Row of Jewish-owned stores near Great Synagogue, Lumobl, Poland (now Ukraine), 1925. (Collection of Photographs and Measurement Drawings, neg. 23441. Institute of Art of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw. All rights reserved. Image courtesy the American Folklife Center, Library of Congress).
The prevailing image of the shtetl is the one in Fiddler on the Roof: a small, dirt-poor, strictly Jewish village. But shtetls…
We’re delighted to kick off a series close to our hearts: the story of Molly Picon, for decades a household name in Yiddish theater and vaudeville, then a Broadway star, performer with the USO and radio personality–not to mention Yente the Matchmaker in Fiddler in the Roof. Some called her "the Jewish Charlie Chaplin"; others, “the Jewish Helen Hayes.” We think she stands grandly…
Photo of the day: The American Jewish Congress takes a chartered bus from New York to Washington for the March on Washington, 1963. From American Jewish Historical Society. View the planning pamphlet for Jewish participation in the march here.
All images: Collection of Yeshiva University Museum
A sizeable portion of Eastern European Jewish immigrants who streamed into New York at the turn of the 20th century found work in the city’s expanding garment industry. Although only about 10% were actual trained tailors, many Jewish immigrants held experience in both producing clothing–since the garment industry in Russia was one of the only businesses open to Jews–and…