Rice University Archive Shines A Light On South Texas' Jewish History
The largest Conservative Jewish synagogue in the U.S. is not on the East Coast – it’s in Houston. Congregation Beth Yeshurun is made up of 2,300 families and was founded in 1891. Now, Rice University aims to shine a light on it and the rest of South Texas’s Jewish community and history through its new Houston Jewish History Archive.
Director Josh Furman acknowledges that Houston is not the first place that comes to mind when people think of Judaism in the United States. But he wants to change that.
“One of the missions of this archive is to really, not only preserve the history, but also to create greater awareness – both here in Houston and beyond – about the long, rich history of Jews in Houston and in Texas,” Furman says.
One of the challenges, so far, has been that Hurricane Harvey damaged delicate materials; the synagogue flooded for the first time during that storm. Fortunately, a large team of historians, archivists, community volunteers and Rice students stepped in quickly to help with the recovery effort.
Read more: http://www.texasstandard.org/stories/rice-university-archive-shines-a-light-on-south-texas-jewish-history/