•Mission Statement
•The Importance of Telling Our Story
•Diversity & Pluralism
•Cultural Crossroads
•Jewish Continuity
•Alaska's Holocaust Museum
•Tourism
The AJHMCC is dedicated to building cultural bridges that encourage diversity and tolerance through public education, exhibitions, lectures, films, and videos: all of which will tell the story of Alaska’s Jewish residents and their contribution to the purchase and development of Alaska’s government, commerce, and humanities from territorial days to present. The AJHMCC will honor the Jewish contribution to the survival of the Native way of life and culture as well as Alaska’s historic humanitarian contributions to the rescue of Jewish refugees from Europe and Arab countries after WWII and during the establishment of the state of Israel. Public displays will also educate visitors about the holocaust and its relationship with Alaska, its survivors and liberators.
Over the last decade, Alaska has exploded with a diverse population, with over eighty languages spoken, that has created a greater need for all Alaskans to comprehend the depth of our state’s cultural diversity. Alaskans lack exposure to diverse minority cultures, such as Jewish life and contributions, which is available in many major cities in the US through specialized Jewish museums, universities, and libraries. The establishment of the Alaskan Jewish Museum & Cultural Center will fill this void by providing a gathering place and historical repository that will promote diversity and tolerance for all Alaskans.
The museum will enrich and deepen the cultural wealth of the broader Alaskan community by providing exposure to Jewish history and culture, Jewish role in the development of Alaska and the Jewish contribution to Alaska Native Culture as well as Alaska’s humanitarian contributions to the rescue of Jewish refugees. The museum will also educate audiences about the holocaust and its relationship with Alaska, its survivors and liberators. Through exhibitions and public programs, the Museum will encourage Alaskans to become more informed and educated about Jewish history and culture and will create a place where tolerance and understanding will be promoted
Jews have played a hugely prominent role in the formation and continual development of Alaska. By telling this story through the new Alaskan Jewish Historical Museum and Community Center, we will do justice to Alaska’s history and the history of Jews in America. This story should be told to the local residents of Alaska and to the millions of tourists who visit Alaska every year.
Telling the Alaskan Jewish story will make a significant contribution in promoting the spirit of diversity and pluralism which is crucial to the well-being of a free and open society. It is important to create this museum to help Alaskan residents and tourists experience the significant accomplishments of Alaskan Jews. In larger communities, exposure to Jewish culture and history is constant and prevalent through Jewish museums, universities, and greater population. Alaska, as a young state and with a smaller Jewish population, lacks the kind of exposure that larger communities are accustomed to. The Alaska Jewish Historical Museum and Community Center is important in filling a void in this growing community and giving its youth the understanding and appreciation of the role that the Jewish culture has played, even in a territory as remote as Alaska.
In this last generation, Alaska Natives were faced with a great dilemma in preserving their culture and inspiring their youth in the face of the majority culture in America. In response to this great social problem, the Native population (with the help of local community and civic leaders) established the Native Heritage Cultural Center to maintain and promote their Native culture. Some Native leaders have pointed out that, from a historical and local perspective, the Jewish story could provide insight into maintaining a cultural heritage in the face of cultural dominance. We share the same story, the same dilemma with the Natives, and we can learn from each other how to maintain our language, our culture, and our history. The Alaska Jewish Historical Museum and community center would be another place Native children could visit and see a similarity of stories and how Jewish children maintain their culture and their pride.
From the begining, Alaska provided a challenge for Jewish families who chose to raise their children in the Last Frontier. This is due to the small population of Jews in Alaska and the great distance from major Jewish communities. According to a study conducted by Brandeis University Professor Bernard Reisman, most Jews that live in Alaska were not born in this state. The second generation Alaskan Jew is not within reasonable reach of extended Jewish family, or of participating in family gatherings such as bar mitzvahs, weddings, and other important social markers. If American Jews, in general, find it difficult to maintain Jewish identity in the face of the very influential American culture, how much greater the challenge must be in a place where you might be the only Jew in a public school, or neighborhood! Therefore, it is of vital importance to create a place where Alaskan Jewish youth can feel a connection to Alaska and the Jewish culture. The Alaska Jewish Historical Museum and Communntiy Center would instill pride in Jewish youth by telling the true story of their culture and how influential they were - and are - in the making of this wonderful and exotic place in America. This pride and cultural support would also serve as encouragement to the great majority of young Alaskan Jews who - as presented in Reisman’s survey – leave for college and do not come back to Alaska. This future generation is desperately needed to return and continue their Alaskan Jewish cultural tradition and to develop this Last Frontier.
At different points of history, such as the Russian pogroms (anti-Semitic riots) in the early 1900’s and the Holocaust in the mid-century, Jewish people have turned to the Alaskan Government and its people as a place to find refuge from persecution. During crises, the government considered the possibility of placing Jews in Alaska. In the early 1940s, Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes and members of Congress, considered a proposal for Alaska as a settlement for Central European Jewish refugees seeking asylum from the Nazis. Abe Spring, the first mayor of Fairbanks, introduced a more modest proposal in 1906. This Russian-born Jew tried to save some of his countrymen from the violence of the pogroms. In the end, unfortunately, neither act of compassion came to fruition due to anti-Semitism. Along with that regrettable chapter in Alaskan history the Museum will also tell the story of Alaska’s compassion towards Jewish refugees. From 1948-1950, Warren Metzger (Chief pilot and vice-president of Alaska Airlines flight operations) and his wife Marian (a flight attendant with Alaska Airlines) assisted in Operation Magic Carpet, the airlift of more than 40,000 Yemenite Jews to Israel by Alaska Airlines.
Alaska attracts more than 2 million visitors a year from all over the world who come to see the beauty of Alaska, its cultural heritage, and its story. Most tourists do not expect to encounter Judaism in Alaska. Even Jewish tourists find it nearly unbelievable that Jews live in such a distant community with such a rich local history. Alaskan Jewish history is more than 150 years old. From a traveler’s perspective, this museum would add a twist to the tourist industry.
In addition, Jewish tourists in particular will find of interest visiting this museum since Alaska has long been a point of attention to worldwide Jewry. The story of Alaskan Jewry, past and present, is currently being studied and admired by Jews all over the world. Our story is used as an example of courage and comfort: no matter how remote, no matter the harshest of conditions, a Jewish community can be maintained and can flourish.
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Alaska Jewish Historical Museum and Cultural Center | 1221 East 35th Avenue, Anchorage AK 99508 | 907-770-7021
