WELCOME TO THE JEWISH MUSEUM OF FLORIDA 301 & 311 Washington Avenue • Miami Beach • Florida 33139 Phone: 305-672-5044 • Fax: 305-672-5933 Internet: www.jewishmuseum.com Open Tuesdays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed on Mondays, Civil and Jewish Holidays Bessie's Bistro & The Museum Store are Closed on Saturdays

MARCIA JO ZERIVITZ

Marcia Jo Zerivitz, Founding Executive Director of the Jewish Museum of Florida (retired 2011), has been a leader in the organized Florida Jewish community for more than forty years. Originally from West Virginia, she has been a leader in Jewish organizations since elementary school and including Hillel in college. Marcia has broken the “glass ceiling” as the first woman in many positions.

Marcia Jo served on the first women’s UJA Young Leadership Cabinet in 1974 and in 1978-80 as President of the Greater Orlando Jewish Federation, one of the first women nationally to hold this office. Marcia was the first chair of the Florida Association of Jewish Federations Conference in 1979 and has led many missions to Israel, which she continues to do. In addition, Marcia is a former leader for Israel Bonds, congregations, AIPAC, ORT, and Hadassah.

In 1980 Marcia made the transition from volunteer to professional leadership and held many positions in the Jewish community, including as a capital fundraising consultant for Jewish Day Schools, Jewish Federation, Camp Judaea and other community groups. She served as Assoc. Exec. Director of the Greater Orlando Jewish Federation and Capital Campaign Director for that Federation’s campus expansion. She observed from her national Federation work that the Jewish community in Florida had a major challenge facing the “continuity issue” and made the decision to devote her time to collecting and preserving – to pass on to future generations – the stories and material evidence of Jewish life in Florida.

Beginning in 1985, Marcia traveled 250,000 miles around Florida to research and retrieve the state’s Jewish history for the MOSAIC project. Under her direction, this project became the MOSAIC: Jewish Life in Florida exhibit that she traveled to 13 cities from 1990-1994. This exhibit evolved into the statewide museum, which is Accredited by the American Association of Museums, an honor awarded to less than 5% of the nation's museums.

From 1993-95 Marcia guided the restoration of an abandoned 1936 Art Deco building that served as an Orthodox synagogue for fifty years and opened the Jewish Museum of Florida in 1995. She has led the fundraising for more than $30 million and presented more than 50 exhibits in 15 years. Marcia headed the Museum’s expansion program. In 2007 the Museum completed restoration of the first synagogue on Miami Beach (built 1929), an adjacent building acquired as part of the Museum’s purchase of three contiguous properties. In June 2008, the two buildings, on the National Register of Historic Places, were connected by a skylighted bistro.

The Museum collects, preserves and interprets the Jewish experience in Florida since at least 1763, when Jews were first allowed to live in the state. Marcia manages the operations of the Museum and its board and staff and continues to lecture and research Florida Jewish history and its role in American Jewish history. She wrote (with co-author) Florida Jewish Heritage Trail, published by Florida Dept. of State (250 sites in 44 cities with Jewish historical significance). She authored all of the Florida entries for the 2006 Encyclopedia Judaica and her scholarship has been published, including by Brandeis University Press. In 2009, her photodocumentary book, Jews of Greater Miami, was released.

Marcia initiated the legislation for both a Florida Jewish History Month in 2003 (each January) and a Jewish American Heritage Month in 2006 (each May) to increase awareness of the contributions by Jews to the state and nation and takes a leading role in creating the educational resources. She lectures on the topic of Florida Jewish history for Elderhostel and other academic programs.

The Museum and Marcia have received many awards, including recognition as “Outstanding Museum Professional” from the Florida Association of Museums, “2005 Arts Management Excellence Award” from the Dade Cultural Alliance and “2007 Woman of the Year” for her community leadership from the Miami Jewish Home and Hospital for the Aged. Marcia has served on the boards of several Museum organizations, including the Council of American Jewish Museums. She mentors others in the museum field and conducts workshops nationally on collections, non-profit governance and fundraising.

Marcia is married to Elliott Zerivitz and has three grown children (Michael, Marni and Matthew), two granddaughters (Alexandra and Rachael) and a grandson (Benjamin).

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