Lily’s Legacy has drawn to a close with the London Metropolitan Archives (LMA) proudly accepting its archive collection.

The project, which is supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, documents Liberal Judaism’s radical history, inspired by founder Lily Montagu.

A core team of volunteers, led by former Rainbow Pilgrims project student placement Dr Sally Eales, are now working with LMA senior archivists on finalising the depository.

The collection will be publicly accessible from early 2022 via the archive’s catalogue under the reference LMA/4653/PR/04.

The Lily’s Legacy Project (LLP) was also able to finally run two fantastic events, post-lockdowns, to celebrate the project’s outputs and outcomes.

The Wiener Holocaust Library in London hosted a celebration that saw the launch of the Lily’s Legacy Voices and Visions touring exhibition and booklet. To ensure everyone’s safety, numbers were strictly limited but the 30+ invitees, most of them project participants, enjoyed viewing the exhibition and schmoozing at the drinks reception.

The evening was moderated by Liberal Judaism CEO Rabbi Charley Baginsky. She was joined by her predecessor Rabbi Danny Rich, Liberal Judaism Chair Ruth Seager and Lily’s Legacy’s Exhibition Curator Rabbi Dr Miri Lawrence.

Ruth said: “This project has created a rich archive of first-hand information about 120 years of Liberal Judaism, which will be available to future generations of Jews and non-Jews for whatever research purposes they may have. I see the work of Lily’s Legacy to be a true mitzvah. Lily would have been really proud of us!”

Other speakers and guests included the Mayor of Camden Cllr Sabrina Francis (pictured above) and representatives from the Board of Deputies of British Jews and National Lottery Heritage Fund. A second event saw the Jewish Museum London host a Faith & Community Heritage Learning Day.

Due to venue Covid 19 restrictions, in-person attendance in the museum’s education room was again strictly limited.

However, thanks to project contributor and videographer Mike Beral, live streaming enabled guests to participate from home. Both in-person and online delegates enjoyed an exciting and diverse line-up of Liberal Judaism stakeholders such as Liberal Judaism Archivist Alison Turner and Rabbi Jackie Tabick, as well as academics and community heritage practitioners from the Jewish Small Communities Network, Wiener Holocaust Library and AJR Refugee Voices Archive.

Lily’s Legacy Celebration event

For those who missed out, event recordings are available on Liberal Judaism’s YouTube channel.

Reflecting on the success of the project and the two events, Lily’s Legacy Heritage Project Manager Shaan Knan said: “I am so incredibly proud of what we have achieved together and how resilient our team has been throughout these pandemic times.

“Despite all these challenges, we have created an accessible trove of British history and heritage that is now safeguarded for future generations.”

Lily’s Legacy will continue to live on in various ways including an Education Toolkit for schools/chederim and a permanent online exhibition – featuring visual oral histories, audio recordings and a gallery of memorabilia and materials – at www.lilyslegacyproject.com.

A #PitchUp residency at the Jewish Museum London begins in January 2022, and will run for a minimum of three months, with various LLP memorabilia and project outputs on display in the museum’s community space foyer.

Shaan added: “Feedback from various project stakeholders revealed a strong desire for our heritage and history work to continue. Plenty of ideas are in the pipeline and we are planning something exciting for the Day of Celebration 2022. “The Legacy shall go on!’

• Liberal Judaism would like to thank all Lily’s Legacy project contributors and associates for their kind support.

• Pictures by Mary Humphrey