Wish You Were Here: Tracing the Resort Era in Livingston Manor

Join photographers Isaac Jeffreys and Marisa Scheinfeld for a powerful visual journey into Livingston Manor’s Borscht Belt past. Through rarely seen photographs, artifacts, and archival footage, this illustrated lecture explores the people, places, and pivotal moments that shaped Catskills culture and its enduring influence. The duo will also offer a sneak peek at upcoming works from their forthcoming publications.

From the 1920s to the 1970s, the Catskill Mountains were a beloved vacation destination for millions of American Jewry. Known as the Borscht Belt, the resorts and bungalow colonies of Sullivan and Ulster Counties became a haven during a time when antisemitism excluded Jews from many facets of American life, including business, employment, social clubs, and travel. Out of that exclusion emerged something extraordinary: a vibrant, welcoming world of tradition, culture, leisure, and connection. The Borscht Belt wasn’t just a vacation destination, it was a cultural Renaissance. It paired recreation with a deep sense of community, and it became the birthplace of modern stand-up comedy in the region’s theaters and showrooms.

At its peak after World War II, the Borscht Belt boasted over 535 hotels and resorts and more than 50,000 bungalows. Its legacy has rippled into American life ever since; socially, artistically, and culturally. But as time passed, much of its physical landscape has faded, with many buildings decaying or replaced. Scheinfeld and Jeffreys co-founded the Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project in 2022, along with a small group of artists and historians dedicated to preserving and honoring the memory of this iconic era.