Oregon Jewish Museum
By Amy Kaufman
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One would never suspect the wealth of material contained in the archives of the Oregon Jewish Museum.
Housed in a tiny space on Northwest Davis Street, the museum has cleverly organized a huge collection that just keeps growing.
Interest in the museum is "exploding," says Harriet Bodner, an 86-year-old volunteer who spends every Wednesday identifying faces from long ago and providing firsthand knowledge of the remarkable Oregon Jews who made—and continue to make—history.
"People have so much respect for Oregon Jewish Museum, and they want their material or deceased relatives' material to come here," says the woman who carries much of Portland Jewish history within herself.
Bodner (nee Goodman) currently is documenting a large collection of photos, documents and artifacts that came to OJM from the Neighborhood House, which was recently sold. The National Council for Jewish Women founded the settlement house in 1905 to provide assistance and education to the immigrants in South Portland.
Bodner also spends many hours at work in her home office, scouring periodicals and newspapers and clipping mentions of Jews of Oregon.
"It's exciting because quite a number of prominent people have come from Portland," she said.
So far, she has compiled a list of about 100 famous Jews of Oregon. Sorted by field—law, medicine, art, music—they include Bernard Malamud, a Nobel Prize-winning novelist; Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny and other Warner Brothers cartoon characters; Governor Julius Meier; Senator Ron Wyden; Don Newhouse, owner of The Oregonian; U.S. Circuit Court Judge Gus Solomon; artist Mark Rothko; pianist Janet Guggenheim; and philanthropist Harold Schnitzer.
Bodner said she met Blanc on the board of Neighborhood House, an institution he loved so much that
he would return from Hollywood to attend its board meetings.
Bodner's uncle, Louis S. Goodman, M.D., a Yale Medical School professor, is also on the list. The New York Times described him as "a discoverer of the first effective anticancer chemotherapy and a creator of a textbook used by generations of doctors: 'The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics,' known as the 'Blue Bible.'"
"Oregon creates these accomplished Jewish people. I don't know how," said Bodner.
OJM maintains the archives of the Oregon Jewish Oral History Project, led by the late Shirley Tanzer in 1975. This collection offers superb insight into the values, customs and personalities of the Jews of a bygone era. Besse Harris, who died in September, recorded a touching portrait of Old South Portland and its venerable citizens, like the Minks, who used to take her aside and say, "Look, Bess-ela, if you don't have enough for college, honey, just tell me."
OJM's collection comprises some 3,000 photographs, Jewish art and Judaica, organizational records and the memorabilia of families and individuals. The Jewish Historical Society of Oregon merged with OJM in 1996, and its 150-year-old collection, formerly in storage, is now available to scholars.
The works of master photographer Arnold Newman will be on exhibit at OJM through Jan. 14. The exhibit includes famous portraits of David Ben-Gurion and Golda Meir. Earlier OJM exhibits have included the 146-year history of Portland's Congregation Beth Israel; the paintings of Jeanne Moment, Evelyn Presser and Sylvia Shlim; a two-part exhibit on "Jews at Work" and "A Call to Serve," about Oregon Jews in the military.
"Now people are moving to Oregon from every place," said Bodner. "We try to keep it a secret. When our governor (Tom McCall) said please come and visit but don't move here, we all took it seriously."
In pace with that growth, the archives of the Oregon Jewish Museum will surely swell. OJM is seeking a permanent home, Bodner said.
Portland has embraced the Oregon Jewish Museum, and that isn't likely to change.
"It's a real love affair," she said.