just last week, I wrote of my love for newspapers. I guess that's what prompted someone to send me word of a wonderful exhjbit at the British Library. It's called "Front Page," and celebrates 100 years of British newspapers. A mini-online version can be found here.

Looking at the website, I was reminded of my visit to the Sydney Jewish Musuem last year.
It's a fantastic small museum, and well worth seeking out if you're ever in Sydney. Two highlights for me: a documentary film about some of the children who were sent to Australia during WW2, and their lives in this new country. Several families were documented, and it was fascinating to "meet" these folks who came with next to nothing, and built new lives. There were many mixed marriages, and it seems that many of these raised their families Jewish...half the children and grandchildren interviewed were blue eyed blonds, or green eyed redheads.

But what really grabbed me was something that was secondary to the exhibits. The library uses old newspapers to help tell the story of the holocaust. Papers from all around the world, preserved by laminating pages and placing them in binders. In some cases, entire newspapers! Allowing me to leaf through and find out the little news of the day as well, and check out the advertising. Most fascinating to me were the New York and Chicago papers, though the British ones were of interest, too.

I've always loved social history, and this was a treasure trove.