Jewish history often becomes lost within a dominantly Christian community’s narrative, such was the case in Lexington, Kentucky. While the Jewish community grew significantly enough to build a synagogue in 1904, the synagogue retained very little of its early history. Jewish families had inhabited the city of Lexington throughout the latter half of the 19th century, operating businesses and contributing to local government. Further archival research conducted at the University of Kentucky Special Collections Research Center enabled me to learn more about the individuals who operated Lexington’s Jewish businesses, as well as the network of people those businesses served within the period 1873-1924. Specifically, by looking closely at the Moses Kaufman papers, which discuss Jewish cultural life in Lexington, Sanborn Maps, Lexington city directories, and Temple Adath Israel records, I uncovered the depth of Lexington’s Jewish business sector and wanted to effectively share it with a broader, public audience. Qualitative analysis of these archival collections established a list of different Jewish-owned/operated businesses, Jewish businessmen, and the types of businesses they owned. This project intends on generating an interactive digital map, utilizing tools such as HistoryPin, which details geographic locations of Jewish businesses or places of employment and offers details concerning each business and the individuals who operated them. This talk will first explain how I became interested in and familiar with the Moses Kaufman papers as a junior pursuing a dual degree in history and anthropology, then I will discuss how further research enabled me to better understand his local context, and finally, I will demonstrate the interactive digital map which showcases more than a year of undergraduate research and highlights the commercial and civic networks with which Kaufman was involved and contributed to from 1867-1924 in Lexington. KY.
Registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lost-history-uncovering-lexingtons-early-j…
