AUBURN — For decades, Lewiston’s Lisbon Street was a thriving center of commerce that attracted shoppers from throughout central Maine.

Lisbon Street businessmen included among their ranks a sizable number of Jewish merchants who, in addition to serving their clientele, formed a tight social circle.

The role of these Jewish merchants in the history of Lewiston and Auburn will be the topic at a meeting of the Androscoggin Historical Society at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 27, in the society’s headquarters, on the third floor of the county courthouse, corner of Court and Turner streets.

The speaker will be Phyllis Graber Jensen, director of photography and video for the communications office at Bates College. She will use oral histories as well as primary and secondary research to trace how local businesses have changed over the years.

A resident of Lewiston since 1992, Jensen received a 2006 Harward Center for Community Partnerships grant to do a small oral history project about the Jewish community in Lewiston-Auburn. She was a presenter at “Discovering Maine’s Jewish History: The Second Maine Jewish History Conference,” held in 2011 at Colby College.

Jensen is a member of Temple Shalom Synagogue-Center and of Documenting Maine Jewry, a collaborative genealogy and history of Maine’s Jewish communities. She was born and raised in New York City and received a BS in human development from Cornell University and an MS in journalism from Boston University.

Before coming to Maine she spent six years as a staff photographer for the Mayor’s Office in Boston, followed by eight years as a staff photographer for the Boston Herald. In Maine, she has screened three documentary video shorts at Portland’s Maine Jewish Festival: “Mustard Doublebreasted” in 2010, “For the Children” in 2011, and “Burial of Names” (about a ritual held by members of Temple Shalom) on March 8.

The meeting is open to the public. An elevator is available.