Sid Caesar got his start here. Jackie Robinson sought solace here. Joan Rivers and Jerry Seinfeld honed their comedic craft here. Patrick Swayze even did some dirty dancing in a fictionalized version of here.

“Here” is the Catskill Mountains, once known as the Borscht Belt — an area that historically served as a haven for Jewish Americans who, together, elevated the region into a renowned vacation hotspot while simultaneously transforming the cultural fabric of America.

Marisa Scheinfeld '02 is working to ensure the Borscht Belt's legacy is never forgotten.

Scheinfeld founded the Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project, a comprehensive preservation initiative throughout the Catskills that includes the installation of large, permanent interpretive panels chronicling the hotels, bungalow colonies, communities and businesses that once thrived in parts of New York's Sullivan and Ulster counties.

"Born from humble beginnings, the Borscht Belt developed out of Jews' exclusion from many spaces across America," Scheinfeld said to a large crowd that gathered last August in the village center of Woodridge for a historical marker dedication — the ninth out of 20 that are planned.  Historical markers have already been installed in the communities of Monticello, Mountain Dale, Swan Lake, Fallsburg, South Fallsburg, Kiamesha Lake, Hurleyville and Bethel/Kauneonga Lake. Five new markers are planned for 2025.

"In a revolutionary act, the Jewish community decided to create their own space in the Catskills, which has a long history of being a refuge for minority groups," said Scheinfeld, a photographer who graduated from UAlbany with an art degree.

As antisemitism rose in 1920s America, Jews came together in response. In the Catskills, it initially took the form of Jewish farming communities that evolved into boarding houses for rent. In turn, those entrepreneurial efforts exploded into a booming post-World War II hospitality industry with first-class amenities and entertainment to match. According to the Catskills Institute, by the mid 1950s more than half a million people a year visited the Borscht Belt, the name referencing the cold beet soup popular among eastern European Jews and celebrated by their descendants. The region was also referred to as the "Jewish Alps" owing to many hotels and accommodations that sprang up in the Catskills (by some estimates more than 1,000).

Places like Kutsher's Hotel, the Concord Resort Hotel and Grossinger's (the inspiration for the setting in the '80s movie "Dirty Dancing") were among the largest and most glamorous destination getaways.

(Pamphlet images courtesy of The Catskills Institute/Northeastern University.)

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Grossinger's was one of the largest Borscht Belt hotels and served as the inspiration for the fictional "Kellerman's Mountain Resort" in the film "Dirty Dancing."

Alternatively, intimate groups of bungalows provided summer respites for many Jewish Americans craving a break from city life and connection with nature and each other, while smaller, family-run niche hotels, like Sunny Oaks and The Vegetarian Hotel, offered intimate and unique experiences.

"The place was full of characters," said Bruce Konviser, a third-generation vegetarian whose grandparents founded The Vegetarian Hotel in the 1920s, attracting a health-minded clientele seeking a naturalist lifestyle.

Konviser recalled the once five-acre farm known for its eggs that grew into a 100-acre resort replete with shuffleboard and tennis courts, a swimming pool and a solarium for nude sunbathing: "There was a vibrancy to the summertime life here ... it was a great place to grow up."

Julie Arenson's great grandparents closed their candy story in Brooklyn in 1928 and purchased 25 acres in Woodridge to start a farm, but to survive the Great Depression they decided to rent out rooms. That endeavor, Arenson told the crowd at the dedication, eventually grew into Sunny Oaks Hotel — a name chosen for the feeling it evoked rather than its literal meaning. There were no oak trees on the property.

"The hotel of my childhood [was] my grandmother's friends," said Arenson, part of the fourth generation to run the family property. "They were a community of educators, artists, musicians. They were horticulturists, historians, cab drivers and survivors of World War II with numbers still on their arms. We even had fighters of the French Resistance."

Sunny Oaks closed its doors in 2000 and was one of the last remaining small hotels from the Borscht Belt era. What also defined the Borscht Belt, beyond the vacation accommodations and entertainment, was that it was home for many progressive causes from the gay liberation movement to promoting interracial harmony.

Scheinfeld's efforts to celebrate the communities of the Borscht Belt and to cement its legacy is made possible by philanthropic support from the Jewish American Society for Historic Preservation (JASHP) which has projects in 44 states and eight countries.

"Marisa is a fantastic partner to tell the American story of the Borscht Belt," said JASHP Founder Jerry Klinger via email. "JASHP's motto is 'Shaping the Future by Remembering the Past.' We must remember where we have been to get to where we would like to go."

That sentiment was deeply felt at the Woodridge dedication.

"It's an important part of our history and it can't be forgotten, especially in this day and age with what's going on in this world, " said Woodridge Mayor Joan Collins. "It's important that the history that this village has remains."

Despite current events and the ugly return of antisemitism, Scheinfeld — who was a teenage lifeguard at the Concord Resort during its waning years in the late '90s and who has published an evocative photo book covering the Borscht Belt's remains — says her group approaches the preservation project from a place of pride and inspiration.

"We're doing this with a focus on the celebratory nature of the Borscht Belt and its heyday," she adds. "People come out and we're honoring this history ... and they come joyful. They come with lots of memories, lots of nostalgia ... and I think all across the board, it's joy."

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