'Shalom, Make Yourself at Home!': Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience to Open in New Orleans Fall 2020

NEW ORLEANS, February 12, 2020 (Newswire.com) - ​Officials with the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience (MSJE) announced the new museum will open in fall 2020 in New Orleans. Exhibits will explore the ways Jews in the American South influenced and were influenced by their communities, covering 13 states and more than 300 years of history – including Colonial, Civil War, World War II and the Civil Rights Movement.

“This will be the only museum in the country to focus exclusively on the history and culture of Jews across the South,” said Jay Tanenbaum, museum chairman.

Multimedia exhibits will illustrate how Jewish immigrants and succeeding generations adapted to life in the South, forming bonds of deep friendship and community with their non-Jewish neighbors. The Museum will also address issues of race and anti-Semitism and the many ways that Southern Jews navigated them at different times.

New Orleans was chosen as the museum's home based on the city’s vibrant tourism economy, long Jewish history and historical connection to the broader southern region. MSJE will be located in the city’s “Museum District,” in proximity to the National WWII Museum, Ogden Museum of Southern Art and the Contemporary Art Center.

The Museum’s collection of more than 7,000 artifacts was transferred from the original Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience, established in 1986 at Jacobs Camp in Utica, Mississippi, and shuttered in 2012. Tanenbaum explained, “The museum’s mission changed and grew into the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life, headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi. In order to reimagine and grow, the museum separated from the Institute, giving it the independence to become a world-class attraction.”

MSJE is working with Gallagher & Associates, an internationally recognized museum planning and design firm responsible for award-winning experiences at scores of international projects including the National Museum of American Jewish History, the National College Football Hall of Fame and the National WWII Museum.

The Museum is expected to appeal to a wide array of visitors. “You don’t have to be Jewish and you don’t have to be Southern to relate,” said executive director Kenneth Hoffman. “Our hope is that visitors come away with an expanded understanding of what it means to be a Jew, what it means to be a Southerner and, ultimately, what it means to be an American.”

Museum officials encourage members of the public to consider donating artifacts to the collection, especially items from early Jewish history (1800s), items related to the stories of women and people of color or any item with a strong connection to a personal story of Southern Jewish life. Find out more about the artifact donation process at www.msje.org/our-collection.

Those interested in supporting the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience should visit www.msje.org/support.

CONTACT:         
Kacey M. Hill
Peter Mayer PR/Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience
[email protected]
cell: 504-858-7092

Source: Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience