Paula E. Kirman
The Jewish Archives and Historical Society of Edmonton and Northern Alberta (JAHSENA) was established as a non-profit society in 1996 and relocated in Jasper Place in 2012. Its original location was the former Jewish Community Centre, housed in the one-time Hillcrest Country Club. The building also hosted a gym, the Reform Jewish congregation Temple Beth Ora, and offices for numerous other Jewish organizations.
When the JCC sold the Hillcrest building, the organizations required new homes. JAHSENA joined the Jewish Federation of Edmonton, Canadian Hadassah WIZO, Jewish National Fund, Camp BB Riback, and the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee (CJPAC) in choosing the former Jasper Place Legion building at 10220 156 Street. The Legion offered generous space, a reasonable price, and available parking.
JAHSENA was founded by the late Uri Rozenzweig, who planned to write a history of the Edmonton Jewish Community to celebrate its centennial in 1993. He envisioned JAHSENA as supporting the writing of the book and then housing materials collected in that process. JAHSENA published The First Century of Jewish Life in Edmonton and Northern Alberta,1893-1993 in 2000. In 2016 the Society published another book, From Generation to Generation: Jewish Edmontonians as Heritage Builders.
JAHSENA has also produced two documentary films: From Pedlars to Patriarchs: A Legacy Remembered, about the Edmonton Jewish community, and Bittersweet Memories: The War Years, about Jewish Edmontonians during World War II.
JAHSENA’s holdings have grown significantly over the years. “Our collection includes photographs, textual records such as oral and written histories, documents, newspapers, newsletters, books audiovisuals, periodicals, and more,” says Colleen Paull, JAHSENA’s archivist since 2017. “We also have a collection of miscellaneous, non-archival materials relating to the history of the Jewish communities of Edmonton and Northern Alberta, such as plaques, memorabilia, awards, statues, perhaps for the creation of a museum branch of the society.”
The Alberta on Record (AOR) database lists about 200 of JAHSENA’s most important fonds. The organization also has over 800 digitized images, about 170 oral history interviews of community members, and a collection of Edmonton Jewish newspapers. In addition, they have recordings and videos of accounts of Holocaust survivors and second-generation community members. JAHSENA also publishes a triannual newsletter called Heritage (Yerusha) and maintains a website at jahsena.ca .
Currently, JAHSENA is working towards the cataloging of its library collection, which is available to the public by appointment. “We are actively looking at ways to widen our profile so that we become better known within the Jewish and Edmonton communities,” says Paull. “We are discussing several projects/programs/exhibits that will be presented to the public with hopes of creating a better knowledge of Jews in general, and about the Jewish community’s contributions made to the growth of Edmonton. We hope that becoming a bigger presence will better educate and build better relationships with all communities in Edmonton.”
Do you have a connection to the Jewish community in the Jasper Place area, and would like to share your story? Get in touch with us: jasperplacehistory@outlook.com
Paula E. Kirman is a freelance writer who grew up, and still lives, near the Jasper Place area. A member of Edmonton’s Jewish community, she is a former regular contributor toJAHSENA’s newsletter, and part of the project Jewish Edmonton Stories Online (JESO), supported by JAHSENA, atjewishedmontonstories.com.
[This is a slightly expanded version of an article that originally appeared in SPANN March 2022].
