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America’s Jewish Women: A History from Colonial Times to Today

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October 29, 2019
All Day
Columbus Jewish Community Center, 1125 College Ave., Columbus, OH 43209

Featuring Pamela Nadell, the Patrick Clendenen Chair in Women's and Gender History at American University 

 

 

 

                                             

 

 

                                                                                                                                                            

Professor Nadell's talk will focus on her recent book, America's Jewish Women: A History from Colonial Times today.

America’s Jewish Women uncovers what it has meant to be a Jewish woman in America by weaving together the stories of remarkable individuals—from the colonial matron Grace Nathan and her great-granddaughter, the poet Emma Lazarus, to labor activist Bessie Hillman and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. In this groundbreaking history, we see how they and the scores of women—the wives, mothers, activists, and workers who appear in these pages—maintained their Jewish identities as they wrote themselves into American history. Defined by a strong sense of self, a resolute commitment to making the world a better place, and diverse notions of what being a Jew means, America’s Jewish women left deep imprints on their families, communities and the nation they call home.
 
Pamela S. Nadell holds the Patrick Clendenen Chair in Women's and Gender History and is Director of the Jewish Studies Program. A specialist in American Jewish history and women’s history, she teaches a variety of courses in Jewish civilization. Her awards include AU’s highest faculty award, Scholar/Teacher of the Year (2007) and the American Jewish Historical Society’s Lee Max Friedman Award for distinguished service to the profession. Her books include Women Who Would Be Rabbis: A History of Women's Ordination, 1889-1985 (Beacon Press, 1998), which was a finalist for a National Jewish Book Award. Her new book America's Jewish Women: A History from Colonial Times to Today (W.W. Norton) will be published during Women's History Month in March 2019. Past president of the international learned society the Association for Jewish Studies, she lectures widely in the U.S., Europe, and Israel. Her consulting work for museums includes the Library of Congress and the National Museum of American Jewish History on Philadelphia’s Independence Mall.
 
Presented by Columbus Jewish Bookfair