Although the fact is seldom recognized, Jews have been a part of the American experience since the early colonial days. They brought to these shores skills and traditions that America has welcomed and rewarded. They have made major contributions to this country's social, scientific, and cultural fabric. Despite their small numbers, the Jews of Rhode Island can claim two governors and many lawyers, physicians, scientists, manufacturers, businessmen, artists, and educators in state history. The Jews of Rhode Island 1658-1958 is the first comprehensive pictorial history of the Rhode Island Jewish experience. It provides a broad sweep of the first 300 years of Jewish history in Rhode Island beginning with the very first Jewish settlers in Newport in 1658 and includes images of their lives in all parts of the state.

A richly illustrated survey of the history and culture of Rhode Island Jews.

Family Connections examines the dimensions of daily survival strategies for newcomers in an uncertain urban environment. Focusing on the history of Italian and Jewish immigrant families in Providence, Rhode Island, the book assesses the links between familial and ethnic culture and broader allegiances of solidarity, and suggests some of the differences between male and female experience within a shared identity as a family. Contains four maps, 25 photos.

Despite much study of Viennese culture and Judaism between 1890 and 1914, little research has been done to examine the role of Jewish women in this milieu. Rescuing a lost legacy, Jewish Women in Fin de Siècle Vienna explores the myriad ways in which Jewish women contributed to the development of Viennese culture and participated widely in politics and cultural spheres. Areas of exploration include the education and family lives of Viennese Jewish girls and varying degrees of involvement of Jewish women in philanthropy and prayer, university life, Zionism, psychoanalysis and medicine, literature, and culture. Incorporating general studies of Austrian women during this period, Alison Rose also presents significant findings regarding stereotypes of Jewish gender and sexuality and the politics of anti-Semitism, as well as the impact of German culture, feminist dialogues, and bourgeois self-images. As members of two minority groups, Viennese Jewish women nonetheless used their involvement in various movements to come to terms with their dual identity during this period of profound social turmoil. Breaking new ground in the study of perceptions and realities within a pivotal segment of the Viennese population, Jewish Women in Fin de Siècle Vienna applies the lens of gender in important new ways.