Archives and Community Identity in Transition

The Jewish Public Library and its Archives (JPL-A) were founded in 1914 in Montreal by mainly Ashkenazi immigrants seeking to preserve and celebrate their Eastern European culture and languages. Changes in the JPL-A since the founding reflect the diversity of the Montreal Jewish community as well as the politics of existing as a minority culture within the province of Quebec. Currently, the Archives are researching and developing a comprehensive education program – entitled Experience Heritage – that combines community heritage, media and information literacy and archive advocacy for middle and high school students. The teaching goals for the program aim to provide the opportunity to explore connections between a student’s personal identity and their community.

In developing the program, the JPL-A is faced with the incongruity in promoting community identity through tangible historical sources juxtaposed with the definition of this “identity” as laid out by the visioning committee of Federation CJA – the JPL-A’s parent agency. Federation CJA currently prioritizes projects dealing with identity and legacy as a response to the rapidly shifting demographics of the Jewish community. Definitions of identity and identities vary however and what can be assumed when examining identity projects that are currently funded is that a group identity through the celebration of actual local community history and origins – as well as certain aspects of diversity – is often overlooked. How then is the JPL-A best to evolve to meet its parent agency’s priorities while respecting the natural evolution of the community’s historical legacy? The JPL-A’s research and development of Experience Heritage is providing discussion on exactly what legacy is being passed onto future generations and the role the Archives plays in that legacy. The project and research is providing the direction from which the JPL-A is attempting to balance institutional, community and political needs and wants.