Black + Jewish: Connection, Courage, Community

Jazz musicians play together in Berlin, Germany
Charlie Barnet, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong, and Lionel Hampton

In 2020, the Museum of HIstory and Holocaust Education (MHHE) at Kennesaw State University received a grant from the Breman Foundation of Atlanta to create a traveling exhibit in support of its 2021 goals of combating antisemitism, addressing race relations, and working for social justice. During spring semester 2021, public history students in HIST 4427 worked with MHHE curator Adina Langer to produce the exhibit.

Black + Jewish: Connection, Courage, Community is a ten-panel traveling exhibit that explores the history of Black and Jewish relationships in the United States. When built on shared values and a mutual desire for civil and human rights those relationships have brought us closer to the ideal of inclusive democracy.

The exhibit is accompanied by a digital gallery guide, Black + Jewish Perspectives: A Conversational Companion, created in order to raise voices, clarify context, and complicate the conversation.

Black + Jewish exhibit panels beside the fountain at the KSU Center
Black + Jewish exhibit installation

Exhibit Supplements:

Click here to explore the Gallery Guide for the exhibition. 

Click here to access an Audio Guide for the exhibition.

Watch this video to learn more about the exhibition:

Click here to learn about one way Black + Jewish communities are working together to combat white supremacy in the United States today, courtesy of Integrity First for America, The Center for Civil and Human Rights, The Breman Museum of Jewish Heritage, and Ebenezer Baptist Church of Atlanta. 

Celebrate Welcoming Week!

The MHHE was proud to partner with Welcoming America for the third year in a row in support of their Welcoming Week initiative (September 10-19, 2021). This year, we featured our Black + Jewish exhibit, which was on display at the Breman Museum of Jewish Heritage, and the themes of migration and belonging that it explores. After you view the Black + Jewish exhibit and/or its digital gallery guide, click here to reflect on how #BelongingBeginsWithUs. 

New Jersey Tour:

Black + Jewish is on display at synagogues in and near Princeton, New Jersey, from September 17 through December 18. In addition to the display of the exhibit, docent-guided tours and Zoom programming will be available throughout the fall.

  • Click here to learn about the tour.
  • Click here to learn about and register for programming sponsored by the Jewish Center of Princeton.
  • Click here to read an in-depth article about the genesis of the exhibition's display at the Jewish Center of Princeton. 

On October 2, 2022, curator Adina Langer shared information about the genesis of the exhibition with members of the Jewish Center of Princeton. Watch a recording of her presentation here: 

Top image: Five jazz greats perform together in this photographic postcard made circa 1950 in Berlin, Germany. They are (l-r) Charlie Barnet, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong, and Lionel Hampton. Courtesy Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images
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