It Ought to Be Possible
All We Have Standing Between Us
In the summer of 1964, college students from the northern United States bused down to Mississippi to help Black activists with a voter registration drive known as “Freedom Summer.” The drive was meant to combat entrenched voter suppression practices, a hallmark of Jim Crow segregation found throughout the American south. On June 21, 1964, young volunteers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner arrived in Mississippi. Chaney, who was Black, and Andrew and Michael, who were Jewish, encountered law enforcement and pulled over, allegedly for speeding. Their arrest and later...
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Never in the History of the World
All We Have Standing Between Us
Following the Stock Market Crash of 1929, Americans struggled against the devastating realities of the Great Depression. Hoping to alleviate poverty, unemployment, and desperation, Jews embraced Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his promise of a “New Deal.” The advent of World War II brought the Depression to an end, but sparked global fascism and antisemitism at an unprecedented scale. Over 550,000 Jews joined the Armed Forces in an effort to defeat Nazism abroad and earn the respect of their fellow Americans at home. In the aftermath of the war, dormant tensions between the United States and...
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A Nation of Inconsistencies
All We Have Standing Between Us
Between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, approximately two million Jews fled Eastern Europe for the United States. After entering through Ellis Island, many made their new homes in the tenement buildings of New York’s Lower East Side, where they contended with dire living conditions, strenuous factory jobs, and linguistic and cultural challenges. Several Jewish philanthropists, including the poet Emma Lazarus, dedicated their resources to help the newcomers acclimate to American society. As wealth inequality and antisemitism soared, Jews embraced the labor movement to...
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A Leap Into the Unknown
All We Have Standing Between Us
During the American Civil War, the majority of Jews supported the Union, due to larger populations living in the North. Much like the American population at large, however, Jews in America were divided in their allegiances, representing a small but significant minority in the South as the Confederacy waged its war. Jews fiercely fought on both sides of the conflict, but not without facing the same antisemitism that had been a stain on the country before its division, most notably through General Grant’s Order No. 11, which called for the expulsion of Jews from multiple southern communities....
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The Rest of Mankind
All We Have Standing Between Us
In 1654, the first Jews arrived in New Amsterdam. Sephardic refugees from Recife, Brazil, they came to the Dutch-controlled colony to escape the Spanish/Portuguese Inquisition. These 23 individuals became the anchor of a fledging Jewish community in the colonies, and over the next century and beyond, American Jews found their place in society, commerce, and soon, revolution. From patriots to loyalists, this episode featuring historians Laura Arnold Leibman and Adam Jortner kicks off our new podcast series with stories pulled from some of the oldest and rarest materials from the AJHS archives....
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Coming Soon: All We Have Standing Between Us
All We Have Standing Between Us
All We Have Standing Between Us is a compelling narrative series from the American Jewish Historical Society. Featuring untold stories from the archives and a slate of special guests, listeners will be taken on a journey through the history of the United States and the Great Democratic Experiment, told through the lives of the American Jews who not just lived through it, but helped shape it. Narrated by AJHS Executive Director Gemma R. Birnbaum. All We Have Standing Between Us is made possible thanks to generous funding from the Knapp Family Foundation. Additional funding provided by...
info_outlineBetween the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, approximately two million Jews fled Eastern Europe for the United States. After entering through Ellis Island, many made their new homes in the tenement buildings of New York’s Lower East Side, where they contended with dire living conditions, strenuous factory jobs, and linguistic and cultural challenges. Several Jewish philanthropists, including the poet Emma Lazarus, dedicated their resources to help the newcomers acclimate to American society. As wealth inequality and antisemitism soared, Jews embraced the labor movement to improve their lives as American citizens. Featuring Esther Schor and Daniel Soyer, and hosted by AJHS Executive Director Gemma R. Birnbaum.
Episode Image: Jewish women promote the purchase of Liberty Bonds during World War I, from the National Jewish Welfare Board Records at the American Jewish Historical Society, I-337.
All We Have Standing Between Us is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Knapp Family Foundation. Additional funding provided by the Leon Levy Foundation, the Achelis and Bodman Foundation, the Atran Foundation, and Anonymous.