Jewish Girls Coming of Age in America, 1860-1920

321 Pages·2005·3.494 MB·English

by  Melissa Klapper

Jewish Girls Coming of Age
in America, 1860–1920

Jewish Girls
Coming of Age in
America, 1860–1920
Melissa R. Klapper
a
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
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available for inclusion in the eBook.
new york university press
New York and London
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© 2005by New York University
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Klapper, Melissa R.
Jewish girls coming of age in America, 1860–1920/
Melissa R. Klapper.
p. cm.
1. Any other girls in this whole world like myself: Jewish girls and
adolescence in America— 2. Unless I got more education: Jewish
girls and the problem of education in turn-of-the-century America—
3. Education in the broadest Sense: alternative forms of education
for working class girls— 4. A perfect Jew and a perfect American:
The religious education of Jewish girls— 5. Such a world of plea-
sure: adolescent Jewish girls and American youth culture.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0–8147–4780–9(cloth : alk. paper)
1. Jewish girls—United States—Social conditions—19th century.
2. Jewish girls—United States—Social conditions—20th century.
3. Jewish girls—Education—United States. 4. Jewish girls—
United States—Social life and customs—19th century. 5. Jewish
girls—United States—Social life and customs—20th century.
6. Jewish religious education of girls—United States. 7. Jewish
teenagers—United States—Social life and customs—19th century.
8. Jewish teenagers—United States—Social life and customs—
20th century. I. Title.
E184.36.S65K53 2004
305.242'2'089924073—dc22 2004015012
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,
and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.
Manufactured in the United States of America
10987654321
Dedicated with love to my parents,
Ferne and Mitchell Klapper,
and my sister, Jennie Klapper Fine,
for giving me an American Jewish girlhood
I will always treasure.

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1 “Any Other Girls in This Whole World Like Myself”:
Jewish Girls and Adolescence in America 19
2 “Unless I Got More Education”:
Jewish Girls and the Problem of
Education in Turn-of-the-Century America 59
3 “Education in the Broadest Sense”:
Alternative Forms of Education
for Working-Class Girls 105
4 “A Perfect Jew and a Perfect American”:
The Religious Education of Jewish Girls 143
5 “Such a World of Pleasure”:
Adolescent Jewish Girls and American Youth Culture 185
Conclusion 235
Notes 241
Bibliography 272
Index 295
About the Author 310
vii

Acknowledgments
I have incurred many debts, both professional and personal, while writ-
ing Jewish Girls Coming of Age in America, 1860–1920.As a significant
revision of my Rutgers University dissertation, this book has lived
through many incarnations. Without the support of numerous teachers
and friends, archivists and librarians, grant agencies and academic orga-
nizations, none of the work would have been possible.
Let me first express my deep appreciation for the fellowship support
provided along the way by the Department of History at Rutgers Univer-
sity; the Feinstein Center for American Jewish History at Temple Univer-
sity; the Bildner Center for the Study of Jewish Life at Rutgers University;
the National Women’s Studies Association; the Jacob Rader Marcus Cen-
ter of the American Jewish Archives; the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute at
Brandeis University; the National Foundation for Jewish Culture; the
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Rowan University; and the Lucius
N. Littauer Foundation.
While doing the research for this study, I traveled to archives in many
cities. I would like to acknowledge the always professional, courteous,
and helpful staffs at the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jew-
ish Archives, the American Jewish Historical Society, the Center for Ju-
daic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, the Chicago Historical So-
ciety, the Chicago Jewish Archives, the Jewish Museum of Maryland, the
Jewish Theological Seminary, the Maryland Historical Society, the Spe-
cial Collections Division of the New York Public Library, the Philadelphia
Jewish Archives Center, the Special Collections Division of the Rutgers
University Libraries, and the 92nd Street Young Men’s/Women’s Hebrew
Association Archives. The interlibrary loan librarians at Rutgers Univer-
sity and Rowan University were also enormously helpful, as were all the
librarians at Baltimore Hebrew University. It would be remiss of me not
to mention by name Eric Greenberg, Joy Kingsolver, the late Lily
ix