The public is invited to a talk on “Nazi-Era Looted Art” by Karen Franklin, a genealogist who will share stories of how genealogical research helped her to solve several cases of Nazi-era looted art in the Netherlands, Germany and Ukraine.
She will present examples of artwork she has helped track, giving highlights of her behind-the-scenes sleuthing. This program will take place on Wednesday, March 9, 2011 at 1:30 p.m. at the Derfner Judaica Museum, located in the Jacob Reingold Pavilion at The Hebrew Home at Riverdale, 5901 Palisade Avenue in Riverdale. This event is free and open to the public. Please R.S.V.P. 718-581-1596 or eoleary@hebrewhome.org.
Mrs. Franklin is a guest curator at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York. She is also co-chair of the Board of Governors of JewishGen, a past president of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies and a past chair of the Council of American Jewish Museums. Mrs. Franklin serves on the board of the International Committee of Memorial Museums of the International Council of Museums.
Mrs. Franklin was director of The Judaica Museum at The Hebrew Home at Riverdale for 20 years. She was the only director of a Jewish museum to be elected to the board of the American Association of Museums. She has worked on cases of looted art for the Origins Unknown Agency in the Netherlands, the Commission for Looted Art in Europe and the U.S. Treasury Department.
She is currently working on a project researching rescue activities of the Lehman family in the 1930s and 1940s and a book for Williams College about its earliest Jewish students.
As a member of the American Association of Museums, The Hebrew Home at Riverdale is committed to publicly exhibiting its art collection throughout its 19-acre campus, including the Derfner Judaica Museum and a sculpture garden overlooking the Hudson River and Palisades. The Derfner Judaica Museum + The Art Collection provide educational and cultural programming for residents of the Hebrew Home, their families and the general public from throughout New York City, its surrounding suburbs and visitors from elsewhere. The Home is a nonprofit, non-sectarian geriatric center serving more than 3,000 elderly persons through its resources and community service programs.
