Jewish Americans

by Stein, Robert; Moreno, Barry

• ISBN13: 9780764156267
• ISBN10: 0764156268
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-04-01
• Publisher: B E S Pub Co

Summary

They escaped from oppression and poverty in Russia, Poland, Germany, and many other parts of Europe, and settled mainly in America's large cities. With Jewish immigration to America came their rich family and religious traditions, and their abiding respect for the arts and sciences, inspiring many among them to great achievement in these fields. Biographical sketches include Albert Einstein, the Guggenheim family, Isaac Stern, Saul Bellow, and others. This important new series documents and dramatizes the immigration experience of untold numbers of men, women, and children who arrived in America from the four corners of the world. As they assimilated into American society, they enriched the nation's character and experience. Many of America's immigrants passed through the Ellis Island Immigration Center in New York Harbor during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. What were the initial hopes and fears of these new arrivals? Where did they first settle, and what kinds of work did they find? Which elements from their various cultures have since blended into the national scene and helped reshape what has become modern America? The first titles in this dramatic series bring alive the experiences of four important ethnic groups, with contemporary photos and first-person accounts of their dramatic, life-changing experiences. Readers glimpse each group's social customs, family life, traditional food and drink, festivals, and much more. There are also brief but vivid capsule biographies of famous individuals who rose to prominence from each ethnic group. Approximately 150 illustrations in each book.

Table of Contents

Coming to America	6	(6)
Life in Eastern Europe	12	(8)
The Great Waves of Immigrants	20	(8)
Leaving Home	28	(6)
The Crossing	34	(4)
Arriving in America	38	(6)
Lower East Side and other Neighborhoods	44	(18)
Jewish Gangsters	62	(4)
Becoming Americans	66	(20)
Food and Festivities	86	(10)
Writers and Artists	96	(12)
Jews in Entertainment and Sports	108	(8)
The Future	116	(4)
Timeline	120	(4)
Further resources	124	(2)
Index	126	(2)
Photo credits	128