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Uncovered & Rediscovered: Stories of Jewish Chicago
Uncovered & Rediscovered: Stories of Jewish Chicago
A Jewish Homeland
Uncovered & Rediscovered is an evolving eight-part exhibit that explores the Chicago Jewish experience. The exhibit unfolds over time in a series of intimate chapters (each on display for 3-6 months in the ground floor vestibule of the Spertus building).
Exhibit admission, including a multi-media screening station on the second floor, is free.
This chapter documents the efforts of Chicagoans to secure a homeland for the Jewish people, beginning with the founding of this country’s first Zionist organization on Chicago’s Near West Side in 1896. Learn of little-known episodes such as Methodist Minister William Blackstone’s petition to Presidents Harrison and Wilson to establish a Jewish state in Palestine, or the failed efforts of a prominent group of Chicagoans to create a Jewish homeland in Siberia. The segment also explores local responses to the unfolding horror of Nazism — including a boycott of German goods and frantic efforts to rescue European family members — as well as a joyful rally of 25,000 at the Chicago Stadium celebrating the founding of the State of Israel.
Visit the Uncovered & Rediscovered exhibit page for a slideshow gallery of highlights from past chapters and for the Chicago Jewish Memory Map, a custom interactive map of personal stories of Chicago Jewish life. MORE>
Sponsors
Exhibits at Spertus are supported, in part, by a CityArts Program 4 Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events and the Harry and Sadie Lasky Foundation.
