Course Description:
     This course will explore the history and culture of Jews in the American South from the colonial period to the present. It will track Jewish settlement in the region from its beginnings in the eighteenth century, examine the Southern Jewish subculture that emerged during the antebellum period, examine how Jewish communities were sustained by the regional economy, and how the decline of small town Jewish life and the arrival of Jews from other parts of the country during the twentieth century contributed to the breakdown of regional patterns. While studying all of these phases of Southern Jewish life, we will wrestle with the question of regional distinctiveness, trying to understand how and to what extent Jewishness was shaped by the South's approach to social relations and "respectability," its emphasis on evangelical religion, and its struggle with the issue of race. Students will also have the opportunity to explore these issues within the context of a major research project.

Texts:
     The following texts are available for purchase at the Emory bookstore. They are also on reserve at the circulation desk of Woodruff Library.

· Leonard Dinnerstein, The Leo Frank Case
· Eli Evans, The Provincials
· Melissa Faye Greene, The Temple Bombing
· Stella Suberman, The Jew Store
· Alfred Uhry, The Last Night of Ballyhoo
· Mark K. Bauman, The Southerner As American: Jewish Style (pamphlet available from the History Department for $2.50)

There are also several articles on e-reserve. These can be accessed by visiting the EUCLID website, clicking on the "Reserve Desk" button at the top of the screen, and entering in the course number or instructor's name in the search field. Choose the option for this course, locate the relevant reading on the list and click on the "view" link. You may then print out the article for your own use.


Course Requirements and Grading:
     Because we only meet once a week, attendance is vital to your success in this course. Therefore, more than one absence will affect your final grade. Students are expected to arrive each week with a thorough knowledge of the required readings. Each student will be responsible for facilitating one class session by preparing a handout of one or two pages that 1) draws out the central arguments of the readings and sums up the common thread that binds them, and 2) poses a few questions that will help get our discussion started. Handouts might also include particular terms or quotations from the readings that you think deserve special discussion or analysis. In addition, each student will be responsible for reading the recommended readings for one class session and offering a short summary of their main points, with special attention to how they add to, contradict or complicate the required readings for that session.

There will be two written assignments:

1) A 5-7 page review of Mark K. Bauman's pamphlet, The Southerner as American: Jewish Style, due in class on March 29, in which you will be asked to muster evidence from the readings we have covered during the semester to argue either in support of or against his thesis about the lack of Southern Jewish distinctiveness.

2) A major research paper of 15-20 pages on a topic of your choice (to be determined in consultation with the instructor) and based on primary sources available in various libraries and archives in the Metro-Atlanta area. Please note the dates for scheduling optional meetings to discuss your topics, and mandatory meetings toward the end of the term to discuss the progress you are making. On March 1 you will have to submit a 1-2 page thesis statement along with a short bibliography. To help you as you conduct your research, optional visits to the Woodruff Library and to the William Breman Jewish Heritage Center, a major repository of Southern Jewish archival material, will be arranged at times convenient to students. You will also receive "Southern Jewish History: A Research Guide to Archival Resources in the Atlanta Area and a Bibliography of Published Works," a booklet specially designed to aid you in this course. At the end of the term, each student will be asked to make a presentation on their work-in-progress. All research papers must be typed, double spaced and footnoted according to the format described in the Chicago Manual of Style or some other acceptable style manual. The papers are due by the last day of classes, April 30, at 5:00pm in my mailbox in the history office, 221 Bowden Hall. Papers will be marked down one grade for each day they are late.

