2018 Gerald Westheimer Career Development Fellows

Mirjam Thulin

Mirjam Thulin’s fellowship will support the research and writing of her second book, “Economy, Kinship, and Jewish Politics: The History of the Wertheimer Family, c. 1650–1900.”

“Connected through a strong family network and broad banking and trading business connections, the Wertheimer family of Habsburg court factors publicly expressed its Jewishness in shtadlanut (Jewish intercession) and tzedakah (charity), early modern predecessor practices of modern concepts like diplomacy and welfare. My research project traces the development of these crucial aspects of early modern and modern Jewish history through four generations of the Wertheimer family, beginning with its founder, Samson Wertheimer (1658–1724).”

Jason Lustig

Jason Lustig’s fellowship will support the research and revision of his book manuscript tentatively titled, “A Time to Gather: Archives and the Control of Jewish Culture.”

“This manuscript presents for the first time a systematic history of the development of Jewish archives and archiving in modern times, with an emphasis on Germany, the United States, and Israel/Palestine. Beginning with the Gesamtarchiv der deutschen Juden, founded in Berlin in 1905, and concluding with the Center for Jewish History, formed in 1996 in New York City, it traces a feverish era of collecting—and conflict—in which archive-making was a mechanism for communities to express their cultural leadership and legitimacy.”