Jews of Greater Miami

Miami was among Florida's last communities to develop a Jewish population. Since the late 1800s, the area that was once just a settlement of frontiersmen has grown to become the core of the nation's third-largest Jewish community. Jews were prominent in business when Miami was chartered in 1896 and began settling in Miami Beach as early as 1913. Though faced with hardship and public discrimination, the immigrant group continued to expand its presence. Images of America: Jews of Greater Miami contains photographs from family albums that are part of the archives of the Jewish Museum of Florida. Each historic photograph tells a story and documents the area's pioneer Jews, the diverse ways they contributed to the development of their community, and the doors they opened for the acceptance of all ethnicities.

Author Marcia Jo Zerivitz is the founding executive director and chief curator of the Jewish Museum of Florida, creating the American Association of Museums-accredited museum from a synagogue in 1995. The museum's South Beach neighborhood was formerly the Jewish ghetto. Zerivitz--who originated the museum's archival collection, which includes material evidence of 250 years of the Florida Jewish experience--lectures and continues to research this subject in the context of American Jewish history.