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Jewish Life in Puerto Rico:
History, Migration, and Identity
Thursday, August 6
USA 12:00 pm PT / 3:00 pm ET
UK 8:00 pm / France 9:00 pm / Israel 10:00 pm
The talk will last approximately 90 minutes
About this talk
Puerto Rico's Jewish history reflects the island's broader experience as a crossroads shaped by the movement of people, cultures, and ideas. In this presentation, Dr. Dean-Olmsted traces the development of Jewish life on the island from the arrival of Crypto-Jewish settlers during the Spanish colonial period through 20th century migrations under U.S. rule, including of Jewish military personnel, Eastern European refugees, U.S. business families, and Cuban exiles. Drawing on her ethnographic research, Dean-Olmsted then focuses on the contemporary Jewish landscape, in which recent demographic and economic shifts have resulted in an increase of both Puerto Rican "Jews by Choice" and wealthy Jewish foreigners drawn by tax incentives. In addition to presenting data from interviews and observations, Dean-Olmsted relates her own experience as a Jewish community member and participant in Jewish and Israeli disaster relief efforts after Hurricane Maria in 2017. Examining the lives and sensibilities of Jews in Puerto Rico raises critical questions on how notions of Jewishness interact with ideologies of race, class, and national belonging in the modern world.
About Evelyn
Evelyn Dean-Olmsted is an anthropologist and applied researcher based in Miami, FL. Her academic research centers on questions of language, religiosity, and identity among Jewish Latin Americans. Her work on Syrian Jewish young people in Mexico City was recently published as Coming of Age as Syrian Jewish Mexicans: The Pragmatics of Diaspora (Brill 2026). She currently serves as Project Lead at Rosov Consulting, where she contributes to community studies, program evaluation, and other research services for Jewish non-profit organizations. She previously worked in health outcomes research at Nicklaus Children's Hospital (Miami, FL) and as Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras. Dean-Olmsted serves on the editorial board of the journal Latin American Jewish Studies; the advisory board of the Jewish Language Project; and the advisory board of Olamim, a grassroots organization for Latin Jewish families in the Bay Area.
RECORDING INFORMATION
This talk will be recorded and shared with registrants the day after.
It will be available for 3 days, and 7 days for members.
You will be asked to select one of these options:
General admission - $18
Supported admission - $9
Sponsor this talk - $36
With your contribution, you will also be donating to the Jewish Language Project.
