New York and The Jewish Americans screenings and discussions

Monday, September 24, 2018

Screenings and discussion: Monday, September 24 at 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. in the Andrew Foster Auditorium and 7:30 p.m. in Chapel Hall.

New York

Episode 4 of this acclaimed series examines the great wave of immigration that began in the late 19th century, tripled New York’s population and transformed the city and the nation.

On camera, renowned historians like David McCullough and writers like Pete Hamill describe the new tide of humanity from southern and eastern Europe – Italians, Poles, Turks, Hungarians, Ukrainians, Greeks – their reasons for migrating, their passage through Ellis Island, their life in the Lower East Side, and their role in transforming America into an industrial nation.

The Jewish Americans

This segment – from the award-winning series written and directed by David Grubin – explores in depth the story of one of the groups that made up the great wave of immigration described in Program One.

Fleeing poverty and oppression in Eastern Europe, over two million Jews flooded into America, drawn by the promise of religious freedom and economic opportunity. Many migrated across the U.S., but the majority created a new life in Manhattan’s slums.

Struggling to adapt their traditions to their new life, they were aided by new ethnic institutions such as The Forward, a newspaper which devoted columns to teaching newcomers American mores, in often unintentionally humorous ways.