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Hally and I meet one recent summer morning at the Tatte around the corner from the Capital Jewish Museum. We chat about the museum’s newest special exhibition, grad school as a natural response to economic upheaval, how Hally found her footing in the DMV, the process of seeking and analyzing LGBTQ+ history, and why the British monarchy is welcome at Hally’s Shabbat table.
Photo by Chris Ferenzi Photography.
Samuel: What brought you to the DMV?
Hally: I’m originally from New York. I was teaching in Manhattan, the pandemic hit, and I didn’t want to teach anymore. Because of the pandemic, nobody was hiring, so I was like: I guess now’s the time to go to grad school! I got into the GW Museum Studies Masters program, and that started in January 2021.
Samuel: What kept you here after you graduated?
Hally: While I was in grad school, I interned at the Capital Jewish Museum, before it even opened. That was really amazing. I had one last semester of grad school, and was trying to figure out what I was going to do next, and then got a job at the Capital Jewish Museum.
I developed a good group of friends and started dating my girlfriend, who is also in the museum world. I really feel like I found my footing.
Samuel: What’s your Jewish community like?
Hally: Pretty much as soon as I got [to DC], I’ve been working at a Jewish museum. Because that’s my work, I don’t feel like I need to belong to a synagogue, and I don’t go to services a lot. But I have a big group of friends, and some of us are Jewish and some aren’t. We always do Rosh Hashanah and Passover and Hanukkah [together]. Like, one of my friends who is not Jewish was the one this year who was like “What are we doing for Rosh Hashanah? I need it on the books. I need to have that babka again.” So it is less of a religious aspect, and more doing things with my friends and being part of the community through work.
Samuel: What is your role at the Capital Jewish Museum?
Hally: I’m the Education Coordinator – I’m in charge of adult group tours and volunteers. Recently, my role has been helping to write the tour script for the guides to give tours of the special exhibition, LGBTJews in the Federal City. It’s been a really interesting process since it’s such a deep and powerful story. You don’t want to be like: Here’s a fun fact, here’s a fun fact, here’s a fun fact. How are you getting the themes across? How are you reminding people that this matters?
In the tour introduction, I ask: Why do you think it’s important to tell Jewish LGBTQ+ history? We encourage visitors to think about how it affects their own lives and to put themselves in the story, whether they’re Jewish or LGBTQ+ or not.
Samuel: Where does that connection to Jewish community you mentioned feel most alive for you at work?
Hally: It’s when I’m talking to visitors. At the end of the day, it is my job, and sometimes I get into the routine and I don’t think about it so much. But then I’m talking to people who have never seen a museum that represents the Jewish community in this way, or they’re tearing up in the historic sanctuary because they’re moved by the history, or they’re telling me about how they couldn’t believe that their Jewishness and Queerness could be incorporated into one thing. It reminds me that the work I’m doing matters, and that’s when I feel that extra connection.
Samuel: You recently opened a new exhibit, LGBTJews in the Federal City. What’s the process like for opening an exhibit like this?
Hally: This has been in the process for a really long time. When our Collections Curator, Jonathan Edelman, was first an intern back in 2020, he saw that there were no artifacts in the collection that were there because of LGBTQ+ history. He was looking around DC, which has this vibrant Queer life, so obviously it’s not that those artifacts don’t exist, it just hasn’t been collected. We started reaching out to different Jewish, Queer groups to start the collecting effort, and Bet Mishpachah donated their archives to us. We now have over 500 LGBTQ+ artifacts! While Jonathan was collecting, our Curator, Dr. Sarah Leavitt, was weaving the collection into the story you see in the exhibition.
Samuel: What’s the time span of the artifacts?
Hally: About 100 years. Some of the exhibition talks about the 1890s to 1910s, where there isn’t a lot of evidence because people hid it, or it was erased, or for different reasons. A lot of it is thinking: we know we were there, but how do we fill it in? Like, there’s this gay Christian man who wrote in the 1920s about his experiences, and wrote that he saw Jewish men. So, we know they were there, but that’s all we got. Once you get into a later period, like by the 1930s and 1950s, that’s where we have more documentation.
Samuel: What’s your favorite habit of tour groups? Least favorite?
Hally: I’m not going to incriminate myself. My favorite thing is when they’re willing to talk and answer questions and discuss. You get a lot of tours where they don’t know each other, or they’re all coworkers, and so they don’t want to say too much. I like when they’re asking questions and we can have really substantive conversations.
Samuel: Do you have a dream museum job that you feel like you’re working towards down the line?
Hally: It’s funny you say that, because as a person, I don’t dream that far in advance about these things. I’m very much like: We’ll see what happens. I’m having fun. But also, as a Queer Jewish woman, right now with this special exhibition, being able to blend those two identities…What else would be like this? I feel like this is the dream already.
Samuel: Do you have a favorite part of the special exhibition?
Hally: We have a costume from a drag queen, Ester Goldberg, from the early 2000s. She was a big fixture on the scene locally. You walk around a corner and you see the costume in this spotlight and you’re like: Oh my God, what is that? And it really draws you into that section, filled with joy, connection, and community. I love everything in there. So many people think: Oh, you’re gay, life is going to be so much harder for you. Like, maybe! But there’s also so much joy and community that you wouldn’t have had otherwise. For me personally, if I could have chosen, I would choose to be gay all over again. The struggles are worth it to me, and so it’s important that we have that section.
Samuel: A couple quick ones to close. You can have any three people over for Shabbat dinner. Who are you bringing?
Hally: Queen Elizabeth I. I’m really fascinated by her. I have a whole side interest in the history of the British monarchy. I can name every king and queen in order since 1400. I love the personal stories. Anyway, Queen Elizabeth is really fascinating, and there’s so many decisions she made where I’m like: What were you thinking?
Then, Ruth. I’d want to know what Judaism was like for her. Would she even know what Shabbat is? The practice is so different, pre- and post-Temple.
And, finally, I’d invite Emma Lazarus. Everyone knows her as the Jewish poet from the Statue of Liberty, but…there is some evidence she might have been gay! She wrote some Queer poetry, and never married. She died very young, and her family members sanitized her image afterwards, so I’d love to meet her and learn more about her experience!
Samuel: Last one. Finish the sentence: When Jews of the DMV gather…
Hally: It’s a party.
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