Travel back through time at the striking National Museum of American Jewish History on Independence Mall in Philadelphia to better appreciate the harrowing—yet inspiring—story of Jewish journeys to America from the late 1800s through the last century.

Join other Penn Staters and Penn State Associate Professor Tobias Brinkmann on May 3 as he discusses the journeys and the subsequent improvements in transportation and migration procedures during the heyday of Ellis Island, as the United States garnered its legacy as a safe haven for the oppressed. Brinkmann’s talk will be preceded by a reception where Penn Staters can mix and mingle.

Following an hour-long presentation, attendees will have the opportunity to take part in docent-led tours of the museum’s dynamic core exhibition, which covers 25,000 square feet of space, occupies three and a half floors and includes state-of-the-art interactive media. The core exhibition highlights the histories, traditions and experiences of Jews who arrived over a 350-year period to create a home in America. The museum, established in 1976, is the only one in the United States dedicated to the American Jewish experience, and it holds the largest collection of Jewish Americana in the world with more than 25,000 objects.

The program’s cost on May 3 is $25 for Alumni Association members and $40 for non-members. To register, click here.

Brinkmann is the Malvin and Lea Bank Associate Professor of Jewish Studies and History at Penn State. Previously, he was the John F. Kennedy Memorial Fellow at the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies at Harvard University from 2007 to 2008. Brinkmann teaches courses in American immigration and ethnic history, modern Jewish history since 1492, European migrations, and diaspora. He is currently working on a study about Jewish migration from Eastern Europe between 1860 and 1950.

The “Jewish Journeys to America” event is co-sponsored by the Penn State Alumni Association, Penn State Abington and Penn State Hillel. Additional partner groups are the Alumni Admissions Volunteer Program; Binghamton (N.Y.) Chapter; Chester County (Pa.) Chapter; College of the Liberal Arts Alumni Society; Penn State Hazleton Alumni Society; and Penn State Harrisburg Alumni Society.

Three additional City Lights events this season are scheduled for New York City, Altoona, Pa. and Erie, Pa. View the schedule.