Dixie Diaspora: An Anthology of Southern Jewish History

edited by Mark K. Bauman
contributions by Stephen Whitfield, Joshua Rothman, Eliza McGraw, Howard N. Rabinowitz, Ira Sheskin, Deborah R. Weiner, Hollace Ava Weiner, Lee Shai Weissbach, Clive Webb, Scott M. Langston, Elliot Ashkenazi, Mark K. Bauman, Canter Brown, Jr., Mark Greenberg, Joe Wilferth, John Langston and Gary Phillip Zola
introduction by Mark K. Bauman

University of Alabama Press, 2006
Cloth: 978-0-8173-1504-7 | Paper: 978-0-8173-5291-2
Library of Congress Classification F220.J5D59 2006
Dewey Decimal Classification 975.004974

ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC

ABOUT THIS BOOK

Regional Jewish history at its best.

This book is an anthology of essays designed to introduce readers to key issues in this growing field of scholarship and to encourage further study. Divided into five sections--“Jews and Judaism,” “Small Town Life,” “Business and Governance,” “Interaction,” and “Identity”--the essays cover a broad geographical and chronological span and address a variety of topics, including economics, politics, roles of women, ethnicity, and race. This organizational structure enhances the volume’s historical treatment of regional Jewish history and lends itself to cross-disciplinary study in fields such as cultural studies, religious studies, and political science.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Mark K. Bauman is retired Professor of History at Atlanta Metropolitan College and coeditor of The Quiet Voices: Southern Rabbis and Black Civil Rights.

REVIEWS

"This intriguing collection of essays offers a window into a still infrequently explored aspect of US Judaism, the one that eventually came complete with a southern drawl. The offerings range from examinations of 18th-century Savannah Jews to eastern European immigrants in small southern towns to Montgomery Jews during the height of the civil rights struggle. The volume includes an exploration of Jews and Judaism, small-town life, business and governance, interaction with non-Jews, and the identity of southern Jews. The essays vary widely in quality, but include a brilliant offering by Stephen J. Whitfield, 'The Braided Identity of Southern Jewry,' and Leonard Rogoff's disconcerting query, 'Is the Jew White?,' which traces how the southern Jew has been viewed in a racial contest. Hollace Ava Weiner delves deeply into the Lone Star State; Ira M. Sheskin relates the demise of small Jewish communities in the region; and Philip and Morris Dzialynski discuss how Jews helped to rebuild the South following the Civil War. Howard N. Rabinowitz grapples with nativism, bigotry, and anti-semitism, while Eliza R. L. McGraw traces how the Southern Baptist Convention hoped 'to win the Jews for Christ.' Summing Up: Recommended. For general and academic libraries."
—CHOICE

“The essays, while published elsewhere, make a contribution when read against one another. Bringing them together in an anthology allows the reader to think about the issues raised in much deeper ways. In addition, the essays are diverse, well researched, and thoughtful. They reflect a wide spectrum of opinion, providing interest and challenge.”-- Phyllis K. Leffler, coauthor of Academic and Public History: A Paradigm and Philosophy

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents
Introduction. An Anthology of Southern Jewish History 000
Part I. Jews and Judaism
Introduction to Part I 000
1. A "Haven for Benignity": Conflict and Cooperation Between Eighteenth
Century Savannah Jews
Mark I. Greenberg 000
2. Southern Rabbis and the Founding of the First National Association of
Rabbis
Gary P. Zola 000
3. The Mixers: The Role of Rabbis Deep in the Heart of Texas
Hollace Ava Weiner 000
Part II. Small Town Life
Introduction to Part II 000
4. East European Immigrants and the Image of Jews in the Small-Town South
Lee Shai Weissbach 000
5. Jewish Women of the Central Appalachian Coal Fields, 18801960: From
Breadwinners to Community Builders
Deborah R. Weiner 000
6. The Dixie Diaspora: The "Loss" of Small Southern Jewish Community
Ira M. Sheskin 000
Part III. Business and Governance
Introduction to Part III 000
7. Jewish Commercial Interests Between North and South: The Case of the
Lehmans and Seligmans
Elliott Ashkenazi 000
8. Philip and Morris Dzialynski: Jewish Contributions to the Rebuilding of the
New South
Canter Brown Jr.
9. Role Theory and History: The Illustration of Ethnic Brokerage in the
Atlanta Jewish Community in an Era of Transition and Conflict
Mark K. Bauman 000
Part IV. Interaction
Introduction 000
10. Nativism, Bigotry and Anti-Semitism in the South
Howard N. Rabinowitz 000
11. "Notorious in the Neighborhood": An Interracial Family in Early National
and Antebellum Virginia
Joshua D. Rothman 000
12. Closing Ranks: Montgomery Jews and Civil Rights, 19541960
Clive Webb 000
Part V. Identity
Introduction 000
13. Interaction and Identity: Jews and Christians in Nineteenth Century New
Orleans
Scott M. Langston
14. Is the Jew White? The Racial Place of the Southern Jew
Leonard Rogoff 000
15. The Braided Identity of Southern Jewry
Stephen J. Whitfield 000
16. "How to Win the Jews for Christ": Southern Jewishness and the Southern
Baptist Convention
Eliza R. L. McGraw 000
Bibliographical Essay 000
Contributors 000

See other books on: Anthology | Ashkenazi, Elliot | Bauman, Mark K. | Brown, Canter | Zola, Gary Phillip
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