Press Release

MEDIA CONTACT:
Timothy Dillon, Director of Marketing & Media Relations
(512) 936-4600 Fax: (512) 936-4699 Email: timothy.dillon@thestoryoftexas.com

Symposium to Explore History of Galveston Movement
A Centennial Retrospective of American Jewish Immigration History at The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum Sept 10 and 11

AUSTIN, TX, August 19, 2009 –The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum and the Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Texas at Austin are pleased to present a two day symposium on the 100th Anniversary of the Galveston Movement titled, The Galveston Movement: A Centennial Retrospective on a Forgotten Chapter of American Jewish Immigration History.

The Galveston Movement was an organized immigration plan that brought thousands of Jews to small towns in Texas, and throughout the Midwest, between 1907 and 1914 through the gateway of Galveston Island. The symposium is in conjunction with The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum’s nationally traveling exhibit, Forgotten Gateway: Coming to America Through Galveston Island, displayed in Austin through October 11.

The symposium will bring together national scholars, authors, artists, rabbis, and Galveston Movement descendants for presentations and discussions over the time of two days. “The sessions will explore the dramatic tales of thousands of Jews from Russia and Eastern Europe who managed to enter the U.S., not through the ‘golden door’ of Ellis Island, NY, but through the back gate of Galveston Island, TX,” says Suzanne Seriff, Ph.D., guest curator and symposium project director.

Guests are invited to explore the trials Jews faced by radical officers who expressed anti-Semitic sentiments. Sessions will discuss the value and legality of the immigration plan. All participants will take a behind-the-scenes tour with Dr. Seriff. Keynote speaker Stuart Rockoff, Ph.D., director, Institute of Southern Jewish Life in Jackson, MS will present an address on the effect the Galveston Movement has had on the Texas Jewish population.

Admission is $25 per person which includes light meals over the two day event beginning at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 10 and concluding at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, September 11. For a full schedule of sessions and list of speakers please visit: TheStoryofTexas.com. To purchase tickets call 512-936-4649. Speakers and topics subject to change.

This program is made possible in part by a grant from Humanities Texas.