Seattle's Sephardic Legacies

FAIN: PY-258611-18

University of Washington (Seattle, WA 98105-6613)
Devin Naar (Project Director: May 2017 to May 2021)

A digitization day and simultaneous presentation on Ladino history and culture in the Pacific Northwest. These events would be followed by a second public event that would study and interpret the heritage items digitized during the initial digitization day. Seattle is one of the major global centers of Ladino culture and language, and the community would be invited to contribute heritage materials documenting the local community, including postcards, letters, photographs, memoirs, travel documents, marriage certificates, recipes, musical notation, and other items. With permission, digitized items would be made available as part of the Center’s digital collections in collaboration with the University of Washington Libraries. Events would be co-sponsored by the university as well as the James Garfield High School.

The University of Washington proposes to host a one-day digitization event titled “Seattle’s Sephardic Legacies” at Garfield High School in Seattle’s historic Central District in May, 2018. This event will feature presentations by humanities scholars on the little-known history of the Sephardic community in Seattle, Washington, during the Great Depression, and trace the lasting contributions of this demographic to the city’s industrial and cultural landscape today. At this event, which will be open to the public, a team of University archival workers will digitize a range of materials written in Ladino, the vanishing language of the peripatetic Sephardic people of Europe and North Africa. With permission from the owners, these items will be included in the Sephardic Studies Digital Archive at the University of Washington, the world’s first and only robust library and archive of original materials pertaining to the history and experience of the Sephardic people.

Associated Products

"Hidden manuscripts, come out!": Seattle Sephardic legacies highlights Ladino literature (Blog Post)
Title: "Hidden manuscripts, come out!": Seattle Sephardic legacies highlights Ladino literature
Author: Makena Mezistrano
Abstract: A thorough recap of the Seattle Sephardic Legacies event.
Date: 8/14/19
Primary URL: https://jewishstudies.washington.edu/sephardic-studies/hidden-manuscripts-come-out-seattle-sephardic-legacies-recap/
Website: jewishstudies.washington.edu

The Benezra collection: A Seattle Sephardic legacy (Blog Post)
Title: The Benezra collection: A Seattle Sephardic legacy
Author: Ty Alhadeff
Abstract: An article previewing the private collection of Henry Benezra, which was then featured on an exhibition panel at Seattle Sephardic Legacies.
Date: 5/19/19
Primary URL: https://jewishstudies.washington.edu/sephardic-studies/benezra-collection-seattle-sephardic-legacy/
Website: jewishstudies.washington.edu

Share your story with the Sephardic Studies Program (Blog Post)
Title: Share your story with the Sephardic Studies Program
Author: Makena Mezistrano
Abstract: Article used as a call for materials. NOTE: Article has since been edited to remove elements specific to Seattle Sephardic Legacies event in order to keep article evergreen.
Date: 5/13/19
Primary URL: https://jewishstudies.washington.edu/sephardic-studies/share-your-story-sephardic-studies/
Website: jewishstudies.washington.edu

Promotional flyer: Seattle Sephardic Legacies (Web Resource)
Title: Promotional flyer: Seattle Sephardic Legacies
Author: Makena Mezistrano and Creative Communications
Abstract: Promotional flyer for the Seattle Sephardic Legacies event.
Year: 2019
Primary URL: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GanzDY64szS53GlCj_puOQQFQ4BrP5iA/view?usp=sharing

---