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History CJH.org Our Collections Visit About the CenterBlog Post Building a Jewish Union and the ILGWU In 1900, eleven delegates representing seven major local unions in the Northeast convened to form the International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union. All eleven of these delegates were Jewish men (the ladies” in the organization’s name refers to the garments, not the constituency) who represented unions composed of primarily Jewish immigrants in major industrial cities such as New York, Newark, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. The ILGWU… Center for Jewish History January 24, 2024 2 2775 1 Read Later Share Blog Post Selling Chanukah in America As Chanukah transformed in 20th century America from a smaller, home-based festival to a popular public holiday, businesses saw an opportunity to manufacture and market decorations and gifts to Jewish consumers. In the mid-19th century, new waves of German Jewish immigrants focused on Christmas as a winter holiday, in order to feel and appear more American in a country where it was celebrated as a… Center for Jewish History December 4, 2023 3 3753 0 Read Later Share Blog Post Yours very respectaly, M. Blum”: Correspondence between a New Jersey Jewish Farmer and the Industrial Removal Office, 1902-1905 In response to the massive waves of Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe around the turn of the 20th century, leaders of the German-Jewish community in New York City founded the rather forbiddingly named Industrial Removal Office (IRO) to relocate new arrivals from teeming cities on the East Coast to Jewish communities in smaller cities and towns. Hoping to meet the industrial demands of an… Center for Jewish History November 27, 2023 3 3196 2 Read Later Share Blog Post Death Masks at the Center for Jewish History Death masks, molded from plaster in the first hours after death before the features have stiffened or atrophied, were used for centuries to preserve the appearance of nobility and other eminent persons as models for posthumous sculptures or painted portraits. In the 19th century, these unnervingly accurate impressions came to be prized in their own right, and the practice of creating death masks as… Center for Jewish History October 16, 2023 3 4235 1 Read Later Share Blog Post L’Shana Tova! Turn-of-the-Century New Year’s Cards from the Collection of Yeshiva University Museum The commercial greeting card industry grew rapidly around the turn of the last century in Europe after the introduction of the picture postcard along with technical innovations that permitted cheaper mass production of color prints. Pre-printed cards became commonplace for holidays like Valentine’s Day, Christmas, and New Year’s. This holiday custom was quickly adapted by German Jews, who began sending cards bearing good wishes… Center for Jewish History August 28, 2023 7 4297 0 Read Later Share Blog Post Campfire Magic: Pluralism of Jewish Summer Camping Today, many think of summer camp as a uniquely Jewish phenomenon. In reality, Jewish educational camps developed as a branch of American organized camping. At the turn of the 20th century, camping was a major tenet of American Progressivism and the Fresh Air Movement, which sought to provide relief for poor immigrants in overcrowded cities during the summer, while also assimilating them into American… Center for Jewish History July 12, 2023 1 6931 0 Read Later Share Blog Post A Very Ticklish Problem”: The AJC Response to the Rosenberg Trial & Execution Convicted of passing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg were executed 70 years ago on June 19, 1953, the first and only American civilians to face the death penalty for espionage. At the time, many believed the Rosenbergs to be innocent victims of antisemitism and Cold War hysteria, or at the very least that they had received an overly harsh… Center for Jewish History April 25, 2023 6 5169 1 Read Later Share Blog Post Kosher Food Production in the United States and the Manischewitz Empire The Jewish population in the U.S. currently makes up just under 2.5% of the total population, with an even lower percentage keeping kosher. Yet, over 40% of the packaged food produced in the U.S. is labeled as kosher, and American food production companies dominate the global kosher market. Many of the brands that we see on the shelves, such as Coca Cola, Kraft, and… Center for Jewish History March 30, 2023 5 5139 1 Read Later Share Blog Post Babka & Beignets: Jewish Foodways of the South Food is a way to maintain cherished traditions and connect to ancestors, particularly for marginalized groups. It can also be a method to adapt to a new environment. The American South has a rich Jewish history dating back to the 17th century. Port cities like Charleston, which until about 1820 had the largest Jewish population in the U.S., were home to some of the… Center for Jewish History February 8, 2023 2 5384 0 Read Later Share Blog Post Sermons of Thanksgiving It is widely believed that the Pilgrims modeled their Thanksgiving feast after the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. In its modern incarnation as a secular festival focusing on gratitude, an appropriately Jewish concept, Thanksgiving has been observed by American Jews from its earliest days. When George Washington declared a non-denominational National Day of Thanksgiving in 1789, American Jews eagerly joined the celebration. Gershom Mendes Seixas… Center for Jewish History November 14, 2022 0 6018 4 Read Later Share Blog Post The Jews of Harlem When thinking about the historically Jewish neighborhoods in New York, the Lower East Side or Williamsburg are likely the first to come to mind. What many do not know is that Harlem was at one point the home of the second largest Jewish population in the country. From the 1870s into the 1900s, there was a migration of Jews into Harlem from the Lower… Center for Jewish History September 19, 2022 1 6123 4 Read Later Share Posts navigation Older posts Load more Archives Archives Select Month January 2024 (1) December 2023 (1) November 2023 (1) October 2023 (1) August 2023 (1) July 2023 (1) April 2023 (1) March 2023 (1) February 2023 (1) November 2022 (1) September 2022 (1) March 2022 (1) March 2021 (1) July 2020 (1) May 2020 (3) April 2020 (1) March 2020 (1) February 2020 (1) August 2019 (2) May 2019 (1) March 2019 (3) January 2019 (2) December 2018 (6) November 2018 (1) October 2018 (1) September 2018 (2) August 2018 (4) June 2018 (1) April 2018 (4) March 2018 (2) February 2018 (1) January 2018 (9) December 2017 (4) November 2017 (6) October 2017 (3) September 2017 (2) August 2017 (4) July 2017 (7) June 2017 (1) May 2017 (1) April 2017 (3) March 2017 (3) February 2017 (6) January 2017 (1) December 2016 (4) November 2016 (3) October 2016 (6) September 2016 (6) August 2016 (2) July 2016 (3) June 2016 (2) May 2016 (6) April 2016 (8) March 2016 (3) February 2016 (5) January 2016 (4) December 2015 (11) November 2015 (10) October 2015 (4) September 2015 (2) August 2015 (3) July 2015 (9) June 2015 (10) May 2015 (11) April 2015 (8) March 2015 (4) February 2015 (5) December 2014 (2) November 2014 (1) October 2014 (4) September 2014 (5) August 2014 (5) July 2014 (14) June 2014 (10) May 2014 (6) April 2014 (4) February 2014 (2) January 2014 (4) December 2013 (4) November 2013 (9) October 2013 (11) September 2013 (6) August 2013 (13) July 2013 (12) June 2013 (9) May 2013 (14) April 2013 (9) March 2013 (6) February 2013 (21) January 2013 (9) December 2012 (30) November 2012 (7) October 2012 (8) September 2012 (4) August 2012 (8) July 2012 (17) June 2012 (4) May 2012 (9) April 2012 (30) March 2012 (10) February 2012 (16) January 2012 (12) December 2011 (14) November 2011 (29) October 2011 (16) Instagram Instagram has returned invalid data. 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