JHSE Awards Report 2024/2025

It is pleasing to see the impact of last year’s award winners, including, amongst many outstanding projects, the publication of Nudrat Afza’s powerful photographs of Bradford Jewry, Kehillah, which has featured at Bradford’s City of Culture celebrations, and the Historic Towns Trust map of Jewish Ipswich which is now being widely distributed. It is also pleasing to report that the JHSE oral history project, documenting those who contributed so generously to it, is ongoing with three interviews carried out and two more (from the New Generation Group) scheduled.

This year the Awards Committee recommended eight projects for support that have been confirmed by the Trustees. Two of these will win the David Hyman Prize for work on maritime Jewish communities – a project adding to the extensive Liverpool Jewish database by Philip Sapiro and another community based project on the stained glass windows of Middle Street, Brighton, led by Michelle Ginsburg.

The other six awards include help towards exceptional research trips for two PhD students – Isabelle Murray who is working on the ‘Wandering Jew Legend’ and Rebecca Harris on Jewish female refugee art in Britain. There are two heritage projects that will be supported – Dean Irwin’s medieval Lincoln Jewish walking tour and Hester Abrams of the Willesden Cemetery project who is writing a book based on the remarkable figures buried there. Finally we are supporting the research of two independent scholars – Richard Schofield on the Leon Balk, a Lithuanian Jewish origin photographer, and Micheline Stevens on a grassroots history of the Jewish Education Aid Society.

The awards total £12,309.39 (including £3,402 for the David Hyman Prizes which are funded through the generous bequest given to the JHSE).

I would like to thank my fellow members of the Awards Sub-Committee: Professor Joanna Newman, SOAS); Professor Michael Berkowitz (UCL); Professor Andrea Schatz (Kings, London) and Professor Adam Sutcliffe (Kings, London) for their careful work in selecting the successful applicants.

Professor Tony Kushner, convenor of the JHSE Awards Sub-Committee and JHSE trustee.