as your guides. Lunch will be on your own before meeting in the French Quarter for a guided tour of Jewish sites throughout the heart of New Orleans. The day will include lots of walking. Register here: DayTrip
A special thank you to our conference co-sponsors.
