History
Jewish Historical Society of Southern Alberta is an independent, not-for-profit organization, sustained through membership fees, fundraising and donations. Founded in 1989 by Jay Joffe and a small group of dedicated volunteers, JHSSA is committed to preserving and sharing the history of southern Alberta’s Jewish communities.
Previously, the collection of local Jewish history had been piecemeal and fragmented. JHSSA began its work by identifying and cataloguing existing Jewish historical resources, and creating a guide for researchers entitled Shorashim—Roots. Following incorporation in July 1990, JHSSA published the first issue of its journal Discovery, which is delivered to the entire local Jewish community.
In 1992, the Society produced a major historical photo exhibit, Land of Promise, and in 1996, published the book Land of Promise, based on the exhibit. This successful formula was repeated for Alberta’s centennial with the production of A Joyful Harvest (exhibit 2005, book 2007).
JHSSA regularly presents local Jewish history programs in a variety of settings, while special programs honour area pioneers and showcase notable speakers.
Donations of material from hundreds of individuals throughout the Jewish communities of southern Alberta have allowed JHSSA to establish a formal archives, including almost 40m of textual records, and over 100 objects. Immigration documents, photographs, organizational minute books, ritual items, military records: these items and more, along with a growing collection of oral history interviews and transcripts, continue to help us know, understand and share our stories.
Scroll of Service (1990-2020)
We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of all our Board Members, past and present
| Rebecca Aizenman | Zvika Anosh | Marc Baron | Hy Belzberg* | Shel Bercovich |
| Marni Besser | David Bickman | Joe Brager* | David Busheikin | Ruth Carnat* |
| Judy Chetner | Arnold Cohen* | Emanuel Cohen* | Martha Cohen* | Lionel Conn |
| Trudy Cowan | Hymie Davids* | Les Diamond* | Ken Drabinsky | Sara Drabinsky |
| Zena Drabinsky | Arnold Dvorkin | Jack Edelson* | Brenda Eisenberg | Clifford Eisenberg |
| Florence Elman* | Harold Elman | Barry Finkelman | Paul Finkleman | Maxine Fischbein |
| Leo Friedman* | Halley Girvitz | Bertha Gold* | Allan Gurevitch* | Sheila Gurevitch |
| Henry Gutman | Dorothy Hanson | Morris Hanson* | Naomi Hashman | Riki Heilik |
| Lil Hershfield | Noel Hershfield | Ida Horwitz* | Elizabeth Jameson | Barbara Joffe |
| Hal Joffe | Jay Joffe* | Robert Kalef | Deborah Katz | Naomi Kerr |
| Constance Kline* | Mel Ksienski | Naomi Lakritz | Barbara Libin | Harriet Libin |
| Saundra Lipton | Sid Macklin* | Joel Miller | Mel Nagler* | Therese Nagler |
| Jason Nisenson | Robert Paine | Judy Parker | Edythe Pearlman* | Mel Polsky* |
| Azriel Presma* | Tiby Presma* | Donna Riback* | Faith Riback* | Karen Roth |
| Harry Sanders | Allan Sattin | Robert Sattin* | Agnes Romer Segal | Archie Shapiro* |
| Alex Sharon | Betty Sherwood | Svetlana Shklarov | Laura Shuler | Alan Silver |
| Carey Smith | Hilda Smith | Sheldon Smithens | David Spindel* | Dinah Spindel* |
| Drew Staffenberg | Jack Switzer* | Ron Switzer | Shauna Switzer | Darlene Switzer-Foster |
| Mary Taub | Caroline Ullman | David Waterman* |
* Deceased
‘‘Of all national assets, Archives are the most precious;
they are the gift of one generation to another, and the extent of our care of them
marks the extent of our civilization.”
– Sir A. Doughty, Dominion Archivist, 1904 – 1935