In the mid 19th Century there was an aesthetic reaction to almost one hundred years of industrial revolution. Whilst the general population was enjoying access to continuing development of affordable products, many were nostalgic for earlier times and crafted products.
As the 20th century progressed, it was other factors that inspired design, many of these factors grew from political movements and accelerating science and technology. My presentation tracks the ideas and causation up until the end of the 1960s but interestingly picks out where the modern world revisited the earlier parts of this design evolution.
In 1998 Amanda Weinberg discovered the magical hillside village of Pitigliano and became fascinated with its Jewish history and culture. She became closely connected to the village and its inhabitants, bought a home there and was inspired to write the novel ‘The Tears of Monterini” based on true events during the fascist era of Mussolini.
After University, having qualified as a social worker, Norma worked for the Borough of Camden at the start of a varied and high-achieving career in social services, encompassing public, private and charity sectors. Norma was also a magistrate for 10 years in the criminal courts and a Chair at the Family Courts until 2019.
Recognition was bestowed in 2013 with the honour of an OBE for services to children and people with learning disabilities.
A major part of Norma’s career spanning 30 years has been her association with Norwood Ravenswood, initially through caring for her daughter born with severe disabilities, which led to a role at the Jewish Society for Mentally Handicapped Children. JSMHC was absorbed into Ravenswood, where Norma became Executive Director and oversaw the merging of the services between Ravenswood and Norwood – where, incidentally, her husband, Sam, was CEO!
Norwood went on to employ 1,100 staff, over 1,000 volunteers and supported around 5,000 people with services. Her Majesty, The Queen remains the Patron.
While Norwood CEO, Norma chaired the national disability charities group, and was a member of the Government’s Learning Disability Advisory Group – the sponsor of the White Papers for new legislation to establish the rights of those with learning disabilities; eventually leading to the closure of the long-stay hospitals where so many had lived in extremely poor conditions. In 2001, following the Bristol Inquiry, concerning the treatment of children with learning disabilities, Norma was appointed as a member of an Independent Inquiry to consider the concerns of families, and the Down’s Syndrome Association, about pediatric cardiac services at the Royal Brompton and Harefield Hospitals. This Inquiry led to a major report and over 60 recommendations, all of which were accepted and adopted.
Now fully retired from paid work, Norma is the Vice Chairman of St. Luke’s Hospice.
In a personal capacity, Norma enjoys walking, reading, and spending time with her son, Jeremy, his wife Louisa and her 3 gorgeous grandchildren. They have all recently moved to Stanmore, around the corner from Mosaic’s new Synagogue building. It will be great to see new and younger members joining the Mosaic community and getting involved in its future!
Edwin was introduced to alcohol by a friend of his mother’s who is an emigree from Glasgow ( which is the home of the famous Scottish drink and we are not talking about Irn Bru) to Bushey. His parents were invited to a New Year’s eve party in 1960. All the adults were given a New Year’s gift and Edwin was given this little memento on their return home. He has treasured it for 60 years and it has pride of place in his home.
Ampullae are not just from pottery in this century and new formats have been discovered.
Jeremy Joseph retired as a Consultant Ophthalmologist (eye doctor) in the U.K. recently, having worked for the NHS and privately for many years. In 1993 he started undertaking eye expeditions to perform cataract surgery in developing countries. The places he has visited include Brazil, Myanmar, Byelorus, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, Liberia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Haiti, Ecuador, and Bangladesh. This activity has been temporarily halted by the Covid pandemic but he hopes to resume the expeditions soon.
Joyti has had an interesting life with ups and downs. She came from a very conventional North London background and decided to go into the world of office management, where she became a personal assistant for a senior member of the company. She rose to the top and did well. It then went awry and her safe castle at home and in employment fell like a deck of cards. She was married with a son and her life crashed by spending a number of years in prison. Continue reading →
Sharon Liberman Mintz is the Senior Consultant for Judaica and Hebraica at Sotheby’s and specializes in the art of Hebrew illuminated manuscripts and rare printed books. For over 25 years she has appraised and cataloged rare books for Judaica auctions worldwide and has participated in the sales of several outstanding collections of Judaica and Hebraica.  In addition, Ms. Mintz serves as the Curator of Jewish Art at the Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary, New York where she has curated more than 45 exhibitions and co-authored eleven exhibition catalogues focussed on the rare book treasures of the Library.
The Board of Deputies’ Hidden Treasures’ celebrates the archives in Britain that tell the story of Jews in Britain. Over 50 archives, throughout the country, are part of the Hidden Treasures network. They hold material – photographs, documents, audio and video recordings – about Jews in this country, dating from the eleventh century to 2021.
Board of Deputies Archives and Heritage Manager, Dawn Waterman told us more about the project and shared some of her favourite images from the archives.
On Sunday, Ralph Kley revealed his years of collecting – you name it, he has found a place for it in his home.
He recently attended the Morris Collins talks on Eccentric Collections and thought – “hang on a minute I’ve got loads of stuff and promptly went off to produce a book through the decades of ephemera, memorabilia and more.
Memorabilia, Ephemera??? Many (including his long-suffering wife) would call it rubbish…let us know what you think.
Joan Noble helped Ralph reveal his many varied interests and took us on a trip down memory lane.
Danielle read Physics at Oxford University and joined Sema Group, a multinational software company where she worked on operational research and mathematical modelling. She moved to the Training Department, where she introduced goal setting and action planning on all training courses and decided she should practice what she was preaching. In addition to various work-related goals, she set herself the goals of participating in the Krypton Factor on ITV and running the London Marathon.
She discovered an aptitude for running and went on to represent England and Great Britain 21 times including winning the Crete Marathon on her GB debut (see photo!) winning a European bronze medal, finishing 6th in the Commonwealth Games, winning the London to Brighton ultra-marathon and setting a world record for Women’s Masters at 50km. Danielle continued applying the techniques of Action Planning and started her PhD at the age of 50. She graduated three years later and obtained a lectureship at the Bartlett School of Planning, UCL. Danielle has been married to Steven for 35 years, and they have three children, Joseph, Miriam, and Hannah.
A presentation by Philip Silverton:
On Tuesday, Steve Levinson will interviewed Norma Brier, Social Care Services Consultant
On Tuesday Steve Levinson interviewed Joyti Driver.
Highlights of Illuminated Hebrew manuscripts, Magnificent Textiles and Rare Printed Books – Sharon Liberman Mintz
On Sunday, Ralph Kley revealed his years of collecting – you name it, he has found a place for it in his home.
On Tuesday, Danielle Sanderson was by Steve Levinson.
