From the California Gold Rush of 1849 to the explosion of population centers in the Southwest in the 1980s, Jews have played a significant role in shaping the Pacific West. In the process, they have reshaped themselves, as individuals and as communities. Through their mercantile networks and cultural innovations, their philanthropic institutions and political leadership, western Jews created a distinctive identity.

Using historical photographs from her new coauthored book Jews of the Pacific Coast: Reinventing Community at America’s Edge, Kahn will explore the nature of the Jewish experience in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles and the small towns of the West. Her presentation will explain the important differences among these communities, as well as highlighting the ways in which the western Jewish experience has echoed and deviated from the familiar story of American Jewish history.