Creation of the Texas Jewish Historical Society

(from an article by Rabbi Jimmy Kessler in the TJHS Magazine, February 2003)

As a seventh grader in Pershing Junior High School in Houston, young Jimmy Kessler got his first lesson in the importance of preserving Texas Jewish history. Jimmy along with other Jewish students were absent from school for Yom Kippur and missed an important test in Texas History. The teacher gave all the absent Jewish students an “F”.  Parents came to the school to ask why a failing grade. Jimmy remembered there was much back-and-forth discussion, but the comment that stuck with him was when the teacher said, “We Jews had to remember that we weren’t here in Texas – early on—and had nothing to do with Texas history.”  That comment stuck with Jimmy Kessler for more than 40 years.

As a first-year student at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio, Jimmy and his fellow rabbinical students were encouraged to check out the American Jewish Archives and its three walls of card catalogues, representing a collection of original materials from all over the world and reflecting some aspect of the American Jewish experience.   When Jimmy checked the “Te” box for “Texas”, he found only two cards. As a third-year rabbinical student, Jimmy took an American Jewish History course taught by Rabbi Jacob Rader Marcus, father of the academic study of American Jewish History.  Jimmy challenged Rabbi Marcus in one class when told “nothing of importance happened in American Jewish history before 1900 east of the Mississippi River.”  Jimmy promised to prove Dr. Marcus wrong.

It was about this time that Jimmy Kessler knew that Texas Jewish experience had to be collected and preserved, but any action was put on a back burner after his 1972 ordination and a stint as Hillel Director at UT Austin until 1975.  His early attempts to preserve records ended in disappointment. In 1976, Rabbi Kessler was selected to lead Temple B’Nai Israel of Galveston. Galveston was a community that took its history seriously. It is the oldest extant Jewish Community in Texas and B’nai Israel is the oldest Reform congregation in the State. Moreover, Rabbi Henry Cohen, who had served B’nai Israel longer than any Rabbi, was well known for his role in the 1907-1914 Galveston Movement.

After years of kvetching about this need to archive Jewish material, Harris L. Kempner cornered Rabbi Kessler and asked what he needed to make things happen. Rabbi Kessler suggested a statewide meeting of folk interested in the project would be a good start. Harris pulled out his checkbook and wrote a check for $3,000 to defray costs for such a meeting.  

In 1980 Rabbi Kessler published letters in The Jewish Herald-Voice of Houston and in The Texas Jewish Post of Dallas/Fort Worth calling for the creation of a historical society to preserve the history of the Texas Jewish experience.   As a result, in March 1980 a first Gathering of interested Texans took place in San Antonio to organize the Texas Jewish Historical Society. Rabbi Kessler was chosen its first president.

Today, the Texas Jewish Historical Society continues to sponsor and encourage research, publications, and projects on Texas Jewish history, providing a forum for scholars, students, journalists, and genealogists.  Rabbi Jimmy Kessler died September 2022. His legacy will forever be a huge, celebrated part of Texas Jewish history.

Overview Video of TJHS

TJHS Activities

• Publishing a quarterly TJHS Magazine with family histories, articles from archived TJHS documents, and information about TJHS activities and projects.

• Awarding grants to individuals and organizations for projects that promote the mission of TJHS.

• Archiving materials, documents, and histories (community, organizational, and family) at the Briscoe Center for American History at the University of Texas at Austin.

• Supporting books, films, and videos on Texas Jewish history that advance the TJHS mission.

• Maintaining a searchable online database of over 47,000 Jewish burials in over 275 Jewish cemeteries in Texas.

• Documenting applications for State of Texas historical designations for Jewish cemeteries.

• Sponsoring prizes of the Texas State Historical Association’s Jewish History Essay Contest for high-school juniors and seniors.

• Retracing the experiences of Jews in Texas towns where there is no longer a Jewish presence.

TJHS Officers and Board of Trustees

Board of Trustees, April 2024-April 2026

Jeff Aresty (Waco)

Shana Bauman (Mont Belvieu)

Gayle Cannon (Austin)

Anita Feigenbaum (College Station)

Lynda Furgatch (Brownsville)

Michael Furgatch (Brownsville)

Sonny Gerber (Houston)

Jan Siegel Hart (Temple)

Lila Katz (Tyler)

Jeff Levine (Cedar Park)

Marilyn Lippman (Dallas)

Jane Manaster (Dallas)

Hy Penn (Kingwood)

Paula Stein (Houston)

David Vogel (Austin)

Hollace Weiner (Fort Worth)

Joyce Wormser (Pearland)

Past Presidents

1980-1982 – Rabbi Jimmy Kessler (Galveston)

1982-1984 – Frances Kallison (San Antonio)

1984-1986 – Lionel Schooler (Houston)*

1986 – Ed Lax (Dallas)

1986-1989 – Ginger Jacobs (Dallas)

1989-1991 – Milton Smith (Austin)

1991-1993 – Fay Brachman (Fort Worth)

1993-1995 – Don Teter (Baytown)

1995-1998 – Barbara Rosenberg (Sugar Land)*

1998-2000 – Helen Wilk (Houston)

2000-2002 – Jack Gerrick (Fort Worth)

2002-2004 – Charles B. Hart (Temple)

2004-2006 – Marvin Rich (Houston)

2006-2008 – Vickie Vogel (Austin)*

2008-2010 – Sally Drayer (Dallas)*

2010-2012 – Howard Milstein (Longview)*

2012-2014 – Marc Wormser (Pearland)*

2014-2015 – Debra Winegarten (Austin)

2015-2017 – David Beer (Dallas)*

2017-2019 – Davie Lou Solka (Austin)*

2019-2021 – Susan Zack Lewis (Big Spring)* 

2021-2023 – Sheldon Lippman (Austin)* 

* Living past presidents serve on Board of Trustees

TJHS Bylaws

The Texas Jewish Historical Society was established on January 26, 1980 at the First Gathering of interested persons, held in San Antonio. On February 15, 1980, the Texas Secretary of State issued Charter #509732 incorporating the Texas Jewish Historical Society, Inc.