Port of Promise: Members Opening Reception

5:30 p.m. Old 300 Lifetime Members and Invited Guests
6:30 p.m. - Annual Members and Invited Guests 

Join us for the opening and preview reception for Port of Promise:  The Jewish Pioneers of Texas, the groundbreaking new exhibition highlighting the Jewish Pioneers of Texas who forged a distinctive identity for their descendants and made enormous contributions to the Texas of today.  Please RSVP below or by calling bill Poplin at (409) 497-4614 or by email to bill@thebryanmuseum.org

Port of Promise: The Jewish Pioneers of Texas
November 7, 2026, through January 31, 2027

This exhibition explores how Jewish immigrants helped shape Texas from the early 1800s through the early twentieth century – building businesses, communities, and civic institutions while maintaining cultural and religious identity on the frontier. 

Between the years of 1907 and 1914, The port of Galveston played a starring role in a story as big as Texas and as poignant as individual struggle for survival. Galveston was an alternative entry into the United States for persecuted Jews. The Galveston Movement assisted close to 10,000 immigrants with travel and new lives further inland, in Texas and beyond.  This exhibition will highlight the stories of significant contributors to the story of Texas within industries such as philanthropy, merchants, banking, trade, medical, transportation, ranching and others.   Jewish pioneers of Texas forged a distinctive identity for their descendants and made enormous contributions to the Texas of today.