Spanning the years 1500 to the end of the 20th century, Immigration and American Religion is a unique exploration of the evolution, character, and dynamics of religion in America. From the original influx of Protestants to subsequent waves of Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Jains, Sikhs, and devotees of Santeria and Voudou, Jenna Weissman Joselit describes the struggle to establish traditions in the New World, oftentimes in the face of considerable hostility and prejudice. The impact of intolerance, the U.S. government's various policies on immigration, and the effects of two World Wars all play a significant part in this fascinating narrative. Drawing on the voices and experiences of immigrants, Immigration and American Religion documents the extraordinary diversity that has, for four centuries, made the United States one of the world's most dynamic societies.

Immigration and American Religion (Religion in American Life)

Children's Books

Joselit, Jenna Weissman

History

Oxford University Press

Since the seventeenth century, millions of people from every continent have settled in America. Seeking a better life for themselves and their children, they braved deprivations, studied an unfamiliar language, adapted to a different way of life, and battled prejudices and hostility. Most of them held on to their faith as well, re-establishing churches and meeting-houses, synagogues and mosques, temples and cathedrals, and electing priests, rabbis, imams, and other spiritual leaders from among their number. Immigration irreversibly altered the face of the new republic, and it still moulds the political and spiritual fabric of the nation even to this day. Joselit surveys the history of immigration--which is actually the history of this country--and its effect on both political and religious issues through the centuries. The book explores the immigrant experience through case studies representative of all major newcomers' groups. The vividly rendered stories of courage and perseverance will alternately inspire and horrify.

Parade of Faiths: Immigration and American Religion (Religion in American Life)

Americas

Discusses the criminal activities of Jews in New York City and examines the reactions of the Jewish community to those crimes

Our Gang: Jewish Crime and the New York Jewish Community, 1900-1940 (The Modern Jewish Experience)

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Indiana Univ. Pr

In this first interpretive historical account of the American Orthodox Jewish experience, Jenna Weissman Joselit investigates the ways in which pious Jews reconciled the requirements of religious tradition with the freedoms of interwar America. Through its focus on representative American Jewish institutions such as the synagogue and the rabbinate and on the sacred ritual life of Orthodox women, New York's Jewish Jews reveals how a self-consciously modern, American, and decidedly middle class Orthodoxy evolved before 1945.

New York's Jewish Jews: The Orthodox Community in the Interwar Years (The Modern Jewish Experience)

World

Indiana University Press

New York's Jewish Jews: The Orthodox Community in the Interwar Years (Modern Jewish Experience) [hardcover] Joselit, Jenna Weissman [Feb 01, 1990]

New York's Jewish Jews: The Orthodox Community in the Interwar Years (Modern Jewish Experience)

The selective relish with which most American Jews affirm their identity - consuming kosher delicacies once a year, extravagantly celebrating the bar mitzvahs of their sons and the weddings of their daughters has usually given rise to satire or consternation. The Wonders of America offers an alternative perspective, for this innovative social history of Jewish culture highlights the cultural ingenuity and adaptive genius of American Jewish life - from the end of the nineteenth century through the postwar period.Drawing on advertisements and etiquette manuals, sermons and surveys, Jenna Weissman Joselit offers a lively, mordant, and richly illustrated account of how American Jews created their distinctive culture. In vivid, often humorous detail, she describes how they raised their children, decorated their homes, shopped and cooked, celebrated holidays, and marked birth, marriage, and death as they became at home in America. Her fresh, original analysis makes clear that it is not the theoretical debates of rabbis and scholars but the small choices of daily life that shape and sustain a culture.

Wonders of America: Reinventing Jewish Culture, 1880-1950

Reference

Diane Pub Co.

While fashions of the rich and famous have been endlessly chronicled, little attention has been paid to the meaning of clothes for everyone else. Yet between 1890 and 1940, as ready-to-wear came into its own, fashion for ordinary Americans played an increasingly important role in shaping the national character. Drawing on advertisements and health manuals, sermons and songs, acclaimed historian Jenna Weissman Joselit shows how the length of a woman's skirt, the shape of a man's hat, and the height of a pair of heels enabled citizens of every faith, color, and class to feel part of the modern nation. Engaging, imaginative, and original, A Perfect Fit uncovers a time in our history when getting dressed was more about fitting in than standing out.

A Perfect Fit: Clothes, Character, and the Promise of America

Arts & Photography

Graphic Design

Holt Paperbacks

A striking and inventive social history of the role of clothing in the making of modern Americans. While fashions of the rich and famous have been lessly chronicled, little attention has been paid to the meaning of clothes for everyone else. Yet between 1890 and the outbreak of World War II, as ready-to-wear came into its own, the clothes of ordinary Americans claimed the nation's attention. Allied with civic virtue, fashion now played an increasingly important role in shaping the national character. Drawing on a wealth of sources -- from advertisements, trade journals, and health manuals to sermons, science, and songs -- acclaimed historian Jenna Weissman Joselit shows how the length of a woman's skirt, the shape of a man's hat, and the height of a pair of heels enabled Americans of every faith, color, and class to feel part of the modern nation. As moral arbiters warned that extravagant attire might undermine equality, and gentlemen worried that wearing colored shirts rered them less manly, the newly arrived and newly emancipated -- immigrants and African-Americans -- wondered just how much jewelry was appropriate to their new status as citizens. Engaging, imaginative, and original, A Perfect Fit uncovers a time in American history when getting dressed was more about fitting in than standing out and vividly shows how clothes expressed the spirit of democracy and the promise of America.

Metropolitan Books

The selective relish with which most American Jews affirm their identity -- consuming kosher delicacies once a year, extravagantly celebrating the bar mitzvahs of their sons and the weddings of their daughters -- has usually given rise to satire or consternation. The Wonders of America offers an alternative perspective, for this pioneering social history of Jewish culture highlights the cultural ingenuity and adaptive genius of American Jewish life. Drawing on advertisements, etiquette manuals, sermons, and surveys, Jenna Weissman Joselit constructs a lively and humorous account of how three generations of American Jews created their distinctive American culture. This provocative, enlightening study describes the forging of a rich and exuberant modern Jewish identity and makes it clear that it is not the theoretical debates of rabbis and scholars but the small choices of daily life that shape and sustain a culture

The Wonders of America: Reinventing Jewish Culture 1880-1950

Picador

Winner of the National Jewish Book Award Photographs, index.

Hill and Wang

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Joselit, Jenna Weissman. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Joselit, Jenna Weissman

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Joselit, Jenna Weissman. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Immigration and American Religion (Religion in American Life)

Parade of Faiths: Immigration and American Religion (Religion in American Life)

Our Gang: Jewish Crime and the New York Jewish Community, 1900-1940 (The Modern Jewish Experience)

New York's Jewish Jews: The Orthodox Community in the Interwar Years (The Modern Jewish Experience)

New York's Jewish Jews: The Orthodox Community in the Interwar Years (Modern Jewish Experience)

Wonders of America: Reinventing Jewish Culture, 1880-1950

A Perfect Fit: Clothes, Character, and the Promise of America

A Perfect Fit: Clothes, Character, and the Promise of America

The Wonders of America: Reinventing Jewish Culture 1880-1950

The Wonders of America: Reinventing Jewish Culture 1880-1950