Jewish Genealogical Society of Oregon

Jews of the Pacific Coast

Ellen Eisenberg, Dwight and Margaret Lear Professor of American History at
Willamette University
Sunday, January 23, 2011 1:00 pm
Where: Congregation Ahavath Achim, 3225 SW Barbur Blvd., Portland, OR

Description: >from the California Gold Rush of 1849 to the explosion of population
centers in the Southwest in the 1980s, Jews have played a significant role in
shaping the Pacific West. In the process, they have reshaped themselves, as
individuals and as communities. Through their mercantile networks and cultural
innovations, their philanthropic institutions and political leadership, western
Jews created a distinctive identity. Using historical photographs >from her new book
Ellen Eisenberg will explore the nature of the Jewish experience in Seattle,
Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and the small towns of the West. She will
explain the important differences among these cities, as well as highlighting the
ways in which the western Jewish experience has echoed and deviated >from the
familiar story of American Jewish history.

About our Speaker: Ellen Eisenberg
Ellen Eisenberg has taught in the History Department at Willamette University since
1990, and was appointed Dwight and Margaret Lear Professor of American History in
2003. She holds a B.A. in American Studies >from Carleton College and a Ph.D. in
History >from the University of Pennsylvania.Her current scholarship centers on Jews
in the Pacific West and their relationships with other ethnic groups. Her
publications include Jewish Agricultural Colonies in New Jersey, 1882-1920;
chapters in the anthologies Jewish Life in the American West and California Jews,
and journal articles and monographs. The First to Cry Down Injustice? Western Jews
and Japanese Removal during WWII was a National Jewish Book Award finalist. Jews of
the Pacific Coast: Reinventing Community on America's Edge, co-authored with Ava
Kahn and Bill Toll, was released by the University of Washington Press earlier this
year.

Time: Doors open by 1:00 pm for expert assistance with your genealogy problems.
You are invited to send a short synopsis of your issue ahead of time to
jgsoregon@gmail.com. Program will start at 1:30.

Admission is free to members of JGSO, $5 donation requested >from non-members (can
be applied to cost of membership if you join at the time).

For more information contact Barbara Hershey, President/Program Chair at
jgsoregon@gmail.com. The JGSO website has information about the organization and
genealogy tools http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~orjgs/.