Current and past presidents of TJHS met for Shabbat dinner and services at Congregation Beth Torah in Richardson at the start of the TJHS 45th Annual Gathering. Courtesy: Sheldon Lippman

By Sheldon Lippman

The Texas Jewish Historical Society (TJHS) held its 45th Annual Gathering, April 12-14, 2024, in Richardson, Texas. TJHS collaborated with the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas in developing the presentations for the Annual Gathering.  

Events started on Friday evening, April 12, with a Shabbat dinner and services at Congregation Beth Torah in Richardson. Presentations on Saturday, April 13, were held at the Hilton Richardson Dallas, included ongoing research on Jewish war veterans and liberators at the Ackerman Center with Research Professor Debra Pfister, and graduate student and researcher Marshall Coleman.  

Jo Reingold with the National Jewish War Veterans Auxiliary talked about JWA history. Felicia Williamson spoke about the collections from the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum where she is director of library and archives TJHS board member, and author Hollace Weiner told the story of the Kokoteck sisters who arrived in Fort Worth, Texas from war-torn Germany, and Hy Penn, board member of TJHS and the Houston Holocaust Museum told the harrowing survival stories of his parents and grandmother.  

Ed Stone and Ivan Edelman from Dallas, Texas, representing Tau Delta Phi fraternity, presented TJHS with a generous donation from the fraternity’s alumni to the Rabbi Jimmy Kessler Educational Outreach Fund. Rabbi Kessler was the founder and first TJHS president and a member of the fraternity when attending the University of Texas at Austin.  

Penn once again took center stage as the after-dinner entertainment on Saturday evening where he presented a history of Jewish magicians weaved with his own magic show with audience participation. The Annual Gathering concluded on Sunday morning with a presentation by Nils Roemer, dean of Arts, Humanities, and Technology, and director of the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies at UT Dallas; the State of the Society speech by TJHS President Joan Linares; and the installation of new TJHS officers and board members.  

The newly elected TJHS officers for 2024-2025 are President Joan Linares (Baytown); First Vice-President Susan Novick (El Paso); Second Vice-PresidenJules Frapart (Austin); Third Vice-President Amy Milstein (Frisco); Recording Secretary John Campbell (Austin); Corresponding Secretary Bonnie Cohen (Hutto); Treasurer Ben Rosenberg (Sugar Land); Historian/Archivist Sally Drayer; (Dallas); and Parliamentarian Vickie Vogel (Austin).  

The newly elected Board of Trustees for a two-year term (2024-2026) are Jeff Aresty (Waco), Shana Bauman (Mont Belvieu), Gayle Cannon (Austin), Anita Feigenbaum (College Station), Lynda Furgatch (Brownsville), Michael Furgatch (Brownsville), Sonny Gerber (Houston), Jan Siegel Hart (Temple), Lila Katz (Tyler), Jeff Levine (Cedar Park), Marilyn Lippman (Dallas), Jane Manaster (Dallas), Hy Penn (Houston), Paula Stein (Houston), David Vogel (Austin), Hollace Weiner (Fort Worth), and Joyce Wormser (Pearland).