The Jews in America: A Picture Album by Milton Meltzer The Jewish Publication Society, 1985.

The Jews in America: A Picture Album by Milton Meltzer The Jewish Publication Society, 1985.
 This is the moving story of America's Jews from their arrival as settlers in 1654 to today. The first twenty-three Jews came seeking freedom from persecution. Most of their belongings were lost at sea. What remained was auctioned off to pay for their voyage. And Peter Stuyvesant, the governor of New Amsterdam, calling them "hateful enemies, " wanted to send the Jews back. He was ordered by his Dutch superiors to let the Jews remain, but that did not prevent Stuyvesant from restricting their rights. He barred Jews from owning land, trading with the Indians, establishing a house of worship, and holding public office. Despite these beginnings, a strong, vibrant Jewish community has grown in the United States. Mil- ton Meltzer describes the immigration of the German Jews in the early 1800s, the part Jews played in the slavery issue and the Civil War, the pogroms and poverty in the Old Country, and the resulting huge exodus to America from the 1880s to the 1920s. Here is the story of the turbulent life in the tenements and sweatshops of the Lower East Side, the struggle for education and the right to organize and gain a foot- hold in business and the professions. Here too is the part Jews play in philanthropy and social causes and their hopes for the future. Enriching this lively and illuminat- ing history are more than one hundred prints and photographs.

hardcover with DJ

169 pp

good condition