Breathing free in America

IN “From Haven to Home: 350 Years of Jewish Life in America” at the Skirball Cultural Center, it’s hard not to be immediately taken by the exhibition’s marquee artifacts.

There’s poet Emma Lazarus’ handwritten 1883 magnum opus, “The New Colossus,” which includes the phrase “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,” which 20 years later was immortalized when it was inscribed on a tablet at the base of the Statue of Liberty. Then there are Irving Berlin’s 1938 lyrics to his patriotic standard “God Bless America,” which Berlin wrote as a peace song and as a tribute to his adopted home.

Though these documents involve well-known Jewish Americans, Michael Grunberger, who curated the exhibition when it originated at the Library of Congress in 2004, is quick to note that he was not trying to create a “hall of fame” for Jews. (The exhibition, however, does include the baseball cards of Hall of Famers Hank Greenberg and Sandy Koufax, both of whom skipped games in observance of Yom Kippur.)

“The show is about freedom in America, the uniqueness of it for Jews who came to this country and the uniqueness of American Judaism that developed as a result of that freedom,” says Grunberger, who is also the head of the Library of Congress’ Hebraic Section.

“We also wanted to recognize how many of the immigrants were agents of their own acculturation and how hard they worked to become American.”

The show was organized as a commemoration of the 1654 arrival of 23 Jews from Brazil, who landed in New Amsterdam (now known as New York City) and are said to have been the first Jews to have settled permanently in the United States.

Among the exhibition’s 200-plus objects, which include films, pamphlets, sheet music and sound recordings, are letters and notations from Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln responding to concerns brought forth by the Jewish community and reaffirming America’s commitment to religious freedom.

Also on display is the 1903 Kishineff Petition, a massive volume filled with the signatures of Jewish and non-Jewish community leaders. The petition was in response to the killing of 49 Jews in Russia and, according to Grunberger, “it also marked the moment when Jews first tried to organize nationally not just the Jewish community, but the community at large.”

And to add some new twists, the exhibition showcases an array of posters and cookbooks -- many from the Skirball’s own holdings and not seen in the original exhibition -- written in Yiddish, Italian and other languages to help America’s newest immigrants assimilate into their new home.

THOUGH adaptations of “From Haven to Home” also made stops in Cincinnati and in New York City, the exhibition at the Skirball -- the last leg of the tour -- is the closest in scale and scope to the original Library of Congress show, organizers say.

“In terms of cultural history, this is probably the biggest and most important show that we’ve done,” says Grace Cohen Grossman, senior curator of Judaica and Americana at the Skirball and managing curator of “From Haven to Home.” “We’re very fortunate that the Library of Congress, National Archives and other institutions were willing to let things go on the road.”

On a personal level, Grossman says she was excited that one item in particular was able to make the trip to Los Angeles, and that’s the Nov. 29, 1947, tally sheet that New York Congressman Emanuel Celler used to keep track of the vote when the United Nations General Assembly voted 33 to 13 in favor of partitioning Palestine into Jewish and Arab independent states.

“I was born the night of the vote, and during my mother’s long labor, my dad stepped out to get something to eat,” Grossman says.

“When my dad came back, my grandmother said, ‘It’s 33-13!’ and my dad said, ‘How can a baby be that big?’ ”

Grossman says the response to the show has been positive but that one encounter stands out as especially poignant. After a presentation she gave to a Brandeis University group, Los Angeles attorney Robert Spies, now 76, came up to her and identified himself as one of the Jewish refugee children in a 1939 photograph featured in the exhibition. In the photograph, Spies, who left his home and family behind in Vienna, said he is shown wearing a cap and waving to the Statue of Liberty while riding an ocean liner en route to Philadelphia.

“It’s very gratifying knowing that people are coming here, identifying with the exhibition -- which was literally the case in regards to the photograph -- and learning from it,” says Grossman, who will lead a walk-through of the show tonight.

“It’s our hope, whether you are of Jewish descent or however your family immigrated to America, that the show resonates with all visitors in some way.”

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‘From Haven

to Home’

350 Years of Jewish Life

in America

Where: Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., L.A.

Hours: noon to 5 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays; noon to 9 p.m. Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays

Ends: Feb. 12

Price: $8; $6, seniors and students; free on Thursdays and for children younger than 12.

Info: (310) 440-4500, www.skirball.com

Also

What: Curator-led tour of the exhibition

When: 7 p.m. today

Price: Free with admission