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Distributed for the McKissick Museum
A Portion of the People Edited with an Introduction by Theodore Rosengarten A fresh interpretation, in text and illustrations, of Jewish life and culture in the American South
9 1/4 x 10 3/4, 288 pages, 160 illus. |
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ABOUT THE BOOKIn the year 1800, South Carolina was home to more Jews than any other place in North America. As old as the province of Carolina itself, the Jewish presence has been a vital but little-examined element in the growth of cities and towns, in the economy of slavery and post-slavery society, and in the creation of American Jewish religious identity. The record of a landmark exhibition that will change the way people think about Jewish history and American history. A Portion of the People: Three Hundred Years of Southern Jewish Life presents a remarkable group of art and cultural objects and a provocative investigation of the characters and circumstances that produced them. The book and exhibition are the products of a seven-year collaboration by the Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina, the McKissick Museum of the University of South Carolina, and the College of Charleston. Edited and introduced by Theodore Rosengarten, with original essays by Deborah Dash Moore, Jenna Weissman Joselit, Jack Bass, curator Dale Rosengarten, and Eli N. Evans, A Portion of the People is an important addition to southern arts and letters. Half the exhibition's 200 objects appear here in color and black-and-white illustrations. Narrative descriptions place the objects in their historical and artistic contexts. Portraits of Jewish citizens prominent in the region's history appear side by side with artifacts that tell of immigration and settlement, adaptation and alienation, success and failure. Just as the Jews in the South tested American freedoms, liberty and tolerance tried the newcomers' adherence to their ancient religion. A photographic essay by Bill Aron, who has documented Jewish communities around the world, brings the story into the present. His South Carolina photographs reflect major developments of the past fifty years, including the legacy of the Holocaust, postwar prosperity, the challenge of the civil rights movement, and the trend toward increasing religious observance. Includes essays by:
ABOUT THE AUTHORTheodore Rosengarten , a native of Brooklyn, New York, is a teacher, writer, and community activist. He holds a B.A. in American studies from Amherst College and a Ph.D. in history from Harvard University. The author of Tombee: Portrait of a Cotton Planter (National Book Critics Circle Award for best biography), All God's Dangers: The Life of Nate Shaw (National Book Award for contemporary affairs), and numerous articles in anthologies, journals, and magazines, Rosengarten was named a MacArthur Fellow in 1989. He lives in McClellanville, South Carolina. REVIEWS"This wonderful coffee-table size volume of 288 pages, with 86 color plates, 74 halftones, and an introduction by the distinguished historian Eli Evans, would be a valuable addition to any library or book collection, or make a great gift for anyone interested in Jewish life and history. . . .This is one of the most impressive and beautiful books we have ever seen, and it is full of fascinating stories about many aspects of early Jewish life in the South."—Jewish Georgian"The Rosengartens have provided scholars and other readers with a spectacular entree into a past that is at once familiar and exotic, reassuring and strange."—Jewish History "[A] magnificent volume ... In addition to topflight scholarship and inspired writing by historians, folklorists, and other contributors, the attention to detail in the conception, organization, and design of A Portion of the People makes it eminently appealing and acessible to a broad audience ... A remarkable documentary adventure!"—Journal of Southern History McKissick CollectionCollecting South Carolina Folk Art The Figurative Paintings of Henry Salem Hubbell
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