This project will venture into the experience of the Jewish community from the mid Gilded Age to World War Two. It will look at the dynamics between the Jewish community and other communities prevalent in New York City during this time period, the Jewish factory working experience, and political movements that drew widespread Jewish interest. The experience that Jews had throughout the Gilded Age consisted of less opportunity, ostracization from higher society, and shunning by goyim. Jobs were offered to goyim while specifically barring Jews from even applying. As the population density of Jewish people in New York City increased in the end of the 19th century, other communities began to meet and interact with Jews on a more consistent basis so Jews slowly began to join the racial discourse discussion that they had been left out of and talked heavily about in for some time. As the influx of of Jewish immigrants rose to about 3.3 million in 1918, an almost doubling from 1907’s 1.7 million, more and more often Jews would be represented in cinema or newspaper in a negative light. As the Progressive Era continued, Jews were more and more passed up for the best of opportunities, pushing the community as a whole further below the poverty line.
As the United States entered the 20th century, it also entered an era of unprecedented antisemitism. Jobs were scarce, especially for Jews, and the young generation of Jews grew up watching antisemitism rise at home and fascism rise abroad. They were unsure of where life would take them, unsure of the American dream and its tangibility, and unsure of the stability of their own families. The Jewish population in America rose from about 200,000 to about one million in the last few decades before the 20th century, and this growth lead directly into the further visibility and harassment that the Jewish community received. Although they stayed in high school longer than their non-Jewish counterparts, Jewish youth typically only went to school with other Jews. The pressure mounting in Europe was soon felt by all Jews, even in the United States. As Adolph Hitler gained reputation and strength in Germany, antisemitic sentiments grew back home. Until the United States’ entering the war, immigration laws were such that not many Jews were allowed to enter the country. The area most historically recognized as having been a “Jewish” neighborhood is the Lower East Side of Manhattan. This also happened to be a very large Puerto Rican neighborhood following the Great Depression, putting the two cultures side by side in a city that wanted nothing to do with either of them. Puerto Ricans and Jews worked toward the same goal of equality and fair treatment in their communities, and formed representative groups for self advocacy.
The general idea present throughout all Jewish American history, and especially from the 1880’s through until World War Two, is that the Jewish people are not wanted anywhere. The Jewish people have been kicked out of dozens of countries simply for the act of being Jewish. This has contributed to the depression and loneliness felt by the Jewish people throughout history. They have been systematically killed, tortured, and banished from countries. From the Great Diaspora to the Holocaust, Jews have been shown time and time again through concrete example that they are despised. The entire Jewish history is a tragedy that seems to be without end. This project intends to show some of the specific horrors and atrocities felt by the Jewish people and hopes to allow for greater sympathy toward them.
This exhibit will cover the Gilded Age and its effects on the Jewish people coming to a climax at the Holocaust and World War Two. The downward spiral felt by the Jewish community felt both in the US and out. Research will include primary sources directly from concentration camps, first hand accounts of New York City Jewish life, and disparaging cartoons made to caricaturize the Jewish people. Regarding the Progressive Era, this project will show the lack of opportunities allowed for Jews and their families as well as the uneasiness that this brought to the entire population of marginalized individuals.