“Showing their Levi’s” postcard from the California Rodeo Salinas (July 13–16, 1939), 1939. Levi Strauss & Co. Archives
Wednesday, Mar 11, 2020 | 11am–12pm
ADMISSION: Free with advance registration. Contact Well Connected at 877.797.7299 or coviaconnections@covia.org
Join us for a phone-based guided tour designed for those who are unable to visit The Museum in person physically. Participants can call in and join a virtual guided tour of Levi Strauss: A History of American Style, and connect with others who have a shared interest in art, culture, and Jewish history. A handout of images will be distributed in advance, and a museum educator will include verbal descriptions in order to provide access for those who are blind or have low vision. This program is presented in partnership with Well Connected.
Image description: The exterior façade of The Contemporary Jewish Museum, which fuses a historic brick power station to a soaring blue steel geometric shape that appears out of the left side of the building. The main entrance door has a rounded neo-classical shape framing it, along with a large glass pane that features metal cross-hatching. There is a second smaller door that has more ornate sculptural décor, with four cherubs and garlands framing the door.
Well Connected members call in via a toll-free number at a set time each week, with some tours also offering the option to connect via computer, tablet, or mobile device. Most call-in tours last thirty minutes to an hour, and include around twelve participants. Newcomers are always welcome! If you don’t feel like talking at first, you’re welcome to just listen as long as you’ve let the group know you’re there. If you’re ready to register, please contact Well Connected at 877.797.7299 or coviaconnections@covia.org.
Well Connected (formerly Senior Center Without Walls) is a Community Service of Covia (formerly Episcopal Senior Communities). It is a phone and online-based program offering activities, education, friendly conversation, and an assortment of classes and support groups to older adults that are accessible from the comfort of home. Play a game, write a poem, go on a virtual tour, meditate, share gratitude, get support, and, most importantly, connect and engage with others every day across the country.
Suzanne Gibson joined The CJM as a museum educator in 2016 with a background in primary education. Suzanne worked as a reading specialist at Old Mill Elementary School in Mill Valley for six years, where she taught reading, writing, and math to K–3 students with learning differences. She is also a school guide for grades 3–12 at SFMOMA. Suzanne is credentialed as an elementary and middle school teacher in California and the UK, and holds a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology from Harvard College.
In 1873, at the end of the California Gold Rush, Levi Strauss & Co., named for a Bavarian Jewish dry goods merchant in San Francisco, obtained a U.S. patent with tailor Jacob Davis on the process of putting metal rivets in men’s denim work pants to increase their durability. It was the birth of the blue jean. The CJM original exhibition Levi Strauss: A History of American Style showcases the life of Levi Strauss, the invention of the blue jean, and their iconic place in the history of American style.
“Showing their Levi’s” postcard from the California Rodeo Salinas (July 13–16, 1939), 1939. Levi Strauss & Co. Archives
Access Programs are made possible by Leadership Support from Wells Fargo. Additional support is provided by a Senior Mobility Initiative grant from the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund and by the Morse Family Foundation.