Rabbi Silverblatt, Around 1898

The collection consists mainly of photographs collected by volunteers who created the 1982 library exhibit, “A celebration of Jewish life: an exhibition offering insight into Jewish life in Fall River and New Bedford from 1850 to 1950,” sponsored by the SMU Center for Jewish Culture and the Cultural Affairs Committee at SMU (Southeastern Massachusetts University). Many of the slides are copies of photographs from local repositories, including the Fall River Historical Society and the New Bedford Whaling Museum. Many others are copied from family photographs that were then returned to the owners. Series I are prints collected before and after the exhibit and are divided between the oversized box and the binder box V (“synagogues, rabbis and families”) and box VI (“social organizations and businesses”). Series II are slides.