Dear Fellow Fans of American Jewish History,
Each year when I begin my course at the University of Michigan on the history of American Jews, I ask the students two questions:
- For those of you (always a minority) who have taken a course on Jewish history, where do American Jews appear? and
- For everyone who has studied American history, where do Jews appear?
The answer to the former question usually is “as immigrants.” The answer to the latter question keeps on shrinking over the years; most recently it was down to the Holocaust, which is where Jews appear in American history.
And yet, when I come to a pivotal event in American Jewish history like the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, in which far more Jews lost their lives than the 1903 Kishinev pogrom, my students are stunned to learn that the fire involved Jews: as workers and as owners of the factory. Students had learned in their American history classes about the fire, how it affected immigrant workers, especially women, and how it led to labor legislation that improved working conditions in factories, first in New York State and later in the nation.
National Jewish Welfare Board, I-337
But they didn’t know that the Triangle fire was a crucial piece of American Jewish history, an example of how Jews not only helped to shape the history of the United States, but also how Jews did not all line up on the same side. Some Jews, such as factory owners, exploited other Jews, such as factory workers. In the Triangle fire, the owners were not held responsible for the many deaths that occurred.
It’s time to reclaim the history of American Jews, to make visible their presence in the past throughout the United States.
The American Jewish Historical Society has embarked on a bold educational program aimed to reach students, starting in primary school. On the AJHS website, you can find a powerful podcast, “The Wreckage,” alongside a host of blog posts featuring wonderful material drawn from the archives. But robust funding is needed to support AJHS’ ever-growing digital footprint so that it becomes a rich, one-stop shop for researchers of all stripes seeking to learn about the extraordinary history of Jews in the United States. We want to reach professionals and family members, academics and students.
The new AJHS website creates a solid foundation from which to expand digital engagement with the archives, allowing for publication of articles, access to featured collections, and production of videos, podcasts, curriculum materials, and more. Updated to be mobile-friendly across all operating systems and devices, the new website has increased our online visitation tenfold, reaching thousands of people worldwide.
To turn possibility into actuality, AJHS has launched the American Jewish Education Program, a proposed new initiative that will transform AJHS into a genuinely national organization reflecting the geographic diversity of its vast collections and engaging audiences around the country, and the world, with the fascinating and intricate history of Jews in the United States. This initiative will support the expansion of digital-based web content, K-12 curriculum and online learning, podcasts and video content, and academic fellowships and publications; supporting AJHS and its audiences as we embark on a new era of outreach and engagement and seek to expand our national footprint. This initiative will allow us to fully realize our mission and establish AJHS as America’s preeminent resource on American Jewry. On behalf of AJHS and our Board of Trustees, I want to thank all of you who have generously given and ensured a robust launch of this initiative, and welcome all who want to become involved through your future support.
With your help, my future students will encounter Jews in their American history classes, not only in relation to the Holocaust but likewise throughout the sweep of American history.
Deborah Dash Moore
Jonathan Freedman Distinguished University Professor of History and Professor of Judaic Studies
Trustee, American Jewish Historical Society
