In 2006 former US President George W. Bush proclaimed May as Jewish American Heritage Month, an effort that had been in the pipeline since 1980. The month of May was chosen because in “May 2004 Jewish Americans celebrated the 350th anniversary of the first organized Jewish community in North America. The anniversary commemorates a group of 23 Jewish people who fled religious persecution in 1654.”
Between 1900-1924, an estimated 1.75 million Jews would immigrate to the US, the majority from Eastern Europe. Although they began to assimilate, Jews made sure to hold onto their culture and identity by setting up Hebrew schools and synagogues in their communities. Jewish Americans began to flourish, enjoying religious freedom and opportunities, however, they also continued to face prejudice and antisemitism, especially in times of economic hardship and war.
During the 1930s and 1940s, while the US government expressed concern about the dire situation for Jews in Europe with the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, many Jewish refugees attempting to flee were turned away due to the US government’s restrictive immigration quotas. According to the Holocaust Memorial Museum “between 1938 and 1941, 123,868 self-identified Jewish refugees immigrated to the United States. Many hundreds of thousands more had applied at American consulates in Europe, but were unable to immigrate. Many of them were trapped in Nazi-occupied territory and murdered in the Holocaust.”
In the 1950s and 1960s Jewish Americans played an integral role in the civil rights movement, forming important alliances with African American leaders. Jewish Americans were also part of the Freedom Riders, a group of black and white activists who, in the summer of 1961, rode interstate buses to the South to protest segregated public transportation. It’s estimated that half of white activists in the civil rights movement were Jewish.
Today, an estimated 2.4% of adults in the U.S. are Jewish - that’s around 5.8 million, with an additional 1.8 million children. To learn more, head to the The Library of Congress’ website, which has a comprehensive timeline of Jewish life in America from the 1600s to the present.
National Foster Care Month began in 1988 to show appreciation to foster parents across the US. The history of this month began around 1830 when large numbers of homeless children began to emerge across the Northeast. This was in part to their parents dying of various epidemics or being abandoned due to poverty. Three charitable organizations then began placing these children into new homes.
In 1912 the US Children’s Bureau was founded and its main purpose was to investigate and report “upon all matters pertaining to the welfare of children and child life among all classes of our people.” The bureau was managed and staffed almost entirely by women - something unheard of at that time. Today, child abuse prevention, foster care, and adoption all fall under the Children’s Bureau responsibilities.
There are nearly 400,000 children and youth living in foster care across the US. According to the White House, 1 in 9 Black children and 1 in 7 Native American children spend part of their childhood in foster care, with an estimated 30% of kids in foster care identifying as LGBTQI+. In Washington DC, there are currently more than 480 children in the foster care system.
May 1: 5:30-7:30pm AANHPI Heritage Month Kick Off
“Join the Mayor's Office on Asian & Pacific Islander Affairs for a night of music, networking with local small business owners and community, DC government officials, and raffle prizes from Luna Hall, Spot of Tea, Rasa, and Chocolate Chocolate to start off May as Asian American, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander Heritage Month.” Reserve a spot here.
May 4: 1 – 4 pm Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Celebration
“Come and celebrate with us! Join us for an afternoon dedicated to honoring the rich contributions of Asian and Pacific Islanders to America’s history and their pivotal role in shaping its future success. Delight in captivating performances, insightful workshops, delectable culinary delights, and explore unique finds at our artisan shop.” RSVP here.
May 11: 11am-2pm Hidden Portals Mask-Making Workshop
“Celebrate AAPI History Month with Library of Congress Innovator in Residence Jeffrey Yoo Warren. Families with children ages 6-12 are invited to a mask-making workshop where attendees will create cardboard virtual reality masks in the shape of a tiger’s head and use them to visit ‘hidden portals’ the artist has made to historic Chinatowns around the U.S.” You can register for the event here.
