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Documenting Maine Jewrya seven-year-old community history projectFrom generation to generation to generationDMJ San Francisco Gathering - September, 2013

Presentation Outline

key features of DMJs approach current successes future directions1

Helping people save personal memorabilia creating family trees for them and sharing a digital copy Key Feature 1Today he DMJ site has an online library with

1,538 photographs, 1,018 original documents and29,000 individual biographic records

and a six-month backlog of yet-to-be-indexed materialfor a Jewish community with no more than 15,000 Jews at any one time 2

Everyone can contribute in their own unique way to building our information base of Maine community and personal histories,and everyone is a part of the process.3

Sample biographic record

All going well

DMJ aims for a20% increase in bibliographic citations and a 20% increase in biographic information in the coming year Expectations for 5744,Key Feature #1

Cantor Messerschmidt and Rabbi Grossman5Working with community organizations to digitize and make their records public Key Feature 2Today DMJ has working relationships with and records from

all 16 Maine synagogues all cemetery associations and Cherva Kaddisha all major Jewish social and community organizations;

and it supportsmany of these organizations by helping to archive their records.

6Photographing and displaying headstone images Key Feature 3Cover of a JCC bulletin and Bangor newsletter

Torah covers from Beth Abraham, Auburn

Sample organizational history page

All going well

Enhance DMJs website as an entry point for information about all Jewish organizations in the state Expectations for 5744,Key Feature #2

Beth Israel - Bath9Creating a sense of identification with Maine, with Judaism, and with Maines own Jewish traditions Key Feature 3Both in smaller and larger ways: all local home pages have their names in Yiddish

broadcast messages often reference the religious calendar the website is a platform for listening to Maine Cantors davening

Plus 10DMJs logoFrom generation to generation to generation

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All going well

More messages reaching out to

Maines largely isolated and under-identified Jewish families

Maine-identified Jews living outside the state Expectations for 5744,Key Feature #3

12Creating a sense of local Jewish history that reflects the diversity of Maines Jewish communities Key Feature 4Today DMJ has local home pages for

Aroostook County, Augusta area, Greater Bangor ,Bath, Biddeford-Saco, Calais, Greater Portland, Lewiston-Auburn area, Old Orchard Beach, Old Town-Orono, Rockland, Rumford, Waterville

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Sample local home page

All going well

More support for local community history projects: financing, where possible how-to presentations on Jewish genealogy traveling exhibition on Maines Jewish history Expectations for 5744,Key Feature #4

CDC boating15Revive the Jewish tradition of oral history and story telling as one means to build community histories Key Feature 5DMJ has recorded interviews with 40 Greater Portland Jews located an additional 40 oral interviews in the archives of Portland Public Library compiled a list of more than 250 other personal biographic histories and interviews of Maine Jews16

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All going well

DMJ aims to support oral and video histories prepared by other Maine communities and by Mainers living in Florida Expectations for 5744,Key Feature # 5

18Photographing and displaying headstone and memorial images Key Feature 6DMJ has created a state-wide Jewish burial index and an opportunity for virtual visits to Maine Jewish cemeteries,includingburial records from all 18 cemeteries and over 2,500 headstone images

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Sample headstone image

All going well

DMJ aims to add headstones images from six Bangor cemeteries and to devise a plan for regular updates of burial records Expectations for 5744,Key Feature #6

Rockland cemetery21Hosting Landtsmann community gatherings in and out of the state Key feature 7DMJ Gatherings have enabled Jewish Mainers to re-connect with old family and friends and have inspired reflections on the special character of the Maine Jewish experience.

