TJHS Projects
TJHS Grants
TJHS sponsors and promotes activities and projects to research, collect, preserve, publish, and disseminate information, in written or visual media, regarding the settlement and history of Jews in Texas—and their participation in its social, economic, religious, political, professional, and cultural growth.
TJHS accepts grant applications from individuals and non-profit organizations for activities and projects that further the TJHS mission.
TJHS grant for an online exhibit of old postcards of long-gone Texas synagogues.
TJHS Grant Recipients for Books and Films
Books
TJHS has provided financial support for publications on Texas Jewish history, including the following books, available in libraries and the TJHS Collection (Briscoe Center UT-Austin); and for purchase on amazon.com:
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Lone Stars of David: The Jews of Texas, Hollace Ava Weiner and Kenneth D. Roseman (Editors), Brandeis University Press, 2007
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Jewish Stars in Texas: Rabbis and Their Work, Hollace Ava Weiner (Author), Texas A&M Press, 1999
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Deep in the Heart: The Lives and Legends of Texas Jews, Ruthe Lewin Winegarten and Cathy Schechter (Authors), Eakin Press, 1990
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Most Fortunate Unfortunates: The Jewish Orphans’ Home of New Orleans, Marlene Trestman (Author), LSU Press, 2023
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Rope Walker: A Texas Jewish History Mystery, Jim Yarin, (Author), 248 Ancestors, 2020.
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Films
TJHS has provided financial grants for production of films on Texas Jewish history, including the following:
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Grit and Grace: How Jewish Women Built a Better Texas, Barbara Rosenthal (Director), Jeff Gross (Producer), Howdy Nagila LLC (Production), Upcoming Spring 2025.
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The Blue House: A Documentary, Mark Birnbaum (Producer), Mark Birnbaum Productions, Upcoming 2024.
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People of the Crossing: The Jews of El Paso, Isaac Artenstein (Producer), Cinewest Productions, 2023.
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West of Hester Street, Allen and Cynthia Salzman Mondell (Writers, Producers, Directors), 1983.
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Remember My Soul: Exploring the Crypto-Judaic History of the Borderlands, Jillian Glantz (Director, Producer), 2019.
All Past TJHS Grant Recipients (searchable from bottom row):
TJHS Archives
The TJHS Collection has been established at the Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin. The Collection contains the official records of the Texas Jewish Historical Society, as well source materials; documents; and family, community, and organization histories, dating from 1824. The Collection is organized by the Briscoe Center into nine series: Administration of TJHS, Communities, Family Histories, Rabbis and Cantors, Texas Jewish Organizations, Published Materials, Photographs, Audio, and Video and Film.
Texas Jewish Burials Database
The Texas Jewish Historical Society maintains a database of Texas Jewish burials, including the name, birth/death dates, and cemetery for each. The goal of this project is to include all Jewish burials in Texas, in all types of cemeteries:
1) consecrated Jewish cemeteries separate from any other cemeteries,
(2) sections of non-sectarian cemeteries consecrated and dedicated as Jewish cemeteries
(3) Jewish burials in non-Jewish cemeteries.
Search for names of departed family and friends. Type in LAST NAME and FIRST NAME in bottom row of the respective columns below.
If you do not see the name, please send a message to webmaster2@txjhs.org. Include Date of Birth, Date of Death, City of Birth, Location of Cemetery, Name of Cemetery, Holocaust Survivor, Cremation, and Military Service, as relevant.
Jewish Cemetery Historic Designations
The Texas Jewish Historical Society sponsors a project for identifying, locating, and documenting Texas Jewish cemeteries. In addition to honoring the memories of those buried in often forgotten cemeteries, important new historical, sociological, demographic, and genealogical information can be obtained from a rediscovered cemetery.
Another goal of this project is to facilitate the awarding of “Historic Texas Cemetery” designations and markers by the Texas Historical Commission. A cemetery is eligible for Historic Texas Cemetery designation if it is at least 50 years old and is deemed worthy of recognition for its historical associations. The designation can serve as a legal instrument preventing encroachment on the grounds of a cemetery. To date, TJHS has facilitated Historic Texas Cemetery designations for cemeteries throughout Texas, including Houston, Marshall, Fort Worth, Paris, Gonzales, LaGrange, Navasota, Gainesville, and Galveston.
Click below for Information about obtaining a Historic Texas Cemetery designation by the Texas Historical Commission .
TJHS Speakers Bureau
TJHS members are available to give lively presentations in person or via Zoom to congregations, civic organizations, and other groups. Topics could include stories of historical Jewish Texans (both well-known and little-known) and their towns, how to do oral histories, information about TJHS programs and archives, and more!
Arrange for a speaker for your upcoming event by contacting: tjhsspeakers@txjhs.org
Travel with TJHS
Over the past years, TJHS members and friends have joined together for travel with a focus on the history of Jewish communities in the United States and other countries. Below are memories of past TJHS travels.
Toronto, Canada / Sept 11-13, 2019
Cuba / January 23-30, 2017
Cuba / June 8-15, 2015
Cuba / April 28 – May 5, 2014
India / March 11-26, 2011
Southern Caribbean Jewish Heritage Cruise / February 3-10, 2008
Utica, Jackson, Greenville, Cleveland, Alligator, & Clarksdale (Mississippi); and Memphis (Tennessee) /July 12-18, 1998
Brownsville, Harlingen, McAllen, and Matamoros / February 9-12, 1995
