# Learn the History of the Jewish Community in Florida
From 1984 to 1992, Marcia Jo Zerivitz traveled 250,000 miles throughout Florida, conducting grassroots research and retrieving the state’s hidden, 250+ year Jewish history, resulting in a major archive and the MOSAIC: Jewish Life in Florida exhibit that traveled to 13 cities (1990–94). In 1995, she transitioned that project into the Jewish Museum of Florida (JMOF) in Miami Beach, developing the collections and presenting more than 70 exhibits with 500 educational programs in 16 years.
Her seminal book, Jews of Florida: Centuries of Stories, was published in 2020. As a cultural anthropologist, she is credited with an innovative process that gave the world something they did not have: the compelling story of one ethnic group in a hugely diverse Florida.
SIGN UP FOR THE HISTORY CHAT
Public historian Marcia Jo Zerivitz will present highlights from her research and the book Jews of Florida: Centuries of Stories, the first comprehensive history of the Jews of Florida from colonial times to the present, at our next History Chat - Jews of Florida: Centuries of Stories on Monday, May 13, at 6:30 p.m. at the Mandarin Branch Library. This program is sponsored by the Friends of the Mandarin Library and presented in honor of Jewish American History Month.
ABOUT THE BOOK
Despite not being officially allowed to live in Florida until 1763, Jewish immigrants escaping expulsions and exclusions were among the earliest settlers. They have been integral to every area of Florida’s growth, from tilling the land and developing early communities to boosting tourism and ultimately pushing mankind into space. The Sunshine State’s Jews, working for the common good, have been Olympians, Nobel Prize winners, computer pioneers, educators, politicians, leaders in business and the arts, and more.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Public historian Marcia Jo Zerivitz, L.H.D., Founding Executive Director, Jewish Museum of Florida–FIU, is a native West Virginian who has lived in Florida for more than 60 years. In 2016, Florida International University awarded her a Doctor of Humane Letters Honoris Causa for her vision and leadership throughout her life to expand knowledge and enrich collective historical memory.
She has been a trailblazer in the American and Floridian Jewish communities serving national, state, and local organizations, and has broken the “glass ceiling” as the first woman in many positions. She has authored historical exhibitions, articles, books, and films, and has been published nationally and internationally. Marcia Jo initiated the legislation for both Florida Jewish History Month each January and Jewish American Heritage Month each May to increase awareness of the contributions of Jews to the quality of life for all.
Marcia Jo retired from JMOF in 2011 and continues to curate exhibits, lecture, narrate films, research and write on Florida Jewish history and the history of antisemitism.
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