Scrap Yard: Innovators of Recycling

OCTOBER 8 – JANUARY 30, 2022

A peddler calling “Junk man! Any rags, any bones, any bottles today?”
The clatter of cans pouring into a baler.
The grinding of a building-sized car shredder.
The whistle of a cargo ship carrying obsolete computers to sorting facilities around the globe.

These are the sounds of scrap recycling: an industry that turns waste into raw materials, has given millions of people a livelihood and a community, and has propelled American industry and innovation for centuries.

About the Exhibit

For over 200 years, discarded metals, rags, paper, and animal hides have provided economic opportunities for immigrants and native-born Americans who collected, stored, brokered, and sold them – scrappers. The work was grueling, scrappers were stigmatized, and the industry was criticized as a source of social and environmental ills. Still, generations of individuals and families gravitated toward the work—including many Jewish scrappers, who made up seventy to ninety percent of the industry for at least half of the 20th century.

Extended Learning

 – Visiting the Scrap Yard: Innovators of Recycling website created by Jewish Museum of Maryland.
 – Reading one of the books about scrap, recycling or climate change suggested by Milwaukee Public Library.

Curriculum for Scrap Yard (Developed by Jewish Museum of Maryland)

• Elementary School Curriculum
• Middle and High School Curriculum

ABOUT JEWISH MUSEUM MILWAUKEE: The Jewish Museum Milwaukee is dedicated to preserving and presenting the history of the Jewish people in southeastern Wisconsin and celebrating the continuum of Jewish heritage and culture. The history of American Jews is rooted in thousands of years of searching for freedom and equality. We are committed to sharing this story and the life lessons it brings with it, so that we may enhance the public’s awareness and appreciation of Jewish life and culture. We are committed to building bridges between diverse groups through shared history and to exploring contemporary issues through the lens of Jewish history, culture and values.