The Breman Museum to Host Rich's Exhibition
Atlanta, GA. The Pink
Pig. Fashionata. The Magnolia Room. The Great Tree. Legendary Customer Service.
All of these terms evoke Atlanta’s most beloved department store. Founded M.
Rich Dry Goods in 1867, Rich’s grew into one of the most influential
institutions in Atlanta’s history before it was finally absorbed into Macy’s on
March 6, 2005. The Rich’s story illustrates Atlanta’s and the South’s
commercial, political, cultural, and architectural development, evidenced by a
1949 Saturday Evening Post article entitled
“The Store that Married a City.” The William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum will
unveil a major exhibition on Rich’s in the fall of 2013. Dr. Catherine Lewis, a
noted area curator and historian, has been invited to serve as guest curator,
and the exhibition will occupy the museum’s Schwartz and Blonder Galleries.
“The Rich’s exhibition is going to be our signature
exhibition for 2013,” explained Breman Executive Director Aaron Berger. “What
begins as a story of Jewish immigration from Hungary becomes a great tale of
American entrepreneurship and innovation. We are especially excited to have Dr.
Lewis on board.”
Rich’s love affair with Atlanta was not unique to this
city or to the South. Such relationships
were repeated across the United States at Jewish-owned department stores such
as Hutzler’s in Baltimore, Halle Brothers in Cleveland, Pizitz’s in Birmingham,
Lazarus’s in Columbus, Neiman Marcus in Dallas, and Macy’s in New York. Each of
these stores evolved from modest beginnings to become palaces of
commerce—places to shop, enjoy lunch, and escape the monotony of everyday life
into a world of fashion and beauty.
“So many Atlantans and customers throughout the Southeast
have fond memories of Rich’s, and we hope that this exhibition will generate
nostalgia and happy memories,” explained Dr. Catherine Lewis. “We also hope it
will tell little known stories that reflect some of the most turbulent moments
in Atlanta’s history—the economic crises involving school teachers’ pay and
falling cotton prices, the Winecoff fire, the Orly crash in Paris, and student
sit-ins that propelled Rich’s onto the front page of national newspapers as the
battle for Civil Rights raged.”
The history of department stores in the United States
reflects the experience of Jewish immigrants who rose from foot and cart
peddlers to become, in some cases, the owners of the store chains in the
country. Rich’s, much like other stores
throughout the United States, became an iconic symbol of this community. A visit to Atlanta meant a visit to Rich’s. The
store and city were often united in a common purpose. What was good for Rich’s was also good for
Atlanta. And what was good for Atlanta was also good for Rich’s.
The Rich’s exhibition will feature a number of
interactive elements and will draw upon collections from the Atlanta History
Center, Coca-Cola, Georgia State, the Rich Foundation, and the Breman’s Cuba
Family Archives. To encourage community participation in the exhibition, the
Breman will host several focus groups for longtime employees and customers. If
you would like to support the museum or exhibition, contribute artifacts, or
share a story, contact the museum by email at richs@thebreman.org .
The Breman, Atlanta’s Jewish museum,
offers its visitors a wealth of experience spanning Jewish Arts, History, and
Identity. The Breman Museum is home to exhibition galleries, the Weinberg
Center for Holocaust Education and the Cuba Family Archives for Southern Jewish
History. The Weinberg Center informs visitors from every religious and cultural
background on the history of the Holocaust through the personal stories of
survivors now living in Atlanta. These personal testimonies, both in film and
in person, teach visitors about the universal themes of human dignity,
diversity and the responsibility we have as human beings to prevent genocide.
The Cuba Family Archives, the largest repository of southern Jewish history,
houses collections of documents, photographs, artifacts, and oral histories all
pertaining to Jewish life in Georgia and Alabama. These collections, as well as
our Library, are accessible to students, teachers, researchers, history
aficionados and home genealogists alike. In addition to the permanent galleries
devoted to the Weinberg Center and the Cuba Family Archives, The Breman also
has a special exhibitions gallery which presents various exhibitions pertinent
to the museum’s mission.
