Jewish Communities on the Ohio River: A History

Ohio River Valley Series

by Amy Hill Shevitz

When westward expansion began in the early nineteenth century, the Jewish population of the United States was only 2,500. As Jewish immigration surged over the century between 1820 and 1920, Jews began to find homes in the Ohio River Valley. In Jewish Communities on the Ohio River, Amy Hill Shevitz chronicles the settlement and evolution of Jewish communities in small towns on both banks of the river―towns such as East Liverpool and Portsmouth, Ohio, Wheeling, West Virginia, and Madison, Indiana. Though not large, these communities influenced American culture and history by helping to develop the Ohio River Valley while transforming Judaism into an American way of life. The Jewish experience and the regional experience reflected and reinforced each other. Jews shared regional consciousness and pride with their Gentile neighbors. The antebellum Ohio River Valley's identity as a cradle of bourgeois America fit very well with the middle-class aspirations and achievements of German Jewish immigrants in particular. In these small towns, Jewish citizens created networks of businesses and families that were part of a distinctive middle-class culture. As a minority group with a vital role in each community, Ohio Valley Jews fostered religious pluralism as their contributions to local culture, economy, and civic life countered the antisemitic sentiments of the period. Jewish Communities on the Ohio River offers enlightening case studies of the associations between Jewish communities in the big cities of the region, especially Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, and the smaller river towns that shared an optimism about the Jewish future in America. Jews in these communities participated enthusiastically in ongoing dialogues concerning religious reform and unity, playing a crucial role in the development of American Judaism. The history of the Ohio River Valley includes the stories of German and East European Jewish immigrants in America, of the emergence of American Reform Judaism and the adaptation of tradition, and of small-town American Jewish culture. While relating specifically to the diversity of the Ohio River Valley, the stories of these towns illustrate themes that are central to the larger experience of Jews in America.

Genres: History

288 pages, Hardcover

First published August 17, 2007

Reviews

[Babs M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting but I was hoping on more personal stories.

[Joan Eisenstodt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm still reading .. making my way slowly through. I'm fascinated by who came before my family in the Ohio River Valley and disappointed it didn't take Dayton into account. I was hoping to find our family and those I knew who were early to the area. So far.. not only am I learning about the settlement of Ohio (as I did in Conrad Richter's fiction trilogy) I am learning about how the Jewish communities formed and the changes in how Judaism was practiced.

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Finally finished and it was fascinating. I saw my state and the religion into which I was born so differently. It made me long for the knowledge of my grandparents, born in the 1800s, and their early lives about which I know bupkis. Even if you aren't Jewish, the history of the state of Ohio and the history of religion is superb.

[Stan DeGroote · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book originated as a PhD dissertation, so it has a lot of detail. That makes it a 'rich resource' more than a 'light read'. But if you have ancestors who lived in one of these communities, this is well worthwhile.