Oral interview with Nancy Halpern. Interviewed by Samantha Stokell for SLAIS Oral History class.

Nancy's father's family moved to Vancouver in 1906, when her father Norman Brown was less than six months old. She has stories of her own life in the Vancouver Jewish community and those of her grandparents and parents. She was involved in drama and theatre in the Vancouver and Spokane, WA areas, and worked as a librarian in Vancouver. She was also involved in creating the West Vancouver Jewish Community Association.

Nancy mentions her cousin's daughter, Barbara Liskov (née Huberman) from the States, a professor at MIT who was the first woman to graduate in Computer Science in the U.S., and who is a winner of the Turing Award.

Interview with Aaron Devor as part of the BC Jewish Queer & Trans Oral History Project, in collaboration with JQT Vancouver. Aaron shares his experience being both transgender and Jewish in BC. He also discusses his earlier experiences as a lesbian in the Jewish community, prior to transitioning. He experienced both friction and support. Aaron discusses leaving the Jewish community early in life because he felt there was no place for him as a woman. He returned later in life. He talks about same-sex marriage in the Jewish community, and shares stories about his transitioning ceremony. Aaron discusses anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic sentiments in the LGBTQ+ community. He talks about his career in academic, including his current position as chair of transgender studies at UVic.

Oral Interview with Linda Frimer for the JMABC Artists Scribe. Interviewed by Pam Wolfman via remote Zoom call. Linda was born and raised in Wells, BC. She describes her family history within Wells and BC, but also their origins in Eastern Europe. She talks about her family’s livelihoods within Canada, and her marriages and children. She explains early influences for creativity including her and her parents’ love of nature and culture, but also their stories of the Holocaust and loss that were very poignant to her at a young age. Linda discusses her early and mature education, how she has always had the gift of painting which inspired her attending of art school as an adult, and her honorary doctorate from the University of Fraser Valley. Linda talks about her “childlike” fascination with art and nature and how its recognition affirmed her talent for art. She speaks about her early career as a professional painter, how her artistic style is creative rather than belonging to any one genre, and how colour and symbolism are big factors in her pieces. Linda discusses her meaningful collaborations with First Nations artists, her mentorship with Holocaust survivors, and her connection between people and her art. Linda discusses her work in galleries, the Jewish art community in BC, and the relationship between her art and Judaism.