Artifacts of Jewish Life in Arkansas on Display in Mullins Library

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“Jewish Studies Beyond the Holocaust: Arkansas, History and the World" in the Helen Robson Walton Reading Room in Mullins Library.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – As part of the "Beyond the Holocaust” series, an exhibit titled "Jewish Studies Beyond the Holocaust: Arkansas, History and the World" is on display in the Helen Robson Walton Reading Room in Mullins Library. The display opened on Monday, Jan. 14, and will run through Saturday, April 20.

The exhibit shows how Jewish life has played an important role in the state through documents, images and objects from inside and outside Arkansas. It features materials housed in the University Libraries' Special Collections Department. The varied artifacts provide a sense of the many different topics in the interdisciplinary field of Jewish Studies.  

The display is divided into four areas that often inform one another: the history of the university, the character and formation of different congregations and communities in the state, Arkansas representing itself to the outside world, and the outside world looking in on Arkansas.

The exhibit was curated by Joshua Youngblood, research and outreach services librarian for special collections, Catherine Wallack, architectural records archivist for special collections, and Jennifer Hoyer, assistant professor of German in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.

"Beyond the Holocaust” is a yearlong series intended to encourage further interest, inquiry, research and discussion about the study of Jewish culture and history. It includes presentations from experts in Jewish poetry, literature, art, philosophy, language and film.

Hoyer received an $18,000 Legacy Heritage Jewish Studies Project grant to produce the series of events. The programs are made possible by the Legacy Heritage Jewish Studies Project, directed by the Association for Jewish Studies (AJS). Support for the Legacy Heritage Jewish Studies Project is generously provided by the Legacy Heritage Fund Limited.