[BCMA] FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Historic Walking Tours of Jewish Strathcona & Gastown

[Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - EVENT

June 14, 2011

Historic Walking Tours of Jewish Strathcona & Gastown

These popular tours are back for a 5th season! We've got new stories to
tell and new sites to explore. Discover the fascinating tales of life in
the heart of the early Jewish community in Vancouver. 

In the 1880s and 1890s, the town of Granville quickly became the city of
Vancouver following the arrival of the transcontinental railway. Jews
participated in the city's economic growth, political incorporation and
cultural development. Jewish businesses opened in Gastown and a wave of
Eastern European immigration from the 1890s to the 1920s made Strathcona
the new centre of British Columbia's Jewish population. In Strathcona,
the Eastern European Jewish immigrants shared the Yiddish language, a
religion, and concerns common to new immigrants in a foreign land. They
soon established a synagogue, a mikvah (ritual bath), and cheder (Hebrew
school) to meet their religious needs.

"...I remember when I went to Strathcona School, where I went until I
was 8 years old, there was a statement going around then that Strathcona
was the home of 95 different nationalities. And it may very well have
been true. So I went to school with Chinese and Japanese, there were
substantial colonies there. There were Italians, Russians, Poles,
Ukrainians, lots of immigrants of various kinds. But it was the centre
of Jewish life." - Sam Rothstein <http://www.jewishmuseum.ca/node/785>  

A tour guide from the Jewish Museum and Archives of BC will provide
insight into the landmarks, architecture, events and evolution of
Gastown and Strathcona districts, while sharing anecdotes of Jewish
daily life in the area. The tour lasts 2 hours and is 2 kilometers in
distance. 

2011 Summer Walking Tour dates: All tours begin at 10:00 am

*	Sunday, June 26, 2011 - Presented by the Heritage Vancouver
Society
<http://www.heritagevancouver.org/walkingtours.html#jewishstrath> 
*	Sunday, July 10, 2011
*	Sunday, July 24, 2011
*	Sunday, July 31, 2011
*	Sunday, August 7, 2011
*	Sunday, August 14, 2011
*	Sunday, August 21, 2011
*	Sunday, August 28, 2011

Where:
Tours meet at 700 E. Pender St. (corner of East Pender Street and
Heatley Avenue) in Strathcona, in front of the original Schara Tzedeck
Synagogue. Click here to see a map of the area.
<http://maps.google.ca/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=700+E.+Pende
r+Street&sll=49.891235,-97.15369&sspn=39.679848,79.013672&ie=UTF8&hq=&hn
ear=700+E+Pender+St,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver+Regional+District,+Bri
tish+Columbia&z=16&iwloc=A>   Parking is available on nearby residential
streets. The tour site is also accessible by Public Transit, visit 
www.translink.ca to plan a route.

Tickets:
$10 per person & includes a copy of the booklet, In the Footsteps of
Jewish Vancouver - 1886 to 2006.
Tickets can be paid at the start of the tour (cash only). 

For more information, contact the Jewish Museum & Archives of British
Columbia at (604) 257-5199 or email info at jewishmuseum.ca

 

-30-

Media Contact:

Molly Winston, Education Coordinator

Jewish Museum & Archives of British Columbia

(604) 257-5199 | mwinston at jewishmuseum.ca

 

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