judaism (Other Keyword)
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During the summer of 2014, a group of archaeologists, volunteers, and students excavated at a former house site at Strawbery Banke Museum in Portsmouth, NH. Archaeological excavation was undertaken with the goal of locating a mikveh (Jewish ritual bath) in the basement. Physical evidence of this important component of Jewish community life and ethnic identity was undocumented, and the only proof of its existence was from oral histories. A former resident of the house still living in Portsmouth...
Living Waters, Living History: Investigating a 20th Century Mikveh at Puddle Dock (2015)
Over the summer of 2014, Strawbery Banke Museum archaeologists and students excavated at a house site, which oral history suggested was the location of an early 20th century mikveh (Jewish ritual bath). Research found that the house was once owned by the Portsmouth, NH Hebrew Ladies’ Society, who later sold the house to Temple Israel, just a few blocks away. By 1935, the mikveh was no longer in use. This presentation explores the history of Portsmouth’s Jewish immigrant community, who...