City Of East Helena Loans Star Of David Window To Montana Jewish Project
Author: Linda Kent, MT43 News Staff Reporter
City of East Helena Loans Star of David Window to Montana Jewish Project
Linda Kent
MT43 News Staff Reporter
East Helena’s City Council inked an agreement to loan one of three, historic Star of David windows to the Montana Jewish Project for display at Temple Emanu-El in Helena as part of the temple’s historical collection.
Crafted near the turn of the 20th Century and originally installed in the administration building of the American Smelter and Refining Company’s (ASARCO’s) East Helena smelter, the windows offer a unique glimpse into Montana’s past.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Jewish Swiss-emigre Meyer Guggenheim made his fortune in mining in the American West and would eventually own mining ventures from the Southwest to Alaska. The family purchased a controlling interest in ASARCO in 1901. By 1912, the Guggenheims controlled nearly 80 percent of the world’s silver, lead, and copper. The East Helena refinery was the world’s sixth largest.
The family had the three, hand-crafted Star of David windows installed at the East Helena plant as a nod to their Jewish heritage. The windows remained there after ASARCO’s 2005 bankruptcy. The City of East Helena acquired the windows prior to the demolition of the refinery in 2008 and the subsequent Superfund clean up of the area. At the time of their reclamation, the windows had been badly damaged by time and neglect.
According to a brief history of the windows, written by East Helena City Clerk Amy Thorngren, the “Montana History Foundation, ArtPlace America through the Myrna Loy, and the City of East Helena funded the restoration of the three Star of David windows.”
Preserve Montana’s Restoration Director Mary Webb restored the windows between 2020 and 2021.
While one of the windows will be on display at Temple Emanu-El, the two others are planned to be installed at the East Helena Volunteer Fireman’s Hall, “as a commemoration of historical forces and the generations of East Helenas who spent their working years in operation of the town’s lead smelter,” Thorngren wrote.
The council’s agreement with the Montana Jewish Project put no time frame on how long the window would be displayed at the temple, located at 515 N. Ewing in Helena.
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PhotoCredit: Linda Kent Photo
Image 1 Caption: The City of East Helena will loan the Montana Jewish Project one of three historic Star of David windows from the ASARCO administration building. Crafted around 1900, the windows were an acknowledgement of the Guggenheim Family’s Jewish heritage.
Linda Kent Photo
