“Communities are constantly changing - what the institutions look like and what businesses look like - and for those communities to be able to see and connect with something that isn't there anymore, it’s obviously very important to them,” says Webber. The most popular item with the crowd was a large sign from recently shuttered Jewish grocery store Belden’s, a beloved fixture of Meyerland. Webber recalls one woman brought to tears when - looking through yearbooks that Webber and Furman brought - she saw several photos of her family. In early 2020, Webber joined Furman at Congregation Beth Israel on the Jewish Day of Learning, Yom Limmud, where they hosted a booth for the archive and presented materials for visitors to observe. Webber has seen the impact of preserving Houston’s Jewish heritage firsthand while out in the community. “Preserving those things, especially in the face of knowing that a lot of it would otherwise be destroyed because of all these environmental concerns, is really important,” Webber says. For Webber, experiencing Harvey was the turning point at which she considered herself a Houstonian, and working at the Houston Jewish History Archive has been an avenue for helping the community confront and rebuild from disaster. The importance of preserving the history of the Houston Jewish community was highlighted after Hurricane Harvey devastated the city in 2017, flooding many synagogues, community centers and private homes. It's important to remember where Jewish people fit in outside those normative or stereotypical places.” as a whole, maybe you only think of New York City. “When you think of Houston, you maybe don't think of Jewish people, or if you think of Jewish people in the U.S. population and Houston population,” says Webber. “Jewish people make up a tiny percentage of the U.S. In line with Furman’s mission to expand and enrich the body of resources on local Jewish culture, Webber stresses the importance of considering minority faith-based cultures which often disappear in hegemonic historical narratives. ![]() Though very different in terms of material work, both nonprofit and archival involvement involve an awareness and appreciation of interfaith relations, Webber says. When she is not processing materials at the archive, Webber works at two local environmentally focused faith-based nonprofits. ![]() After graduating with a double major in Religion and Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies and minor in Jewish Studies, Webber was asked by Joshua Furman, curator and founder of the archive, to return as a part-time project archivist to resume the important work of curating the ever-expanding collection. During her senior year at Rice, Katie Webber (Martel College ’19) was among the first group of students to intern in the Houston Jewish History Archive, a collection of historical materials related to and sourced from the Jewish communities in and around Houston.
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