Six years in the making, Synagogues of the South: Architecture and Jewish Identity is now online! Authored by architectural historian Samuel D. Gruber, the exhibition explores the lost history of synagogues in the American South through the lens of dozens of postcards from the fabulous William A. Rosenthall Collection at the College of Charleston. Arranged in ten sections by architectural style, the images illustrate Jewish sanctuaries from Maryland to Florida and west to Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas. 

“In religiously and culturally pluralist America,” Gruber declares, “Jewish communities have probably built more types, sizes, forms, and styles of synagogues in two centuries than in the entire history of Jewish synagogue construction.” Produced by the College’s Pearlstine/Lipov Center for Southern Jewish Culture (CSJC) and the Jewish Heritage Collection (JHC), the exhibit captures a significant slice of the built environment of the Jewish South.

“We are proud to unveil this triumph of digital scholarship,” says JHC curator Dale Rosengarten. The CSJC is eager to add images to its database, including synagogues not yet portrayed and alternate views of sanctuaries pictured online. Please use the site’s contact page if you have information to offer.