Knowledge is Power

It is said that nothing binds people more strongly than adversity. Jews and African-Americans share a centuries-old history of exile, dismissal, and the struggle to preserve their own safety and identity. A new exhibit heading to Coral Gables illustrates how knowledge and education can unite and free the human spirit in the most trying of circumstances. “Beyond Swastika and Jim Crow” tells the little-known story of Jewish academics from Germany and Austria who were dismissed from their teaching positions in the 1930s. After fleeing to America, some refugee scholars found positions at historically black colleges and universities in the Jim Crow South. The exhibit further explores what it meant to the students to have these new staff as part of their community and how the students were affected by their presence. Inspired by Gabrielle Simon Edgcomb’s landmark book, From Swastika to Jim Crow: Refugee Scholars at Black Colleges and the subsequent PBS documentary by Joel Sucher and Steven Fischler, the exhibit had a successful run at the Museum of Jewish Heritage — a Living Memorial to the Holocaust in New York City before going on a national tour. “This exhibit explores the deep relationships that formed between two disenfranchised groups that each experienced racism firsthand — Jews fleeing Nazi Europe and African-Americans in the South living during Jim Crow,” says Christine Rupp, executive director of the Coral Gables Museum. The museum will host group tours of the exhibit and train docents from Florida International University and the Jewish and African-American communities to guide students and visitors and explain the exhibit’s highlights and artifacts. Museum admission is $7 for adults, $5 for seniors and students with ID, $3 for children ages 6 to 12, and free for children under 6, military families, and museum members. Coral Gables Museum (285 Aragon Ave., Coral Gables) hours are Tuesday through Thursday from noon to 6 p.m., Friday from noon to 6 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Call 305-603-8067 or visit coralgablesmuseum.org.
Sun., Oct. 5, noon, 2014