Friedenwald and France: A Connection I Was Not Expecting

A blog post by Exhibitions Intern Sophia Brocenos. To read more posts by interns click HERE.

My work as an exhibitions intern centers around an upcoming exhibit called Beyond Chicken Soup: Jews and Medicine in America. However, I am also preparing to spend nine months studying abroad in Toulouse, France, beginning in September of this year. I’ve been studying French since middle school, so this has been a longstanding interest of mine. This internship is keeping me busy so that I am not constantly worrying about this big change I’ll be encountering come September. But there have already been a few times this summer when a project has reminded me of my upcoming travels to France.

I’ve come across a collection of images that create a connection between France and the Jews & Medicine exhibit. The Friedenwald family was a sort of medical dynasty in Baltimore, with multiple family members succeeding in the medical field. It just so happens that they are featured in the Jews & Medicine exhibit, but there are also images in the collection with France as the subject.

This is a postcard of a statue of Edward Jenner, the pioneer of the smallpox vaccine and often called the father of immunology. He was an English physician, but the statue is in Boulogne Sur Mer, France. This image connected my projects on medical history here at JMM to France, reminding me of what is to come. These seem like random connections, but to me they are much more. They link passions to my present and future experiences, allowing me to enjoy my work here and get excited for the Fall at the same time.

This is just a simple photograph of the Eiffel Tower in 1931, but it is also in the Friedenwald collection. Imagine that you have two passions, but at this point in your life they have remained somewhat separate. And then something happens and you are able to experience the two interests at the same time. This is how I feel. My interests in museums and France can certainly be linked, but I do not often experience their connection unless I am reading a newspaper article or am actually in a French museum. But here they are linked; here I am able to think about them together.

This image is from a different collection, but it highlights an interest as well. It is a photograph of servicemen and servicewomen along with civilians sitting at rows of tables for a Passover seder in a synagogue in Reims, France, in March 1945. This is personally interesting not only because I’ll be traveling in France, but also because I am Jewish. I’m excited for the opportunity to learn about Jewish culture in France, and hopefully I will be able to celebrate Jewish holidays while in France just like the seder in this photo.

Before the summer began, I knew I’d be working on the Jews & Medicine exhibit, but I did not know that a collection used for the exhibit would also connect to my study abroad plans. This has allowed me to recognize both passions, instead of pushing one aside while working on the other.