[BCMA] Preserving BC's Jewish Voices: Press Release for Immediate Release from the Jewish Museum and Archives of BC

[Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv.]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 5, 2011

Preserving British Columbia's Jewish Voices

 

Since 1971, the Jewish Historical Society of British Columbia, led by
Cyril Leonoff and Irene Dodek, has been conducting oral history
interviews with Jewish community members to ensure that personal
histories are collected and preserved for posterity.  These interviews
are catalogued and indexed, then made available for researchers
throughout the year.  

 

The first interview took place December 10, 1968 with Cyril Leonoff
interviewing Ben Barish.  To date, the JHSBC has recorded 700 oral
history interviews, approximately 3,000 hours, the largest oral history
collection of any other Jewish museum, archives or historical society in
Canada.  We strive to record the diversity of the Jewish people of
British Columbia - the significant contributions they have made to BC
history as well as the stories of their lives and everyday events.  We
have interviewed both Jewish and non-Jewish pioneers that have shaped
this province and community members that continue to build it.  Examples
include Muni Evers, Honourable Nathan Nemetz, Jack Diamond, Dr. Irving
Snider, Joseph Segal, Simma Holt, and Grace McCarthy. We also strive to
interview the Jewish communities outside of Vancouver - Nelson, Trail,
Rossland, Okanagan Valley, Fraser Valley, Barkerville, Prince George
and, recently, Vancouver Island and Bowen Island. 

 

The oldest oral history interviews were recorded on audio cassette tape.
There are approximately 528 oral histories on audio cassette tape.  This
type of magnetic media is extremely fragile and its existence in the
current format is nearing its end.  With an average lifespan of 40
years, professional standards recommend that magnetic media tape be
converted to a digital format before the content is lost forever.
Anxious to preserve this vital collection, the JHSBC has recently
completed a seven and a half month long project of digitizing our oldest
oral history interviews with financial support from the Irving K. Barber
BC History Digitization Program. In total, the JHSBC has digitized 364
oral history interviews and uploaded 130 excerpts online.

 

The project was the first large-scale effort to digitize the JHSBC's
Oral History Collection.  As many of the interviews were recorded
throughout the province of British Columbia and pertains to people's
lives in various countries and cities, the JHSBC collection has a
provincial, national and international interest to researchers'
world-wide. Excerpts from the digitized interviews have been made
available online. To listen to excerpts from the JHSBC Oral History
Collection, visit www.jewishmuseum.ca/oral-histories.

 

For more information, or to inquire about volunteering, contact Jennifer
Yuhasz, JHSBC Archivist at (604) 257-5199.

 

Media Contact:

Kara Mintzberg, Education Coordinator

Jewish Museum & Archives of British Columbia

(604) 257-5199 | kmintzberg at jewishmuseum.ca
<mailto:kmintzberg at jewishmuseum.ca> 

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