Back in the Autumn of 2022 ‘The Living Stones’ project took off in earnest after being awarded a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Funding. The driving force who set this in motion was new Bournemouth Hebrew Congregation (BHC) member Howard Freeman, liaising with the Dorset History Centre, the Russell Cotes Museum and the History Department of Bournemouth University. Our then Synagogue Administrator Loraine Berlyn offered to help with researching the lives of past BHC members, knowing that the Shul (synagogue – in Wooton Gardens, Bournemouth) held a wealth of untapped information.
Fast forward a couple of years and the Dorset History Centre learned of the plans for both BHC and the Bournemouth Reform Synagogue (BRS) to downsize to much smaller premises, reigniting their long- held interest in curating a collection of documents to showcase the religious, social and cultural history of local Jewish communities. Working with members of both congregations they secured external funding to employ the services of a heritage professional, enabling an Archive Scoping Assessment to be carried out, and overseeing and supporting our archiving efforts.
Meanwhile a team at the BHC started the marathon task of sorting ‘The Print Room’ (together with all the other paperwork that resurfaced after being secreted elsewhere!) – a depository of documents recording all that had taken place at BHC since the inception of the Community 120 years ago!
There followed many months of hard work as we, together with a great many dedicated helpers (a huge thank you to you all!), trawled through the mountains of papers, under the guidance of heritage consultant Liz Selby who helped us assess, organise, document, package and label our collection. Yes it was exhausting, but also fascinating as we uncovered a wealth of information. We ended up with two visits from the shredding van to dispose of the many sacks of unwanted sensitive paperwork, and eventually in October forty archive boxes of BHC catalogued paperwork were transported to DHC’s climate controlled repositories in Dorchester. Records from the Reform Congregation have also been transferred.
What does the future hold?
- The Living Stones Exhibition at the Russell Cotes Museum, postponed from this October, will now take place in October 2026
- We have many historic photographs which need to be catalogued before to being added to the Collection at Dorset History Centre
- We are putting together a digital archive (starting with the video interviews that some members gave for the 120th celebrations) for deposit at DHC
- Further papers are coming to light, which need to be assessed and catalogued prior to being deposited at DHC. If you have any papers which you think may be of historical or cultural significance, please let us know!
- Over the course of the next few years, and once funding has been approved, DHC will work with professional archivists and interested volunteers to conserve, catalogue and digitise the collection. This is an exciting venture which will eventually be available for everybody to access. It is an opportunity to showcase our rich heritage and inform the public of the important role played by Jews in public life. It will be a rich educational resource to further our outreach efforts to foster understanding and help combat antisemitism.
A small group made up of members of both congregations has recently formed a working party to oversee work on the collection and to help identify further records that might form part of the wider Jewish archival history. These may relate to a business, an organisation or personal records. If you are interested, please get in touch with us at info@bhcshul.co.uk or archives@dorsethistorycentre.gov.uk.
—
This was a guest blog written for Dorset History Centre by Anne Ozdamar. If you would like to contribute a guest blog, please get in touch by emailing archives@dorsetcouncil.gov.uk.