Beth El Synagogue 1920-Present: Jewish Tradition Enriching Minnesota Life - Phase 3: Interpretive Script Development
To hire a qualified consultant to write an exhibit script on the history of Beth El Synagogue and its impact on Minnesota Jewish and cultural life.
$4,500,000 the first year and $6,500,000 the second year are for history programs and projects operated or conducted by or through local, county, regional, or other historical or cultural organizations or for activities to preserve significant historic and cultural resources. Funds are to be distributed through a competitive grant process. The Minnesota Historical Society must administer these funds using established grant mechanisms, with assistance from the advisory committee created under Laws 2009, chapter 172, article 4, section 2, subdivision 4, paragraph (b), item (ii).
Available upon request. grants@mnhs.org
Short Term Outcomes - Critical Review: Beth El Foundation sought input from professional historians at two different junctures in the project. Prior to script writing, two reviewers (Laura Weber and Linda Schloff) reviewed the Exhibit Plan and intended central themes of the script. These comments led to some edits to the Exhibit Plan, which were passed along to the script writer. Upon completion of the initial draft of the script, the document was reviewed by two professional historians (Linda Schloff and Marilyn Chiat). Their comments were incorporated into final edits of the script. The final script was read again by Marilyn Chiat, as well as a new reviewer, Margaret Lee (Linda Schloff was unavailable). The final reviews praised the script for its historical accuracy and richness of content. Plans are underway for pursuing funding (both from MNHS, as well as private donors) and contractor bids for the construction of the final exhibit. Beth El Foundation intends to apply for a MNHS large grant upon closure of this grant. Beth El Foundation is also seeking matching support from private donors to augment this funding and complete the project as planned.
Intermediate/Long Term Outcomes- Making content available to the public: The exhibit script will be added to the Beth El library and made available to the public. The script has already generated great excitement, and has spurred satellite projects to support further distribution of this story beyond the exhibit. Work has begun on an educational curriculum based on the content from this script. This curriculum will be made available to public and private schools, religious schools and other community organizations who wish to offer educational courses based on this content. It will be included, along with the script in materials eventually deeded to the Upper Midwest Jewish Archives upon completion of the final exhibit.
Managing the Beth El Collection: As progress was made in writing this script, including selection of artifacts, images and documents to be included in the exhibit, the collection became better organized and documented in preparation for moving the majority of its contents to the Upper Midwest Jewish Archives upon completion of the exhibit.
Available upon request, grants@mnhs.org