SAN DIEGO (Press Release)– Stanley Schwartz, president of the Jewish Historical Society since 1994, and long-time member of the Congress of History of San Diego and Imperial Counties, has received the coveted Award of Distinction from the Congress of History.
At the ceremony held in March at the at the Congress of History’s 47th Annual History Conference, Awards Chair Helen Halmay said, “Stan, we honor you today for your ‘Significant, Long-Term Contributions to the Recording and Preservation of the History of this Region,’ as it states on your award certificate. Congratulations for this award, that recognizes your many years of hard work and perseverance in saving and recording local Jewish history.”
For close to 20 years Stan Schwartz has been the historian/archivist of Congregation Beth Israel, the oldest Jewish congregation in Southern California. During that time, he convinced the congregation to establish an earlier date for their founding; wrote a history of the congregation for its 135th Anniversary in 1996; worked to save the 1926 synagogue at Third and Laurel Streets in Banker’s Hill from demolition following its sale to a developer; worked with others in 2005 to create a permanent exhibit on the history of the congregation called “Beth Israel in Three Centuries” and established a room in the library of their Beth Israel’s synagogue building as an archives.
During these years, Schwartz has spent a great deal of time trying to persuade congregants and staff of the importance of their own history, through regime changes of clergy, staff and lay leaders. He has organized the archives and on an ongoing basis, preserves and incorporates new materials. He has overcome some obstacles, such as having to buy back copies of early minutes which were given away to a national Jewish archives and minutes that were taken to someone’s home many years ago and lost to a fire.
Since 2008 he has been the go-to person for the congregation’s 150th Anniversary year, 2012, participating in the compilation of a revised history of the congregation. As part of a history writing committee made-up of non-historians, he contributed whatever advice was accepted. He also researched and updated his 1996 history, including several in-depth pieces. Stan then reviewed the entire project for accuracy. Of course, so did many other people, who each had their own ideas about what should be included, wanting proof positive of pertinent facts, all of which Stan provided.
The Jewish Historical Society of San Diego Archives, established by Stan and Laurel Schwartz in 1999, is located at the Love Library at San Diego State University, in conjunction with the Jewish Studies Program there. Over 60 collections are preserved and catalogued by members of the society. Those collections will document the history of the San Diego Jewish community, from the past into the future.
In October 2011 Stan spoke about the early history of the Congregation Beth Israel at the Temple in Old Town and over the past year he has been writing a monthly column for the synagogue newsletter about its history and personalities. He is continuously called upon to assist clergy and board members with facts and documents for programs, speeches, and media.
He was recently contacted by KPBS for a possible radio or TV program about the congregation’s 150th Anniversary, for which he has provided documents toward preparing a script.
“There is a rich Jewish history in this community,” said Halmay, “and Stan is determined to document and share as much of it as he can. We honor him today for this commitment to history.”
Some of the previous recipients of the Award of Distinction include: the State Sen. Lucy Killea, U.S. Rep. Lionel Van Deerlin, historian Richard Amero, State Sen/ Jim Mills, author/journalist Neil Morgan, and the late Henry Schwartz, founder of the Jewish Historical Society of San Diego (no relation to Stan).
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Preceding provided by the Congress of History