History Is Now: Help Us Tell the Story of What’s Happening Today
By Debra Shein
OJMCHE is looking for items to add to its artifacts and archives collections that will preserve a record of two key phenomena we’re witnessing in the present: 1. Local reactions to the Israel-Hamas War; 2. Regional manifestations of the current rise in antisemitic acts. If you think you have anything that might be of interest, read on to find out more.
Alisha Babbstein, OJMCHE Director of Collections and Exhibitions, reflects that “History is now. People often think that the items they have pertaining to contemporary events are not relevant. But what’s happening now will be history, whether it’s an hour from now or 10 years from now. And it’s key to our mission at OJMCHE to collect materials that will be able to reflect the political/social/cultural landscape of today in the future.” The Museum is devoted to documenting Jewish life in Oregon through photographs, oral histories, artifacts, music, and written records. Recently, OJMCHE amassed 300 oral history interviews as a part of a nationwide project to document the pandemic and its effects on Jewish life. In the same spirit, we’re now seeking materials that will provide a record of other impactful issues of our times.
Documenting Reactions to the Israel-Hamas War
As Alisha notes, “We’re not interested in whether the items you have may be pro or anti either side. We just hope to preserve a picture of the full spectrum of reactions, what was happening in our community at this time.” Items could include things such as posters from marches, flyers, photographs, emails or other correspondence, or written accounts.
Chronicling Experiences of Antisemitism in Oregon
Broadly, the Museum is looking for any physical objects (or photos of objects) showing the ways in which antisemitism has recently been evidenced in Oregon. This may take the form of graffiti, flyers, etc. We’re also looking for correspondence, anecdotes, whatever will help tell the story. Although the Museum has a policy of not collecting Nazi memorabilia from the WWII era, current demonstrations of neo-Nazism and its symbols will be acceptable in this case.
How to Donate Your Items
Contact Alisha Babbstein by email at ababbstein@ojmche.org. We can’t accept items dropped off at the front desk without prior approval, but if you get in touch with Alisha, she’ll review what you have to offer and get back to you to make further arrangements.
Changes to Collections Staff
With the recent retirement of Anne LeVant Prahl, longtime OJMCHE Curator of Collections, and the installation of a new database, big changes have been afoot in the Collections department of the Museum.
Alisha Babbstein, formerly OJMCHE Archivist, has moved into a new role as Director of Collections and Exhibitions. Alisha started as Archivist part-time in 2013, After interning at OJMCHE for a year, and went full-time in 2015. She managed the Museum’s archives and oral history project and oversaw interns and volunteers. She also project-managed exhibitions. Her role has now been expanded to participating in developing an exhibitions calendar and working with curators to bring exhibitions into the exhibition galleries. In addition, she’s focused on the setup of Collections’ new database, with the goal of digitizing the Museum’s expansive holdings and publishing them online.
Alisha holds a Master’s of Library Science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and received her BS with a double major in Women’s & Gender Studies and Biology from the University of Oregon. And believe it or not, before returning to school to work on her MLIS, she served as herd manager for a dairy farm. With a big smile, she notes that the experience was in fact very relevant to her current job, “because of the record keeping and attention to detail” it required. In her spare time, she loves to build things, play pickleball, and is a Dolly Parton aficionado.
Welcome to Sarah (SE) Harris, OJMCHE’s new Collections Manager and Registrar. Sarah, who like Alisha began at the Museum as an intern, started in her current job at the end of 2023. Her role involves taking care of all of the physical objects in the Museum’s collections as well as documenting them in the database. As seen in the current exhibition, Oregon Jews A to Z, the range of items in the collection is vast, including three-dimensional objects such as textiles and Judaica — and even two saddles as well as several Bugs Bunny figurines (tied to Mel Blanc’s having grown up in Oregon)!
After completing a BA in American History at Arizona State University, Sarah began her career at the Phoenix Art Museum in their special collections library, preserving periodicals from the late-19th and early-20th centuries. She then moved to Oregon, where she earned an MA in Public History from Portland State University and has worked at the Oregon Historical Society as well as the Milwaukie Museum and the End of the Trail Interpretive Center in Oregon City. Taking after her grandfather, who is an expert tomato gardener in Arizona, Sarah enjoys gardening and has avidly been learning to grow tomatoes in our wetter and cooler climate.