About Mapping Jewish SF

Mapping Jewish San Francisco is a new digital humanities project of the University of San Francisco's Swig Program in Jewish Studies and Social Justice.

The project takes a collaborative approach to examining the complex history and unique religious, cultural, and political identity of Jewish San Francisco. Top scholars and experts—including university faculty, undergraduate and graduate students, and community leaders—contribute exhibitions to tell stories of the individuals and institutions that comprise the Jewish San Francisco Bay Area. Along with our partners, including other academic institutions, libraries, archives, and leading Jewish institutions, Mapping Jewish San Francisco aims to bring the past to life and make it possible to visually travel back in time to explore the rich Jewish history of the Bay Area. Mapping Jewish San Francisco is based on and in partnership with Mapping Jewish LA at UCLA.

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Current

Exhibitions

Honoring Our Queer Elders

“Honoring Our Queer Elders” by Rabbi Camille Shira Angel

Found at https://library.stanford.edu/spc/exhibitspublications/past-exhibits/karaite-jews-egypt-israel-and-san-francisco-bay-area

Out of Egypt

“Out of Egypt: The Karaite Jews of the San Francisco Bay Area” by Aaron J. Hahn Tapper

The House of Love and Prayer

“The House of Love and Prayer: A Radical Jewish Experiment in San Francisco” by Oren Kroll-Zeldin

Works

In Progress

Girls of the Shanghai Ghetto (1945), Public Domain.

Shanghai Jews

"Shanghai Jews" by Alexis Herr, PhD - CHECK BACK SOON!

During WWII, tens of thousands of Jews escaping the Nazi regime in Europe found refuge in Shanghai. After the war, some of these Jewish refugees landed in San Francisco. Curated by Holocaust and genocide studies scholar Alexis Herr, "Shanghai Jews" will explore the lives of these Jewish refugees, tracing their journey from Western Europe to China to the United States, integrating personal artifacts and never-before-seen photos and video interviews with some of the remaining families linked to this brief gateway between China and the City by the Bay.