The seed for what became Tolerance & Identity: Jews in Early New York, 1654-1825, on view at the Museum of the City of New York from May 10 to October 2, 2005, began to germinate in late 2003 at a luncheon meeting of a current Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) trustee and a former trustee who traces his Jewish family's history in New York back to the early 18th century.
Was MCNY participating in the Celebrate 350! series of exhibitions and public programs that would mark the anniversary of the arrival of a party of Recife Jews in New Amsterdam in the late summer of 1654? After learning more about events already planned under the Celebrate 350! umbrella, and by the Commission to Commemorate 350 Years of American Jewish History, MCNY staff met with colleagues from the American Jewish Historical Society (AJHS) and the New-York Historical Society. The AJHS was one of the lead partners collaborating with the Library of Congress in the major exhibition and publication From Haven to Home: 350 Years of Jewish Life in America, and anticipated hosting a traveling version of the exhibition in New York City.
But the scope of that exhibition was national, not centered on New York City—and it covered the full 350 years of Jewish life in United States. As MCNY staff considered its collections resources, the development of a more focused exhibition, one that looked at New York's Jewish community in the colonial and early national period, seemed to fit—both with our collections and within the schedule of the year-long commemoration, which would begin in September 2004 and conclude in late summer 2005. If the MCNY exhibition opened in the spring of 2005, there was time to raise the necessary funds to mount the exhibition, to develop the script, to locate and request loans, to undertake necessary conservation treatments, to work out an installation design that would complement the subject, and to design and produce all the ancillary components that accompany an exhibition—from banner to gallery guide to public programs announcement mailers—and fabricate, install, and light the exhibition.
With a lead pledge in hand by early 2004, MCNY assigned an exhibition project team headed by MCNY curator of decorative arts and manuscripts Deborah Dependahl Waters to the exhibition, and research began in earnest. The exhibition would present the early history of the city and its Jewish population from the arrival of the Sint Catrina from the Caribbean with a group of Sephardic passengers aboard in the waters off Manhattan early in September 1654 until 1825, when a second synagogue was established. A thesis statement was developed: the exhibition would investigate the quintessentially New York story of the first arrivals and their successors: an immigrant community navigating its identity within the context of a pluralistic society. A working title was chosen (and later replaced), and 3200 square feet of gallery space on MCNY's first floor was assigned to the exhibition.
Because this was the story of a single historic congregation—the first Jewish congregation in what would become the United States—there was a large body of scholarship to review. Many of the congregation's records were deposited in the collections of the American Jewish Historical Society. Other records remained in the Congregation's archive, and its former archivist was most helpful in suggesting materials. The genealogical work of the late Rabbi Malcolm Stern had already explored the many kinship links among the various congregation members. Descendants of early members remained active in what had become known as Congregation Shearith Israel, the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue, and contacts were made with several active members who retained family items or who had acquired materials related to its early history.
MCNY had a foundation for the exhibition object list—a group of portraits of early Jewish New Yorkers, including members of the extended Levy-Franks-Isaacs family that encompassed a portrait miniature portraying hazzan Gershom Mendes Seixas, silver from the workshop of Myer Myers, a congregation member and leader, as well as a deed by which Asser Levy, one of the 1654 arrivals (from Vilna, not Recife), purchased real estate in 1677. As the object list developed, so did the conservation needs list. The Levy deed had losses along old folds; it went up to the Northeast Document Conservation Center for treatment; a map needed had been included in a recent condition survey; a treatment proposal was available, and it was dispatched for treatment at the Center for Conservation of Art and Historic Artifacts with the cost covered by the exhibition funding. Other items were located in public, private, and corporate collections.
By late spring 2004, a scholarly advisory panel convened to assist in refining approaches to the topic, and a designer for the exhibition came forward—well-known Toronto architect A. J. (Jack) Diamond, whose work includes the recently-completed Toronto Opera House, as well as signature buildings in Israel and the United States. A program proposal-funding brochure outlining the project was developed and produced with the assistance of a designer at Diamond and Schmitt Architects Incorporated over the summer of 2004. In late fall, Jack Diamond presented his design concept, with the "Faith Room" at the heart of the installation. His associate revised the detailed layout as the object list morphed to accommodate refinements in the script, and developed the construction drawings and case designs.
The design team grew—with a fabricator, a lighting designer, and a graphics designer all meeting with MCNY's exhibition team to review the gallery concept, refine the budget, and schedule the work. MCNY development staff sent out requests for support to potential private and foundation funders (the short lead time and the topic precluded applications for government agency funding). Loan request letters went out six months in advance of the opening—to institutions, private collectors, and to Congregation Shearith Israel. We had some disappointments—the Franks Family portraits would not be available—so full-scale digital reproductions were prepared—as well as some welcome agreements. We were able to borrow the original "Buttonwood Agreement" from the New York Stock Exchange, as well as a pair of rimonim—Torah scroll finials made by silversmith Myer Myers from Congregation Shearith Israel. We planned for rotations of fragile items—borrowing two copies of a publication, or two prints, so the items could be exchanged during the run of the exhibition. Free-standing and built-in cases with gaskets were designed to accommodate both alarms and cavities for silica gel under decks, and light level requirements were reviewed with the lighting designer. Type faces and color schemes were chosen.
Wall text broke the installation into sections: Dutch Interlude; A Growing Community; "No invidious distinctions;" "our Congregation of Jews at New York;" Civic Engagement; Commercial Enterprise; and Change and Continuity. Text and label copy was reviewed in consultation with our scholarly advisors, edited, and revised in-house. Large graphics went to an outside production house.
The exhibition graphics designer worked with our in-house graphics designer to develop a "logo" for the exhibition, which carried through the banner, gallery guide, and wall text panels—the image from the border of the David Grim Plan of the Mill Street Synagogue façade—an image that dominated the gallery as the façade of the "Faith Room."
By mid-March, the exhibition preceding Tolerance & Identity had closed; once the gallery had been cleared, construction could begin. MCNY's registrar scheduled object transport and courier arrivals; a mount-maker and a framer took measurements and fabricated mounts and frames; last-minute conservation needs were addressed; and the installation proceeded using a team of per-diem art handlers as well as Museum staff; the graphics designer completed and delivered labels and text panels; the gallery guide went to press; the lighting designer and her team did the lighting; the plexi bonnets were cleaned one last time; case alarms were set; the floor was swept, and the show opened, with a well-attended evening reception. Critical and public response was enthusiastic, and related public programs were well-attended.
The total project, including targeted paid press and radio advertising, public programming costs, and opening reception expenses, came in under budget at just over $400,000.