Heritage Programs

A central part of the JHFNC mission is to collect, preserve, and present the history of the Jewish people of North Carolina. The first of these "heritage programs" was "What We Brought with Us," an exhibit of personal items and stories of North Carolina’s Holocaust survivors, held at the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh.

It was followed by "Migrations: Jewish Settlers of Eastern North Carolina," an exhibit which portrayed the state’s coastal Jewish settlement from the earliest times to the modern day. Curated and created by JHFNC research historian Len Rogoff, the exhibit told the story of North Carolina's first Jewish settlers— who they were, where they came from, and what kind of lives they made. Featured in local, state, and national media, “Migrations” had a highly acclaimed three-year tour of six locations, travelling as far west as Greensboro. The project was funded by contributions from the North Carolina Jewish community and a matching grant from the North Carolina Humanities Center.


The remarkable success of Migrations became the impetus for the creation of a statewide project. As interest in and knowledge about Jewish contributions to North Carolina increase and in concert with celebration of the 350th anniversary of Jewish settlement in America, the JHFNC embarked upon its most ambitious project to date — a $1,250,00 campaign to create Down Home: Jewish Life in North Carolina, a multimedia project that will celebrate a remarkable and compelling story of personal endeavor that has left an indelible mark on the progressive development of the state of North Carolina.

The four major elements of Down Home will be produced in stages. Current plans are to premiere the film at the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh in 2007 and to circulate the educational video soon thereafter. We hope to debut the museum exhibit at the Levine Museum of the New South in Charlotte in mid-2008, simultaneous to the publication of the book. The exhibition will tour the state’s historical museums through the following two years. It is envisioned that Down Home will be installed as permanent venue at the end of its travel schedule.

The project has garnered statements of support from the state’s historical museums, academic centers, and cultural institutions and has attracted a distinguished group of scholars, community leaders, and historians to its advisory and planning boards.


Learn more about Down Home

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Director of Collections at the American Jewish Historical Society, Lyn Slome, joins “Down Home.”

The Jewish Heritage Foundation of North Carolina has collected a wealth of archival material, museum objects and books relating to all aspects of Jewish life in the Tarheel state. These collections are now under the care of expert archivist Lyn Slome. Her work as registrar and archivist for the JHFNC includes the re-housing of documents and objects in an acid-free environment; the organization and documentation of archival collections and the creation and implementation of a searchable database. This effort assures the longevity of the JHFNC’s collections and access to these materials for researchers and exhibit planners.

Lyn immigrated to Chapel Hill from South Africa with her parents and siblings in 1962. After graduating from Chapel Hill High School she moved to New York to become an artist, and earning some of her living as a pastry chef.

She holds a Masters in Library Science from Pratt Institute and began her archival career at the New York City Municipal Archives. Lyn has worked for the American Jewish Historical Society in New York since 2000 where she is now Director of Collections. Her special interest is in the informational content of historic photographs. She was curator for the Society’s two most recent exhibits, Jewish Orphanages in New York, 1860-1960, and the current The Photographic Study of the Lower East Side, 1934.

In giving order to the JHFNC’s collections, Lyn has already made discoveries about what Jewish life was like in North Carolina during the19th and 20th centuries. These materials reflect service to country, celebrations of faith and a strong sense of mutual responsibility in communities both large and small.

Lyn has a wealth of documents, photos, and memorabilia to sift through. And her expertise will help the JHFNC preserve and bring to life to remarkable depth and character of Jewish life in the Tar Heel state.


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