Q&A: Stéphane Goldstein – Research Coordinator & Evaluator
In the run up to One Lost Stone, launching Sunday 5th July online, we will be posting Q&As with the team behind Discovering and Documenting England’s Lost Jews sharing their highlights, discoveries, personal journeys and more. We speak to Research Coordinator & Evaluator Stéphane Goldstein about his highlights, surprises and more below.
What is your role in The Lost Jews?
I have two roles: coordinating the activities of the project’s research volunteers, and more broadly maintaining our list of research resources. I’m also responsible for evaluation, which means keeping track of feedback from volunteers and participants, and in the longer run, reporting of the project’s outputs, including coordinating the production of an e-book.
What excites you about this project?
Discovering the history of the Sephardi community in London, particularly its early period in the 17th century, and how this related to a turbulent and extraordinary period of English history.
What has surprised you in this project?
The very existence of the cemeteries in Mile End, almost hidden away. Before the start of the project, I wasn’t even aware they were there, even though I am partly of Sephardi origin myself.
What has been your highlight so far?
It’s been fascinating to come across old, archival material from the Sephardi community, currently kept at the London Metropolitan Archive. One particular series of documents comes to mind: the early 19th century record of aliens registrations, i.e. the forms that Sephardi immigrants had to fill upon arrival in England, with information about themselves, their places of origin, their reasons for coming here, etc. It’s a wonderful example of two hundred year old immigration bureaucracy – albeit much simpler than the sort of regulations in force today.
What are you looking forward to the most in One Lost Stone?
The creation of an imaginative online resource which will chart the interaction between people and a little-known piece of history.
See more about Research Coordinator & Evaluator Stéphane and the Lost Jews team here.
Find out more about Stéphane’s work for Informall here.
Find out more about One Lost Stone here, launching on Sunday 5th July online.