Culture, cuisine, and comedy came together to form an intricate network of hotels, bungalow colonies, and resorts throughout New York’s Catskill Mountains. With a strong Jewish lineage, the Borscht Belt came to be known as a distinctly American story—one represented by a diverse clientele that journeyed to the mountains in search of fellowship, basking under the warmth of the summer sun. Now, with the remaining hotel structures vanishing one by one, it is through these remaining artifacts, such as matchbooks, silverware, menus, and even architectural details, that this story can be shared. The lecture employs these relics to share with visitors the complete and complicated story of the Borscht Belt—one that extends before the Civil War and reveals the many industries, as well as individuals, that made it successful.
Presented live and in-person by Alex Prizgintas.
A historian, musician, and lecturer who focuses on the neglected history of the Catskills and Hudson Valley region, Alex Prizgintas serves as president of the Woodbury Historical Society in Orange County, New York, and has been published in the Hudson River Valley Review and the New York Archives Magazine. A preservationist, Alex stewards the Richard L. Benjamin Collection of Borscht Belt Tourism History, which contains hundreds of documents, postcards, and ephemera from the Borscht Belt era. Many of these items will be brought to the lecture for attendees to view live.
Free and open to all.
Warner Library 