Événement

Synagogues of New York: History, Architecture, and Community

In recognition of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of New York City's Landmarks law and the Landmarks Preservation Board, architectural historian and preservationist Dr. Samuel D. Gruber will trace the rich and varied architectural history of New York synagogues emphasizing remarkable buildings that have been lost, those that have been lovingly restored, and a significant number of noteworthy buildings that could and should be preserved. Some of the most notable of these buildings have been recognized as New York City Landmarks and others are included in recognized Historic Districts. Throughout this richly illustrated lecture Dr. Gruber will introduce the necessary features that define all synagogues and the special features, including changing architectural styles and building configurations that are quintessentially New York.

Samuel D. Gruber is an architectural historian and internationally recognized expert on Jewish art and the historic preservation of Jewish sites and monuments. He is director of Gruber Heritage Global and, since 1994, lecturer in Jewish Studies at Syracuse University. Gruber received his BA in Medieval Studies from Princeton University, his Ph.D. in Art and Architectural History from Columbia University, and he is a Fellow of the American Academy of Rome, where he won the prestigious Rome Prize in Art History. He was founding director of the Jewish Heritage Program of World Monuments Fund from 1989-1995, has consulted on cultural heritage projects for numerous organizations and institutions, and served as Research Director of the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad from 1998 through 2008, for which he organized more than dozen country-wide surveys of historic Jewish and other ethnic and religious minority sites in Central and Eastern Europe.

Gruber is author of American Synagogues: A Century of Architecture and Jewish Community (2003) and Synagogues (1999) and numerous published reports and articles. He is presently at work on two books, one on the Architecture of American Synagogues and the other on the Archaeology of Judaism. Gruber is president of the not-for-profit International Survey of Jewish Monuments and writes the blog Samuel Gruber's Jewish Art and Monuments.

This program is held in conjunction with the American Jewish Historical Society, American Sephardi Federation, Yeshiva University Museum, and the Center for Jewish History.