Atlanta, GA — The Breman Museum announced a series of six topical Atlanta Jewish History Talks to be presented online on Thursday mornings starting Jan. 28.

Launching with a talk by Steve Oney, author of “And the Dead Shall Rise: The Murder of Mary Phagan and the Lynching of Leo Frank,” the series aligns The Breman’s mission to “Connect people to Jewish history, culture, and arts.”

Other topics covered include the legacy of Jewish women’s activism in Atlanta and the region, memories of the Jewish-run department store Rich’s and early Jewish neighborhoods, trailblazing Jewish politician Morris Abram, and antisemitism’s role in the Emory Dental School scandal. Offered over Zoom, the series is sponsored by Atlantan Marilyn Ginsberg Eckstein with community sponsor The Southern Jewish Historical Society.

“This series will be a deep dive into Atlanta’s rich Jewish history lead by experts in their respective topics,” said Jeremy Katz, director of the Ida Pearle and Joseph Cuba Archives for Southern Jewish History at The Breman Museum and author of the forthcoming book The Jewish Community of Atlanta. Recommended as an accompaniment to the series, the book showcases carefully curated images from the archives that, Katz said, “best illustrate the remarkable contributions made by Jewish men and women to the city of Atlanta.”

Atlanta Jewish History Talks are being offered to the public for $36 for the full series or $10 per individual talk (free for Breman Museum members). Registration through Eventbrite is now open (see end of release for full address).

Here’s the schedule:

Week 1: Thursday, January 28, 10:30AM-11:30AM

“And the Dead Shall Rise” author Steve Oney, the foremost historian on the Leo Frank case, discusses one of the most infamous instances of antisemitism in America and a pivotal moment in Atlanta’s Jewish history. Frank was the Jewish manager of an Atlanta pencil factory wrongly convicted of murder in 1913 and subsequently lynched. Oney’s book received the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award and the National Jewish Book Award. Oney was raised in Atlanta and now resides in Los Angeles.

Week 2: Thursday, February 4, 10:30AM-12PM

Historians Dr. Mark Bauman, Dr. Leonard Rogoff and Dr. Diane Vecchio discuss the legacy of Jewish women’s activism in Atlanta and the Southeast. The three experts examine suffragettes and the evolving role of women in Jewish social services.

Week 3: Thursday, February 11, 10:30AM-11:30AM

Jeff Clemmons, the leading historian on Rich’s, discusses the department store that became synonymous with Atlanta, with powerful ties to the city’s cultural, social, architectural, and philanthropical fabric. Clemmons is the author of Rich’s: A Southern Institution and Atlanta’s Historic Westview Cemetery.

Week 4: Thursday, February 18, 10:30AM-11:30AM

Dr. Marni Davis, Georgia State University associate professor of history, discusses her research on the old Jewish neighborhoods of Atlanta. An historian of ethnicity and immigration in the United States, Davis is the author of “Jews and Booze: Becoming American in the Age of Prohibition,” a finalist for the Sami Rohr Prize in Jewish Literature.

Week 5: Thursday, February 25, 10:30AM-11:30AM

Biographer David E. Lowe discusses the life and career of civil rights lawyer Morris Abram, one of Atlanta’s most prominent and trailblazing Jewish politicians. Lowe authored “Touched with Fire: Morris B. Abram and the Battle Against Racial and Religious Discrimination,” which won the National Jewish Book Award for best biography. Lowe retired in 2016 from his position as Vice President for Government Relations and Public Affairs at the bipartisan National Endowment for Democracy.

Week 6: Thursday, March 4, 10:30AM-11:30AM

Investigative journalist Dr. Perry Brickman discusses institutional discrimination at Emory Dental School from 1948 to 1961, when Jewish students were failed or forced to repeat courses at a rate disproportionate to their numbers. The school officially apologized in 2012. Brickman is a retired oral surgeon, recipient of the Jewish Federation of Atlanta’s Lifetime Achievement Award, and author of Extracted: Unmasking Rampant Antisemitism in America’s Higher Education.

To register, Click Here: https://bit.ly/3sieH3O
To purchase the book, Click Here: https://bit.ly/2MWskWj

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