Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1. "Any Other Girls in This Whole World Like Myself": Jewish Girls and Adolescence in America; 2 "Unless I Got More Education": Jewish Girls and the Problem ofEducation in Turn-of-the-Century America; 3 "Education in the Broadest Sense": Alternative Forms of Educationfor Working-Class Girls; 4 "A Perfect Jew and a Perfect American": The Religious Education of Jewish Girls; 5 "Such a World of Pleasure": Adolescent Jewish Girlsand American Youth Culture; Conclusion; Notes; Bibliography; Index; About the Author
Summary
Jewish Girls Coming of Age in America, 1860--1920 draws on a wealth of archival material, much of which has never been published--or even read--to illuminate the ways in which Jewish girls' adolescent experiences reflected larger issues relating to gender, ethnicity, religion, and education. Klapper explores the dual roles girls played as agents of acculturation and guardians of tradition. Their search for an identity as American girls that would not require the abandonment of Jewish tradition and culture mirrored the struggle of their families and communities for integration into American societ
