Melissa R. Klapper - Ballots, babies, and banners of peace. American Jewish womens activism, 1890-1940

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BALLOTS, BABIES, AND BANNERS OF PEACE

American Jewish Womens Activism, 18901940

Melissa R. Klapper

NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS

New York and London

www.nyupress.org

2013 by New York University

All rights reserved

References to Internet websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the author nor New York University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Klapper, Melissa R, author.

Ballots, babies, and banners of peace : American Jewish womens activism, 18901940 / Melissa R. Klapper.

pages; cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 9780814748947 (cl : alk. paper)

ISBN 9780814748954 (e)

ISBN 9780814749463 (e)

1. Jewish womenUnited StatesPolitical activityHistory20th century. 2. Jewish womenUnited StatesSocial conditions20th century. 3. WomenUnited StatesPolitical activityHistory20th century. 4. WomenUnited StatesSocial conditions20th century. 5. WomenSuffrageUnited StatesHistory20th century. 6. Women and peaceUnited StatesHistory20th century. I. Title.

HQ1426.K57 2012

305.4889240730904dc23 2012035354

New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper, and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability. We strive to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the greatest extent possible in publishing our books.

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Lovingly dedicated to my niece, Sophie Fine,
latest in a long line of strong Jewish women.

I take great pleasure thanking the many people who helped me with this book. Writing a book may be a solitary undertaking, but the process is no such thing. Without the encouragement, support, and faith of family, friends, colleagues, and a variety of institutions, taking on a project this size would indeed have been a thankless task.

First, let me express my gratitude to the unsung heroes of history, the archivists and librarians whose work preserves the past. Although too many in number to mention individually, the devoted professionals at the American Jewish Archives Center, the American Jewish Historical Society, the Harvard Medical Library, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Jewish Museum of Maryland, the Minnesota Historical Society, the Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center, the New York Public Library, the North Carolina Office of Archives and History, the Rowan University Campbell Library, the Swarthmore College Peace Collection, the Schlesinger Library on the History of American Women, the Social Welfare History Archives, the Sophia Smith Collection, the Upper Midwest Jewish Archives, and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research made my research possible. As this list indicates, I traveled far and wide while working on this book, and I would also like to thank all those who offered me home hospitality and made my research trips even more enjoyable: Arlene Bernstein, Beattie Broide, Phil and Sylvia Barack Fishman, Ruth Langer and Jonathan Sarna, Ferne and Mitchell Klapper, Sue and David Klapper, Elky and Reuven Pelberg, and Riv-Ellen Prell and Steven Foldes.

An array of institutions provided fellowships and grants. Many thanks to the American Jewish Archives Center, the Association for Jewish Studies Womens Caucus, the Frankel Institute for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Peace History Society, Rowan University, the Schlesinger Library, the Sophia Smith Collection, and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. I am especially grateful for the continuous support of the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute, an unparalleled home for Jewish womens studies.

The list of colleagues who have contributed in some way to this book is a long one. I am fortunate to be part of a genuinely encouraging and just plain nice group of people in the Department of History at Rowan University. Special thanks to my Rowan colleagues Dianne Ashton, Emily Blanck, and Janet Lindman for thoughtful comments on early versions of several chapters. It has been a pleasure to work with Jennifer Hammer at NYU Press again. Thanks to Naomi S. Cohen, Asya Vaisman, and Sebastian Schulman for rendering into such beautiful English some of the Yiddish sources I identified. Participants in the Philadelphia-area American Jewish studies reading group and the Frankel Institute for Advanced Judaic Studies Fall 2011 seminar on Jews and politics offered useful feedback at critical junctures. Joyce Antler, Sylvia Barack Fishman, Anna Igra, Leslie Ginsparg Klein, Deborah Dash Moore, Riv-Ellen Prell, Shula Reinharz, and Jonathan Sarna all helpfully commented on various parts of the book along the way. I owe special gratitude to Pam Nadell, for generously reading multiple drafts of the entire manuscript and for many years of encouragement, and to Alice Kessler-Harris, for consistently and enthusiastically challenging me to think bigger and for continuing to uphold the gold standard of mentorship.

My family and friends have been living with this book nearly as long as I have. I am so appreciative to Devorah Taitelbaum, Rivkah Fischman Weiss and family, Sara Esther and Yaakov Kader, Malka Miriam Mandel, Ashley Klapper Pressman, Yael and Michael Buckstein, Sarah Gersten, Janet and Danny Eisenberg and family, and Yoni and Zevi Jacobson and family for their friendship and encouragement, without which I might have drowned in a sea of footnotes. Most of all, I am grateful for the love and support of Ferne and Mitch Klapper, my parents, and Jennie, Josh, Dovie, and Sophie Fine, my sister, brother-in-law, nephew, and niece.