Ismar David’s visitors’ book design for The Jewish Palestine Pavilion at the 1939 New York World’s Fair

This profile is part of a series of interviews chronicling the experiences of researchers who use The New York Public Library’s collections for the development of their work.
The interview was conducted by Dr. Lyudmila Sholokhova, Curator of the Dorot Jewish Division. It was originally posted on the NYPL blog, July 5, 2022.

The visitor’s book of The Jewish Palestine Pavilion at the 1939 New York World’s Fair.

* Hebrew follows the English *

Shani Avni is the Ismar David Visiting Assistant Curator at the RIT Cary Graphic Arts Collection since 2020. She holds a BA in Graphic Design from Shenkar College, Israel and an MA in Typeface Design from the University of Reading, UK. For her MA thesis she researched The David Hebrew typeface family and, since receiving her degree, continues to do so. She designs, researches, teaches, consults, writes, and lectures on Hebrew type design and typography.

When did you first get the idea for your research project?
As an Israeli graphic designer and typographer, practicing for more than a decade, I often experienced the shortage in Hebrew typefaces. My fascination and frustration with Hebrew typography led me to independently research their history and development. Realizing how limited my resources were and how keen I was to learn more, I undertook the MA Typeface design program at the University of Reading, UK. There I discovered Ismar David’s comprehensive multi-style Hebrew typeface family: David Hebrew. I focused my dissertation on it and documented its design process. I drew mostly on the archival material from the RIT Cary Graphic Arts Collection and very quickly recognized the Ismar David Papers collection as an exceptional resource for research. After graduating I was able to work intensively with the collection in person as a Cary Summer Research Fellow and was not disappointed! Today as a Cary curator, I have the privilege of continuously working with the collection. I am able to generate new knowledge on David’s work, as well as facilitate access to his papers for external researchers.

What brought you to the Library?
David emigrated from Germany to Palestine in 1932. He established his design studio in Jerusalem and worked there until 1953 when he emigrated to New York. Since historical resources on Hebrew design during the two decades David was active in Jerusalem are scarce, I often have to rethink my research strategies. In most cases designers are unknown and when they are, the available archival description usually does not include their names. That’s how I started to search for the clients and the institutions that commissioned the design in hopes of learning more about it. This means that I never know if I’ll be able to find anything related to my research, so I always try to keep my expectations low so as not to be disappointed. It also means that when a discovery is made it proves that it is worthwhile! Ismar David was commissioned to work on the Jewish Palestine Pavilion of the 1939 New York World’s Fair, but the scope of his work is unknown. Searching historical repositories for World’s Fair-related artifacts led me to the bilingual visitor’s book kept in the Dorot Jewish Division special collection. This book is a meaningful discovery that supports the research of David’s work during this unique period of time of establishing the state of Israel.

What research tools could you not live without?
Librarians, archivists, curators. Online access to historical collections is crucial as a starting point, but following that, I find that the collections’ custodians are the ones who can support research in the most significant ways.

What’s the most unexpected item you encountered in your research?
The visitors’ book is definitely at the top of the list. It is a large and heavy book: 56cm high and about 400 pages thick, bound with bleached hide over wooden boards and heavy brass clasps. The cover title was hand-lettered in Hebrew and English by Ismar David, in gold and black ink on a cedar wood board that was set within a brass border. The book was designed for visitors to sign in their names and personal details, so each front page has 18 numbered dotted lines for handwritten entries, and each back page has a printed statement in Hebrew and English that reads: “On these pages are recorded the names of the visitors to the Jewish Palestine Pavilion New York World’s Fair 1939.” Ismar David designed this book applying his signature style and possibly following his earlier designs for the Jewish National Fund KKL Golden Books. In addition to examining each page for design and production insights, I was also trying to decipher the visitors’ names and explore the information and sentiment they chose to share. Within the wide range of visitors from across the globe shortly describing their feelings of excitement, I was able to recognize numerous visitors of political and cultural importance (David Ben-Gurion, the first Prime Minister of Israel, to name one). This book is a treasure that presents endless research avenues. Carefully flipping through its pages was an exhilarating experience and I can’t wait to deepen my research into it.

What’s the most interesting thing you learned from a book recently?
Recent research on people in Ismar David’s life has led to the novelist Zelda Popkin. In her novel on the Zionist struggle in Mandatory Jerusalem, The Quiet Street, she mentions one of the posters that David designed for the Hagana paramilitary organization. She describes the poster in detail as well as its surroundings and the residents’ response to it. Having found no images of David’s posters displayed in the city yet, this depiction might be the closest we can get to experiencing that scene.

Describe a moment when your research took an unexpected turn.
The decision to expand the research to the people, entities, and localities in David’s life keeps leading to more and more unexpected discoveries about his collaborations, his network of colleagues, as well as his friends and family. With the understanding that no one lives and works in isolation, the new information helps to contextualize David’s work and better understand it. Many of these people and entities deserve in-depth research in their own rights and I would not be surprised if in the future I’ll find myself taking a turn to pursue that path.

How do you maintain your research momentum?
I am constantly stimulated by my research colleagues whose curiosity and appetite for mystery-solving is as relentless as mine. We often compare this research to detective work and it seems like there is not a dull moment.

After a day of working/researching, what do you do to unwind?
I enjoy listening to podcasts, especially after a long day of reading. I love history and comedy podcasts and my favorites are the ones that combine both.

What tabs do you currently have open on your computer?
NYPL catalog, Thesaurus, Ismar David Archive, Historical Jewish Press, and lots of Google Drive docs with my notes.

Is there anything you’d like to tell someone looking to get started?
Find your favorite brains to pick and run your thoughts by them in casual conversation. I find that sounding out ideas is helpful to find a focus and start formulating your research questions.

Have I left anything out that you’d like to tell other researchers?
Try not to be discouraged when you can’t find the answers you are looking for. I feel like there is no such thing as wasted time when conducting research. Accumulating knowledge around your subject can be surprisingly helpful with future questions that haven’t presented themselves to you yet.

Jewish-Palestine Participation – Edward Robinson signs guest register. NYPL Digital Collections, Image ID: 1676427