The JCRC’s 2017 Annual Meeting was special; not only was it held on the birthday of outgoing JCRC President Judy Failer, but it also marked the beginning of JCRC’s 75th anniversary year.
I was thrilled to be able to design the logo that the JCRC will use throughout this momentous year.
As indicated by the tagline within the logo, the Jewish Community Relations Council has been advocating for the Jewish community throughout Indiana and building relationships with all Hoosiers for 75 years.
In order to showcase the advocacy referenced in the logo above, I went downtown to the Indiana Historical Society with the JCRC’s Government Affairs Director, David Sklar, to begin the process of pouring through boxes of documents and photographs from the years JCRC has been active in Indianapolis and throughout Indiana. Using these documents, as well as articles from the IndyStar archive and others still held in our office, I compiled binders, organized by decade, that give a brief glimpse into JCRC’s activities from the 1940s through the early 2000s.
At the Annual Meeting, I watched members of the community spend time carefully going through the binders, enjoying reading the correspondences, articles and statement of Jewish leaders from our past. I heard them pointing out moments they remembered and names of leaders they recalled; several found something they, themselves had written. It was extremely rewarding.
In time, I plan to add more documents, articles, and photographs to these binders so that the extraordinary work and impact of JCRC is accessible and known by members of our community.
In the coming months, JCRC will continue to showcase our history. We could use your help! If you were active with the JCRC and have any photos or documents relevant to that activity, we would be eager to add it to our collection.
Overall, contributing to this 75th anniversary project – and receiving such a positive response from the community – has been really exciting for me.