The final grades will be calculated as follows:

Class Participation (including attendance, facilitating, and presentations): 30%
Short Essay: 10%
Research Paper: 60%

Class Schedule:

January 18
Introduction
Screening of Delta Jews

January 25
The Rise of the Jewish Southerner
Required Reading:
· Evans, 37-58
· Mark I. Greenberg, "Becoming Southern: The Jews of Savannah, Georgia, 1830-70"
· Bertram W. Korn, "Jews and Negro Slavery in the Old South, 1789-1865"
· Robert N. Rosen, "The Free Air of Dixie" in The Jewish Confederates
Recommended Reading:
· James W. Hagy, "Acceptance," in This Happy Land
· Bertram W. Korn, "Why Had it Taken So Long? Assimilation or Continuity?" in The Early Jews of New Orleans

February 1
The Civil War and Reconstruction: A Fall From Grace?
Required Reading:
· Evans, 59-69
· Abraham J. Peck, "That Other 'Peculiar Institution': Jews and Judaism in the Nineteenth Century South"
· Louis Schmier, "Notes and Documents on the 1862 Expulsion of Jews from Thomasville, Georgia"
· Mark I. Greenberg, "Ambivalent Relations: Acceptance and Anti-Semitism in Confederate Thomasville"
Recommended Reading:
· Zebulon Baird Vance, "The Scattered Nation" (1876) with biographical introduction

February 8
Jews in the New South Economy
Required reading:
· Evans, 3-34
· Stella Suberman, The Jew Store
Recommended reading:
· Louis Schmier, "Hellooo! Peddlerman! Hellooo!"
· Stephen J. Whitfield, "Commercial Passions: The Southern Jew as Businessman"

February 15
Religion, Community and Civic Integration
Required Reading:
· Evans, 89-135
· Hollace Weiner, "The Mixer" in Jewish Stars in Texas
· Beth Wenger, "Jewish Women of the Club"
· Mark K. Bauman, "Rabbi Harry H. Epstein and the Adaptation of Second-Generation East European Jews in Atlanta"
Recommended Reading:
· Edward Cohen, "The Temple" in Peddler's Grandson
· Steven Hertzberg: From Traditionalism to Classical Reform" in Strangers Within the Gate City

February 22
Antisemitism in the New South
Required Reading:
· Evans, 187-251
· Leonard Dinnerstein, The Leo Frank Case
Recommended Reading:
· Nancy MacLean, "The Leo Frank Case Reconsidered: Gender and Sexual Politics in the Making of Reactionary Populism"
· Louis Schmier, "'No Jew Can Murder': Memories of Tom Watson and the Lichtenstein Murder Case of 1901"

February 26-28
Optional meetings with Dr. Goldstein to discuss paper topics

March 1
The Challenges of Southern Jewish Identity
Required Reading:
· Evans, 70-85, 139-184
· Alfred Uhry, The Last Night of Ballyhoo
· Stephen J. Whitfield, "The Braided Identity of Southern Jewry"
Due in class: Thesis Statement of 1-2 pages with a short bibliography

March 8
African Americans and Jews
Required Reading:
· Evans, 255-290
· Melissa Faye Greene, The Temple Bombing
Recommended Reading:
· Eric L. Goldstein, "'Now is the Time to Show Your True Colors': Jews and Whiteness in the Progressive Era"
· Clive Webb, "Charles Bloch: Jewish White Supremacist"

March 15
NO CLASS - SPRING BREAK

March 22
The Mixed Fate of Southern Jewry
Required Reading:
· Evans, 291-364
· David Ellenson, "A Separate Life"
· Terry Barr, "A Shtetl Grew in Bessemer: Temple Beth El and Jewish Life in Small Town Alabama"
Recommended Reading:
· Deborah Dash Moore, "Jewish Migration in Post-War America: The Case of Miami and Los Angeles"

March 29
How Distinctive is Southern Jewish History?
Guest: Mark K. Bauman
Required Reading:
Mark K. Bauman, The Southerner As American: Jewish Style
Due in class: Bauman Essay

April 5
Presentations

April 12
Presentations

April 10-13
Mandatory consultations with Dr. Goldstein - We will schedule times convenient to you to meet individually in my office to discuss your projects. If you want me to read a rough draft and comment on it, I must receive it the day before our scheduled meeting.

April 19
Presentations

April 26
No class - time for writing

April 30
Papers Due - by 5:00pm in my box in the History Department Office, 221 Bowden Hall