Revisiting the Remains of America’s Jewish Vacationland

Classes, Workshops & Lectures
Date Thursday, December 8, 2016, 7:00 pm Organization Jewish Museum of Florida – FIU Categories Classes, Workshops & Lectures
Place Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU Address 301 Washington Avenue, Miami Beach Phone 305-672-5044 Website http://www.jewishmuseum.com/ Contact Email info@jewishmuseum.com

From the 1920’s through the 1960’s, the Catskill Mountains of New York were a popular getaway destination for millions of Americans. Known as the Borscht Belt, the resorts of Sullivan and Ulster County combined recreational activities with nighttime entertainment, especially stand-up comedy, which was born in the region’s theater and showrooms. Photographer and Catskill native, Marisa Scheinfeld has been documenting the dramatic degradation of some of the most famous Borscht Belt hotels and colonies. The images reveal ghostly remnants of the glory years of the era, as well as powerful evidence of nature’s claim on the resorts and their landscapes and new uses to which the spaces have been put in recent years. Scheinfeld will present a slide lecture of her series and new book, which contains 129 photos, Borscht Belt ephemera and a photographic series of “then and now” imagery composed by using found postcards and creating a mirror image of their present day depictions. Her book published by Cornell University Press and entitled The Borscht Belt:Revisiting the Remains of America’s Jewish Vacationland will be available for purchase and signing. Tickets are $5 for JMOF-FIU Members, $10 for Non-Members, and FREE for FIU Students (with valid ID).

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