{{Short description|Museum of the history of the Jews of Oregon}} {{more citations needed|date=January 2019}} {{Infobox museum | name = Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education | image = File:Oregon Jewish Museum, PDX, 2018 - 1.jpg | image_size = | caption = The museum's entrance, 2018 | alt = | map_type = Portland downtown | map_size = | map_caption = Location within Portland | established = | location = 724 NW Davis St, Portland, Oregon | coordinates = | type = | accreditation = | key_holdings = | collections = | collection_size = | visitors = | director = | president = | curator = | owner = | public_transit = | parking = | network = | website = {{URL|https://www.ojmche.org/}} }}
The '''Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education''' is the largest museum dedicated to the documented and visual history of the Jews of Oregon, United States. The Museum is dedicated to the preservation, research, and exhibition of art, archival materials, and artifacts of the Jews and Judaism in Oregon.<ref>Meringolo, Denise D. 2010. "Oregon Jewish Museum. Portland, Oregon. Judith Margles, director; Anne LeVant Prahl, curator. Opened December 2009. www.ojm.org". The Public Historian. 32 (4): 141-144.</ref>
The museum's archival collection contains records of its various community-based and traveling exhibitions, cultural programs and events, and educational outreach about Jewish identity, culture, and assimilation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ojmche.org/ |title=Oregon Jewish Museum |publisher=Ojm.org |access-date=2013-07-14}}</ref>
==History== thumb|right|Interior, 2018
The Museum began in 1989 when a Portland rabbi, Rabbi Joshua Stampfer, invited members of Portland's Jewish community to a meeting at his synagogue to explore the idea of creating the first Jewish museum in the Pacific Northwest.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}
Some of the exhibits the museum sponsored in their first years include: The Jews of ''Greece''; In the Footsteps of ''Columbus''; The Legacy of ''Bezalel''; Jews, ''Germany'', and Memory, among others. These early exhibits were hosted in a variety of spaces including the Central Library, art galleries, other libraries and synagogues.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}
In 1996, the Museum merged with the Jewish History Society of Oregon and acquired their archives, comprising major collections of organizational records, family papers, photographs and ephemeral materials dating from 1850 to the present—the largest collection of the documented and visual history of Oregon's Jews. The Oregon Historical Society provided a small office in which to store and process these papers. Today this collection forms the core of the museum archives.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}
In July 1998, the hired its first director. At the same time, the museum moved into a donated office suite at Montgomery Park in Northwest Portland.<ref>{{cite web|author=deca architecture |url=http://www.jewishreview.org/local/ojm-finds-new-home |title=Oregon Jewish Museum finds spacious new home |publisher=The Jewish Review |access-date=2013-07-14}}</ref> When OJM left Montgomery Park in October 2000, the museum moved to a storefront location elsewhere in Northwest Portland.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}
In 2001, the museum moved to a storefront in the Pearl District and opened its first major community-based exhibition, ''A Call to Serve: Oregon Jews in the Armed Services'', which examined the experience of Oregon Jews who served in the United States Military.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}
In 2009, the current building in Northwest Portland was identified. Within five months, the board raised funds for the architectural makeover of the former commercial film building and the museum opened to the public on December 20, 2009.{{citation needed|date=January 2019}}
In 2014 the Oregon Jewish Museum merged with the Center for Holocaust Education.
In June 2017 the museum changed locations to 724 NW Davis Street and upsized to a 15,000 square foot building.
== Core exhibitions ==
* ''Discrimination and Resistance, An Oregon Primer'' curated by Janice Dilg documents Oregon’s history of discrimination from its territorial days, into statehood, and up through the twentieth century. It also chronicles the numerous ways individuals and groups have resisted and overcome discrimination through that same time period.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.streetroots.org/2017/06/08/2-sides-oregons-history-exhibit-juxtaposes-discrimination-resistance|title=2 sides of Oregon's history: Exhibit juxtaposes discrimination, resistance|work=Street Roots|language=en|access-date=2019-04-13}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.ojmche.org/events/core-exhibits|title=Core Exhibits|website=www.ojmche.org|access-date=2019-04-13}}</ref> * ''Oregon Jewish Stories'' documents the experience of Oregon’s Jewish community from its beginnings in the Gold Rush era of the 1840s through today. It explores the questions of identity that many Oregon Jews wrestle with and explores the experience of Jews throughout the state.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oregonlive.com/living/2017/06/oregon_jewish_museum.html|title=Oregon Jewish Museum's new home gives it the space for both exhibits and education|date=2017-06-06|work=Oregon Live|language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-13}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> * ''The Holocaust, An Oregon Perspective'' examines Holocaust history through the stories of people who survived the Holocaust and later made their home in Oregon and Southwest Washington, and as such, is about both Holocaust history and about Oregon. Rooted in the past yet engaging visitors in the present, this exhibit meets visitors where they are, posing questions like “What brings you here today?” and “How do you feel about what you’ve seen here today?” <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://orjewishlife.com/jewish-museum-fits-right-into-portlands-pearl/|title=Jewish Museum fits right into Portland's Pearl|date=2017-06-01|website=Oregon Jewish Life|language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-13}}</ref><ref name=":0" />
