Jews of Greater Miami

Jews of Greater Miami

$24.99

Publication Date: 23rd February 2009

Miami was among Florida's last communities to develop a Jewish population. Since the late 1800s, the area that was once just a settlement of frontiersmen has grown to become the core of the nation's third-largest Jewish community. Jews were prominent in business when Miami was chartered in 1896 and began settling in Miami Beach as early as 1913. Though faced with hardship and public discrimination, the immigrant group continued to expand its presence. Images of America: Jews of Greater Miami contains photographs from family albums that are part of the archives of the Jewish Museum of Florida. ... Read More
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Miami was among Florida's last communities to develop a Jewish population. Since the late 1800s, the area that was once just a settlement of frontiersmen has grown to become the core of the nation's third-largest Jewish community. Jews were prominent in business when Miami was chartered in 1896 and began settling in Miami Beach as early as 1913. Though faced with hardship and public discrimination, the immigrant group continued to expand its presence. Images of America: Jews of Greater Miami contains photographs from family albums that are part of the archives of the Jewish Museum of Florida. ... Read More
Description
Miami was among Florida's last communities to develop a Jewish population. Since the late 1800s, the area that was once just a settlement of frontiersmen has grown to become the core of the nation's third-largest Jewish community. Jews were prominent in business when Miami was chartered in 1896 and began settling in Miami Beach as early as 1913. Though faced with hardship and public discrimination, the immigrant group continued to expand its presence. Images of America: Jews of Greater Miami contains photographs from family albums that are part of the archives of the Jewish Museum of Florida. Each historic photograph tells a story and documents the area's pioneer Jews, the diverse ways they contributed to the development of their community, and the doors they opened for the acceptance of all ethnicities.
Details
  • Pages: 128
  • Publisher: Arcadia Publishing Inc.
  • Imprint: Arcadia Publishing
  • Series: Images of America
  • Publication Date: 23rd February 2009
  • State: Florida
  • Illustration Note: Black and White
  • ISBN: 9780738567198
  • Format: Paperback
  • BISACs:
    HISTORY / Jewish
    PHOTOGRAPHY / Subjects & Themes / Historical
    SOCIAL SCIENCE / Jewish Studies
    HISTORY / United States / State & Local / South (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV)
Reviews

Title: Local historian's book details early history of Jews in Miami

Author: Tania Valdemoro

Publisher: Miami Herald

Date: 4/26/09



With her head filled with historical facts about the Jews of Florida, Marcia Jo Zerivitz faced a daunting task last year.



How do you tell the story of a successful -- but often unwanted -- minority group with 240 photos in a 127-page book?



The result: Images of America: Jews of Greater Miami (Arcadia Publishing, $21.99), her first book, which hit stores in late February.



Zerivitz, the founding executive director of the Jewish Museum of Florida, spoke Wednesday before the Miami Beach Historical Association at the Miami Beach Botanical Garden, 2000 Convention Center Dr.



''I was eager to document history in a form that was more permanent than exhibits,'' said Zerivitz, who has organized 50 exhibits at the museum since its inception in 1995.



''Jews have contributed greatly to the development of their communities,'' she added.



The book features more than 100 years of history and 300 personalities who include politicians, architects, developers, businessmen and artists.



Jews first settled in Florida in 1763 but Miami was one of the last cities in the state to develop a Jewish population, contrary to popular belief, Zerivitz said.



When Miami incorporated into a city in 1896, there were 25 Jewish residents and they owned 12 of 16 businesses in the city. Many of them had come from West Palm Beach to Miami to help build Henry Flagler's railroad.



Jewish pioneers established Beth David, Miami's first synagogue in 1912 and its first deli, run by Saul Cohen on Flagler Street in 1923.



Jews moved across Biscayne Bay to Miami Beach in 1913 after the Collins Bridge was built. For decades, they were barred from living south of Fifth Street on the properties owned by developer Carl Fisher. In 1959, the Florida Supreme Court finally abolished restrictive covenants in land deeds that barred Jews from property ownership.



