MATC INSTRUCTOR'S DOCUMENTARY TRACES HISTORY OF WISCONSIN JEWISH ENTREPRENEURS
It’s a little-known fact rarely mentioned in history books. Many turn-of-the-century Jewish settlers in the Madison area worked in some kind of scrap metal business.
At 8 p.m. Thursday, June 12, Madison Area Technical College history instructor and author Jonathan Pollack will show his 20-minute documentary on this unique topic at Indie Coffee, 1225 Regent St., Madison.
Pollack also is writing a history of Madison’s Jewish community. He says the documentary allows him to present his research in ways that go beyond writing and talking about it.
"It’s about the ways Jewish entrepreneurs in the scrap business formed networks that extended across the country and around the world," says Pollack. “It traces the history of two Jewish families who ran scrap yards in Southern Wisconsin and how these families contributed to Jewish life in the area.”
Pollack says at the time, the scrap business had a stigma connected to it, but he says it continues to be a vital part of industry even today.
MATC provides "real world smart" education as one of 16 colleges in the Wisconsin Technical College System. It serves 12 south-central Wisconsin counties through a comprehensive curriculum of technical, liberal arts and science, adult basic education and life enrichment studies and activities, as well as customized employee training. MATC offers associate degrees, vocational diplomas and certificates and non-degree courses in more than 140 programs through five campuses and numerous community locations.
