Open AccessThe UCLA Sephardic Archive Initiative: Finding the Keys to an Untold History
Author(s) -
Max Modiano Daniel
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
judaica librarianship
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2330-2976
pISSN - 0739-5086
DOI - 10.14263/jl.v21i.533
Subject(s) - thriving , ephemera , scope (computer science) , judaism , diaspora , history , library science , middle east , genealogy , sociology , archaeology , social science , art history , gender studies , computer science , programming language
This essay introduces the scope and aim of the Sephardic Archive Initiative at the University of California, Los Angeles. In conjunction with the Library, Special Collections, and the Alan D. Leve Center for Jewish Studies, this project seeks to locate, collect, archive, and share documents and ephemera relating to Sephardic history. With a focus on their journeys to Los Angeles and Southern California, the initiative aims to tell the stories of Jews from North Africa, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, the Balkans, and the lands of the former Ottoman Empire. The transnational ties of Sephardic commercial, intellectual, religious, social, and family networks have produced a richly tangled web of history, which for the past century has found a thriving base in Los Angeles. The project seeks to create a hub of scholarly and communal investment, interest, and exploration of materials related to the Sephardic past.