Despite these obstacles, Jews found ways to thrive. For example, Joe and Jennie Weiss opened a restaurant -- Joe's Stone Crab -- in 1913 in Miami Beach that has become legendary. Mitchell Wolfson, who came to Miami in 1913, established WOMETCO Theaters with his brother-in-law Sidney Meyer. He later helped build Miami Dade College and served as Miami Beach's first Jewish mayor in 1943.



More Jews settled in Miami Beach in the 1940s after World War II. They had fallen in love with the island and its warm weather during their war training on the beach.



Zerivitz did not gloss over dark periods of local Jewish history -- such as World War II. In 1939, President Franklin Roosevelt turned away the SS St. Louis, a boat carrying 937 Jews fleeing from Germany, despite protests in Bayfront Park. They returned home and most perished in the Holocaust.



She also pointed out 1930s-era signs in Miami, which said, ``By buying here [at a Jewish business], you support communism.''



After the lecture, Abe Lavender, president of the Miami Beach Historical Association, praised the new book and its author.



"She's done a very good job of bringing everything together and showing the big picture,'' said Lavender, a sociology professor at Florida International University, who has researched Jews in Miami Beach. ``She pointed out the highlights."
Author Bio

Marcia Jo Zerivitz, LHD, founding executive director, Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU, is a native West Virginian who has lived in Florida for more than half a century. She has been a trailblazer in the American and Floridian Jewish communities and has often broken the glass ceiling. Observing that the Florida Jewish community had a major challenge-its continuity-she resolved to focus on collecting and preserving the stories and material evidence of the contributions of Jews to the Sunshine State and beyond.



From 1984 to 1992, Marcia Jo traveled 250,000 miles throughout Florida, conducting grassroots research and retrieving the state's hidden, 250+ year Jewish history, resulting in a major archive and the MOSAIC: Jewish Life in Florida exhibit that traveled to thirteen cities (1990-94). In 1995, under her direction and planning, this project evolved into the AAM-accredited Jewish Museum of Florida (JMOF) on Miami Beach. She initiated legislation for Florida Jewish History Month (FJHM) each January and Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM) each May to increase awareness of the contributions of Jews to the quality of life for all. Her scholarship has been used in exhibitions, films, historical journals and books; she has been published nationally and internationally. Marcia Jo retired from JMOF in 2011 and continues to curate exhibits, lecture, research and write on Florida Jewish history.



The author resides on St. Pete Beach with her husband Elliott, whom she credits as her partner on this journey. As a cultural anthropologist, she is credited with an innovative process that gave the world something they did not have: the compelling story of one ethnic group in a hugely diverse Florida.

Miami was among Florida's last communities to develop a Jewish population. Since the late 1800s, the area that was once just a settlement of frontiersmen has grown to become the core of the nation's third-largest Jewish community. Jews were prominent in business when Miami was chartered in 1896 and began settling in Miami Beach as early as 1913. Though faced with hardship and public discrimination, the immigrant group continued to expand its presence. Images of America: Jews of Greater Miami contains photographs from family albums that are part of the archives of the Jewish Museum of Florida. Each historic photograph tells a story and documents the area's pioneer Jews, the diverse ways they contributed to the development of their community, and the doors they opened for the acceptance of all ethnicities.
  • Pages: 128
  • Publisher: Arcadia Publishing Inc.
  • Imprint: Arcadia Publishing
  • Series: Images of America
  • Publication Date: 23rd February 2009
  • State: Florida
  • Illustrations Note: Black and White
  • ISBN: 9780738567198
  • Format: Paperback
  • BISACs:
    HISTORY / Jewish
    PHOTOGRAPHY / Subjects & Themes / Historical
    SOCIAL SCIENCE / Jewish Studies
    HISTORY / United States / State & Local / South (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV)

Title: Local historian's book details early history of Jews in Miami

Author: Tania Valdemoro

Publisher: Miami Herald

Date: 4/26/09



With her head filled with historical facts about the Jews of Florida, Marcia Jo Zerivitz faced a daunting task last year.



How do you tell the story of a successful -- but often unwanted -- minority group with 240 photos in a 127-page book?