Gatherings have taken place in Westchester, NY (2); Old Orchard Beach (2); south Florida (2); greater Boston (2); San Francisco and greater Hartford (Oct 2013)

22Old Orchard Beach Gathering, summer 2009

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All going well

At least two additional DMJ hosted Gatherings in the coming yearExpectations for 5744,Key Feature # 7

Newton Gatherings24Stimulate research and exhibitions collaborating with state and international historical and genealogical organizations Key Feature 8Today DMJ has institutional ties with

Colbys Maine Jewish History project Maine Historical Society International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies Greater Boston Jewish Genealogical Society Portland, Bangor, and USM public libraries and has produced exhibitions for the Maine Jewish Museum and Bates College 25Exploring the latest state-of-the-art software to tell Maines Jewish story Key Feature 9DMJ utilizesthe best of web-based technology to engage Jewish Mainers in their own history and help them visualizetheir own role in the Jewish history of the state

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All going well

DMJ aims to haveuser-friendly update and notification systems in place this year Expectations for 5744,Key Feature #9

28People genealogical infoPOB, Lived In, PODSignificant EventsImagesBurial recordsOrganizationsHistoryLocationSignificant EventsImagesPlacesLocal home pagesMapsOral Histories / BiographiesPhotographs / DocumentsYears Significant EventsWorld As it WasCemeteriesBurial infoPublic Index

Sources &Software

What we collected to date :382 documentary sourcesOver 400 contributions of personal knowledge via on-line editing, attachments, and other electronic submissions

What could be added :Family updates of their own historiesOther census and city business directories 29Documenting Jewish contributions to civil society and the impacts of civil society on Maines Jewish life Key Feature 10DMJ is collecting information on Maines

Jewish businesses, lawyers, doctors, political figures and artists as well as on Maines history of anti-Semitism in hotels and clubs, in residential housing and in social clubs

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All going well

DMJ aims to do two special research projects

one on the Jewish history Maines shoe and leather industryand the other on Maine Jews in the retail trades Expectations for 5774Key feature #10

31Creating a model to share with other small Jewish communities as well as with other religious, ethnic, and cultural communities Key Feature 11Documenting Maine Jewry has had meetings about sharing our methodology and software with

RI Jewish Historical Society, The Portland Public Library,The Greater Boston Jewish Genealogical Society,the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies; and South African Jewish historical society. 32

All going well

As a specially funded sub-project, DMJ aims to redesign, document, and make portable our methodological approach and our operating software so that it be used by other small and medium sized Jewish and non-Jewish communities.Expectations for 5774Key feature #11

33DMJ Structure

Registered Maine non-profit organization

Under the financial supervision of Temple Beth El, Portland, Maine

Under the organizational leadership of a state-wide Minyan , a local gabbiium from ten Maine communities,

and

a national group of Mainers from the diaspora community 34DMJ Finances

Income :45 Donors of over $500

Foundations grants from Sam Cohen Foundation, Cogan Family Trust, Haward Fund for Community Development, Bernard Osher Jewish Philanthropic Foundation, Jewish Community Endowment , and Wein Charitable Trust

Project contracts from Tree of Life Foundation (Maine Jewish Museum)

Expenses : part-time data manager, part-time software consultants, computer services and subscriptions, honorium to project shammas, support to local communities, support for DMJ gatherings, administrative and office expenses.

Totaling $25 - $40,000 per year

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All going well

Core functions : Full-time data manager,Half-time software manager and outreach coordinatorWorking office [other elements the same]Expected operating budget: $85 $95,000

Project functions: Fund ($8 -$10K/yr) for local history projects, extending community history methodology and software to other Jewish and non-Jewish communities ($40 - $60,000)

Expectations for 5744,Finances

36DMJ People

The Minyan

Thirteen State-Gabbiim

Nine out-of-state Landsmann coordinators

Part-time data manager

Part-time software person

Contracted software firm services

Specially funded project people

DMJ Shammas coordinator

550 Volunteers of Dataand 2400 Registered Users

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All going well

DMJ aims to

expand the number of geographic coordinators

stabilize the organization with a full-time data manager,half-time software manager and outreach coordinatorand

have the project shammas share DMJ methodology with other Jewish and non-Jewish communities Expectations for 5744,Personnel

38Documenting Maine Jewrya seven year old community history projectFrom generation to generation to generationDMJ San Francisco Gathering - September, 2013

39Documenting Maine JewryDMJ San Francisco Gathering - September, 2013

Volunteer to help build the database on Maines Jewish life

Please contact me to discuss

____ donating photographs and memorabilia

____ helping to collect data on a theme ( an organization / a business)

____ making a financial contribution

____ outreaching out to other Mainers in CA and elsewhere

Name _________________________________________________________

Email / Telephone number _________________________________________ 40