The Reading Culture of Yiddish-Speaking Immigrants

Eric L. Goldstein, professor of American and modern Jewish history at Emory University and the Judith London Evans Director of Emory’s Tam Institute for Jewish studies, joins us this week to discuss his current project focused on the reading culture of Yiddish-speaking immigrants to the United States from the late nineteenth century to the interwar period. He explains that, unlike a literary scholar who might concentrate on the literary importance of the works themselves, he’s interested in discovering what immigrants actually read. From novels and short stories to Americanization manuals, Goldstein shares his knowledge of immigrant reading culture during this time, and what he has found in his research.