==Previous rotating exhibitions==
*''Hans Coper - Less Means More'', June 6 - September 22, 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://orjewishlife.com/revolutionary-artists-rock-summer-exhibits-at-ojmche/|title=Revolutionary artists rock summer exhibits at OJMCHE|date=2019-06-13|website=Oregon Jewish Life|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-07}}</ref> *''Betty LaDuke - Early Work,'' June 6 - September 22, 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pdxmonthly.com/slideshows/2019/6/17/at-86-oregon-artist-betty-laduke-is-unstoppable|title=At 86, Oregon Artist Betty LaDuke Is Unstoppable|website=Portland Monthly|access-date=2019-07-07}}</ref> *''Mel Bochner - Enough Said from the collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation.'' March 7 - May 26, 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://artdaily.com/news/111861/Oregon-Jewish-Museum-and-Center-for-Holocaust-Education-opens-exhibition-of-works-by-Mel-Bochner#.XLJL1ZNKiLg|title=Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education opens exhibition of works by Mel Bochner|website=artdaily.com|access-date=2019-04-13}}</ref> *''The Last Journey of the Jews of Lodz.'' October 9, 2018 - February 24, 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theskanner.com/news/newsbriefs/27631-portland-art-museum-oregon-jewish-museum-jointly-present-two-exhibitions-featuring-henryk-ross-s-photographs-of-the-lodz-ghetto|title=Portland Art Museum, Oregon Jewish Museum Jointly Present Two Exhibitions Featuring Henryk Ross's Photographs of the Lodz Ghetto|website=The Skanner News|language=en-gb|access-date=2019-04-13}}</ref> *''R.B. Kitaj: A Jew Etc., Etc..'' June 7 - September 30, 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.orartswatch.org/a-diasporist-etc-etc/|title=A Diasporist, etc., etc.|date=2018-07-12|website=Oregon ArtsWatch|language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-13}}</ref> *''Vedem: The Underground Magazine of the Terezin Ghetto.'' February 16 - May 27, 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://artslandia.com/vedem-jewish-resistance-zine/|title=Vedem: A Jewish Resistance 'Zine from the Holocaust|date=2018-02-22|website=Artslandia|language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-13}}</ref> *''I Am This, Art by Oregon Jewish Artists.'' October 19, 2017 - February 4, 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.orartswatch.org/i-am-this-jewish-artists-in-oregon/|title=I Am This: Jewish artists in Oregon|date=2017-10-24|website=Oregon ArtsWatch|language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-13}}</ref> *''Munich to Portland: A Painting Saves A Family.'' October 19, 2017 - February 4, 2018.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.opb.org/radio/programs/thinkoutloud/segment/painting-that-saved-family-from-holocaust-comes-home/|title=Painting That Saved Family From Holocaust Comes Home|last=Dorn|first=Andrew|website=www.opb.org|language=en|access-date=2019-04-13|archive-date=2019-04-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413212026/https://www.opb.org/radio/programs/thinkoutloud/segment/painting-that-saved-family-from-holocaust-comes-home/|url-status=dead}}</ref> *''Alefbet: The Alphabet of Memory.'' June 11 - October 1, 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.opb.org/radio/programs/state-of-wonder/article/oregon-jewish-museum-re-open-grisha-bruskin-alefbet/|title=Oregon Jewish Museum And Center For Holocaust Education Reopens With Colossal New Vision|first1=Aaron |last1=Scott |first2=April |last2=Baer |first3=Dave |last3=Miller |first4=Trevyn |last4=Savage |website=www.opb.org|language=en|access-date=2019-04-13}}</ref> *"Illuminated Letters: Threads of Connection" by Sara Harwin. February - May 2014.<ref name="Illuminated Letters">{{cite web |title=Illuminated Letters: Threads of connection |website=Illuminated Letters |url=https://www.illuminatedletters.net/ |access-date=2024-03-02}}</ref> *''Settling In.'' May–September, 2013.<ref name="Chin 2016">{{cite web |last=Chin |first=Geneva |title='Settling In' Exhibit At Oregon Jewish Museum Focuses On Portland Immigrants Today And 100 Years Ago |website=opb.org |date=May 17, 2013 | url=https://www.opb.org/artsandlife/article/settling-in-exhibit-focuses-on-portland-immigrants-today-and-one-hundred-years-ago/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306021746/https://www.opb.org/artsandlife/article/settling-in-exhibit-focuses-on-portland-immigrants-today-and-one-hundred-years-ago/ |archive-date=2016-03-06 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref> {{cite web |url = https://www.oregonlive.com/living/index.ssf/2013/07/oregon_jewish_museum_explores.html |title = Oregon Jewish Museum explores two immigrant waves |last = Haught |first = Nancy |date = 2013-07-05 |website = oregonlive.com |publisher = The Oregonian |access-date = 2013-07-13 }} </ref> *''Pictures of Resistance: The Wartime Photographs of Faye Schulman''. February – April, 2013. *''Oregon or Bust: 1936'', Arthur Rothstein photographs. Spring, 2013. *''In the Game''. May–September 2012.<ref name="Hottle 2012">{{cite web |last=Hottle |first=Molly |title=Oregon Jewish Museum opens exhibit on athletes from local Jewish community |website=oregonlive |date=2012-06-22 |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2012/06/oregon_jewish_museum_opens_exh.html |access-date=2024-03-02}}</ref> *''Transport: Works by Henk Pander and Esther Podemski''. January–March, 2012. *''48 Jews'' Works by Abshalom Jac Lahav. June–September, 2009.<ref>[http://portland.eventful.com/events/oregon-jewish-museum-present-works-abshalom-jac-/E0-001-021713421-0 The Oregon Jewish Museum exhibiting the works of Abshalom Jac Lahav]</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Oregon Jewish Museum}}
* {{official website|https://www.ojmche.org/}} * [https://www.oregonlive.com/living/index.ssf/2017/06/oregon_jewish_museum.html Oregon Jewish Museum's new home gives it the space for both exhibits and education] - OregonLive.com
{{Northwest District, Portland, Oregon}} {{Portal bar|Judaism|Museums|Oregon}}
Category:1989 establishments in Oregon Category:Ethnic museums in Oregon Category:Jewish museums in the United States Category:Jews and Judaism in Portland, Oregon Category:Museums in Portland, Oregon Category:Pearl District, Portland, Oregon