Skip to content

The Whole Spiel

Blog Filters

Collection

Elliot Sivowitch playing the violin in his apartment on Mass. Ave., NW, 1968.

The Whole Spiel

Recent Acquisition: The Sivowitch Collection 

Elliot Norman Sivowitch (1932-2012) grew up in New York, where his father was a cantor and his mother worked at… (Read more)

Voting Rights section of Tikkun Olam portion of Connect. Reflect. Act., Summer 2023. Courtesy of the Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum.

The Whole Spiel

Happy 50th, Home Rule! 

Let’s get this out of the way first: I live in Maryland. I also vote in Maryland, and I am… (Read more)

"Screw the Patriarchy" corkscrew given to members of Congress by members of National Council of Jewish Women lobbying on The Hill, 2020. Capital Jewish Museum Collection. Gift of National Council of Jewish Women.

The Whole Spiel

Claiming Space for Women 

Happy Women’s History Month! Designated in 1987, this “holiday” is even younger than the former Jewish Historical Society of Greater… (Read more)

Tribute to Avrum Ashery in the exhibition "If It's Jewish We Have It: Selections from the Collections," February 2024.

The Whole Spiel

In Memoriam: Avrum Ashery

Avrum Ashery (1944-2023) was a graphic artist who designed many familiar logos for the Jewish community, locally and nationwide. Born… (Read more)

Color photograph of the interior of Katz’s Kosher Supermarket at 20 University Blvd East, July 1970. Capital Jewish Museum Collection. Gift of Alex Mates.

The Whole Spiel

The Story of Katz’s Kosher Supermarket

Thanks to a very special NEW additional match challenge from board member Gene Sofer and his wife Judith Bartnoff, all… (Read more)

Doll portraying Golda Meir, created as one of the “Dolls for Democracy” series by B’nai B’rith Women. / Capital Jewish Museum Collection. Gift of Jewish Women International.

The Whole Spiel

Ordinary Barbie

“What about Ordinary Barbie? She’s not extraordinary. She’s not president of anything.” (–Gloria, to Mattel executives, Barbie: The Movie) Welcome… (Read more)

Employees of Gichner Iron Works gathered in front of the building at 1214-1216 D Street NW. / Capital Jewish Museum collection 2015.27.01. Gift of Nancy Colodny.

The Whole Spiel

Gichner Iron Works

This past February, I started digging into the history of Maryland iron furnaces, a quest that has led us into… (Read more)

Isadore Gimble inside Congress Food Market at 5ht and E. Capitol Streets, NE reading The Jewish Daily Forward newspaper in Yiddish, 1953. / Capital Jewish Museum Collection. Photograph by Gilbert Gimble, Gift of Josephine Gimble.

The Whole Spiel

Food for Thought: Congress Food Market

Congress Food Market at 5th and East Capital Streets, NE, was owned by the Gimble family, one of many small… (Read more)

Color photo (detail) of Sidney Drazin in front of Comet Liquor Store at 1815 Columbia Road, NW c. 1990s. / Capital Jewish Museum Collection, Bernice Drazin.

The Whole Spiel

Food for Thought: The Lost Souls of Comet Liquor

Comet Liquor was opened by Oscar Gildenhorn at 18th And Columbia Rd, NW in 1940 and became an institution in… (Read more)

Nettie Ottenberg as pictured on the program for the 1913 Suffrage Procession, Washington DC, March 1913. / Capital Jewish Museum collection, Gift of Rachel and Louis Ottenberg, Jr.

The Whole Spiel

Time is Running Out

If you’ve checked your email lately, and if you’ve ever given money to a political party or a candidate, you’ve… (Read more)