Though Lawrence Jews incorporated a congregation and acquired Bene Israel cemetery in 1869, it took nearly 80 years to acquire a building and more than a century to use Bene Israel as a communal burial grounds. Professor Emeritus David Katzman's talk will illuminate the history of earlier Lawrence Jewish communities, organizations and individuals, and explain why Lawrence Jews did not form a permanent organization until after World War II.

Speaker's Bio

David Katzman, professor emeritus from the University of Kansas, held appointments in American studies, history, African and African-American studies, and Jewish studies. He has authored or edited 7 books, and has held Guggenheim, NEH, Ford and Rockefeller Foundation fellowships, as well as a Fulbright. He has been a visiting professor in Ireland, England, Japan (twice), and Hong Kong, and lectured in Italy, Israel, and China. He is an elected fellow of the Society of American Historians. He heads the Kansas Jewish History Project, and with Andrea Weis he is completing a book about the lives and experiences of Kansas Jews and their communities. He has published on Jewish self-government in Kansas City, William Allen White attends a Lawrence Jewish wedding, and on the Summerfield family of Eudora, Lawrence, and New York.

He has been a member of the Lawrence Jewish community since 1969.

For those attending via Zoom: no need to register! Just use the link below
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88123129118

This talk is made possible in part by the Melvin Landsberg Fund for Adult Education