Jessica Antoline will briefly recount the story of the migration of Lithuanian Jews in the 19th and 20th centuries and review the circumstances that prompted them to leave the land where they had lived for so many years and travel thousands of miles to new lands. Why did so many settle in Boston and its surrounding communities? What were their motivations, their hopes, and their struggles in di goldene medine as they tried to find affordable neighborhoods in which to live, communities of Jews to settle amongst, and employment?

Jessica Antoline is Program Manager for the historic Vilna Shul, now Boston’s Center for Jewish Culture. She holds degrees in History and Museum Education from Tufts, Religion and Historical Archaeology from BU, and studied eastern European and Jewish history at Univerzita Karlova in Prague. Her career has taken her around the world to research how museums and historic sites facilitate intercultural dialogue and help repair communities after conflict.

Spotlight Talk following main talk:
Dr. Arthur Rabson will give a supplementary talk on Jewish Migration from Lithuania to South Africa. Dr. Rabson is a member of the Pathology Department at Tufts Medical Center. He was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, the son of 2nd generation immigrants from the Vilna area of what is now Lithuania.

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