The result: Images of America: Jews of Greater Miami (Arcadia Publishing, $21.99), her first book, which hit stores in late February.



Zerivitz, the founding executive director of the Jewish Museum of Florida, spoke Wednesday before the Miami Beach Historical Association at the Miami Beach Botanical Garden, 2000 Convention Center Dr.



''I was eager to document history in a form that was more permanent than exhibits,'' said Zerivitz, who has organized 50 exhibits at the museum since its inception in 1995.



''Jews have contributed greatly to the development of their communities,'' she added.



The book features more than 100 years of history and 300 personalities who include politicians, architects, developers, businessmen and artists.



Jews first settled in Florida in 1763 but Miami was one of the last cities in the state to develop a Jewish population, contrary to popular belief, Zerivitz said.



When Miami incorporated into a city in 1896, there were 25 Jewish residents and they owned 12 of 16 businesses in the city. Many of them had come from West Palm Beach to Miami to help build Henry Flagler's railroad.



Jewish pioneers established Beth David, Miami's first synagogue in 1912 and its first deli, run by Saul Cohen on Flagler Street in 1923.



Jews moved across Biscayne Bay to Miami Beach in 1913 after the Collins Bridge was built. For decades, they were barred from living south of Fifth Street on the properties owned by developer Carl Fisher. In 1959, the Florida Supreme Court finally abolished restrictive covenants in land deeds that barred Jews from property ownership.



Despite these obstacles, Jews found ways to thrive. For example, Joe and Jennie Weiss opened a restaurant -- Joe's Stone Crab -- in 1913 in Miami Beach that has become legendary. Mitchell Wolfson, who came to Miami in 1913, established WOMETCO Theaters with his brother-in-law Sidney Meyer. He later helped build Miami Dade College and served as Miami Beach's first Jewish mayor in 1943.



More Jews settled in Miami Beach in the 1940s after World War II. They had fallen in love with the island and its warm weather during their war training on the beach.



Zerivitz did not gloss over dark periods of local Jewish history -- such as World War II. In 1939, President Franklin Roosevelt turned away the SS St. Louis, a boat carrying 937 Jews fleeing from Germany, despite protests in Bayfront Park. They returned home and most perished in the Holocaust.



She also pointed out 1930s-era signs in Miami, which said, ``By buying here [at a Jewish business], you support communism.''



After the lecture, Abe Lavender, president of the Miami Beach Historical Association, praised the new book and its author.



"She's done a very good job of bringing everything together and showing the big picture,'' said Lavender, a sociology professor at Florida International University, who has researched Jews in Miami Beach. ``She pointed out the highlights."

Marcia Jo Zerivitz, LHD, founding executive director, Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU, is a native West Virginian who has lived in Florida for more than half a century. She has been a trailblazer in the American and Floridian Jewish communities and has often broken the glass ceiling. Observing that the Florida Jewish community had a major challenge-its continuity-she resolved to focus on collecting and preserving the stories and material evidence of the contributions of Jews to the Sunshine State and beyond.



From 1984 to 1992, Marcia Jo traveled 250,000 miles throughout Florida, conducting grassroots research and retrieving the state's hidden, 250+ year Jewish history, resulting in a major archive and the MOSAIC: Jewish Life in Florida exhibit that traveled to thirteen cities (1990-94). In 1995, under her direction and planning, this project evolved into the AAM-accredited Jewish Museum of Florida (JMOF) on Miami Beach. She initiated legislation for Florida Jewish History Month (FJHM) each January and Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM) each May to increase awareness of the contributions of Jews to the quality of life for all. Her scholarship has been used in exhibitions, films, historical journals and books; she has been published nationally and internationally. Marcia Jo retired from JMOF in 2011 and continues to curate exhibits, lecture, research and write on Florida Jewish history.



The author resides on St. Pete Beach with her husband Elliott, whom she credits as her partner on this journey. As a cultural anthropologist, she is credited with an innovative process that gave the world something they did not have: the compelling story of one ethnic group in a hugely diverse Florida.