Image courtesy of the Historic New Orleans Collection.
The Southern Jewish Historical Society will hold its 49th Annual Conference in New Orleans from October 17-19, 2025. To view the conference program and for information on how to register, book your hotel room, and sign up for the optional pre-conference day trip (space permitting), visit the New Orleans SJHS Conference Page.
CALL FOR PAPERS
“New Orleans: Tradition, Resilience, and Reinvention”
49th Annual Conference of the Southern Jewish Historical Society
October 17–19, 2025
New Orleans, Louisiana
The Southern Jewish Historical Society invites proposals for its 49th annual conference, to be held in New Orleans on October 17–19, 2025, in partnership with Tulane University’s Stuart and Suzanne Grant Center for the American Jewish Experience. The conference will take place at two historic synagogues along iconic St. Charles Avenue: Touro Synagogue (Friday and Sunday) and Temple Sinai (Saturday).
New Orleans has long been a vital center of southern Jewish life. Jewish merchants became integral to the city’s commercial landscape by the mid-19th century. Their presence helped shape New Orleans into a major port city, connecting the continental interior with the Caribbean and Europe while also intertwining the Jewish experience with the city’s history of slavery and racism. Over time, Jews have contributed to the unique cultural character of the “Big Easy,” including its tourism, music, cuisine, art, and festivals. Today, the Jewish community remains a dynamic part of the city’s fabric, sustaining vibrant congregations and cultural organizations.
This year’s conference marks the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, a disaster that profoundly impacted New Orleans and its Jewish community. Like other residents, Jews were forced to flee the city. While nearly a third permanently relocated after the disaster, those who returned forged stronger community bonds through local and national Jewish networks. The experience transformed the community’s self-understanding and its relationship to the broader culture of New Orleans. Jewish New Orleans has continued to grow and reinvent itself, punctuated by the landmark opening of the Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience in 2021.
We welcome proposals for panels, individual papers, roundtables, and lightning sessions that explore the Jewish history of New Orleans as well as broader themes of southern Jewish life that the city illuminates. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
- Music, food, and culture
- Regional definitions: What is the South?
- Commerce, enterprise, and capitalism
- Political organization and philanthropy
- Immigration, networks, and transnational ties
- Gender, sexuality, and identity fluidity
- Slavery, race relations, and white supremacy
- Climate and environmental studies
The proposal deadline is April 1, 2025. Graduate students, independent scholars, fiction writers, and artists are encouraged to apply. (A limited number of travel grants may be available for graduate students and independent scholars.) Please submit proposals at the following link: bit.ly/SJHS25. For questions or more information, contact Jacob Morrow-Spitzer, conference program chair, at jacob.morrow-spitzer@yale.edu.