Immigrant Women

by Elizabeth Ewen

Describes the daily experiences of Jewish and Italian immigrant women in New York City

Genres: History, American History, Nonfiction, New York, Unfinished

303 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1985

Reviews

[Neetu]

Fascinating how women from the old world helped shape communities and create new customs along the way, in the new world. Their voice was vital for riots, protests, and birth control. The relationships between mothers and daughters is a complicated one. The introduction of movies and American dress only further complicated that. Overall an “easy” read. No real shocks, but it’s also one of the first monographs discussing these topics of Italian and Jewish immigrants.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I guess this is supposed to be a text book but I'm really enjoying reading it for pleasure. Its so well written and ties together a lot of individual narratives. I'm just fascinated how customs from womens' respective Old Worlds were translated and adapted upon arriving to America. And the things they considered luxury (running water and canned food!) show us not only how far we've come but also how lucky we are. There's also this interesting theme in the book of social workers basically observing these people like lab rats, and occasionally stepping in when they want to impress some "American" ideas onto people.

[George Crowder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite an interesting look into the lives of Jewish and Italian immigrant women at the turn of the century, a time of an enormous wave of immigrants, social turmoil, and rapid technological change. In some ways, more of a textbook than a read-for-pleasure.

[Ronnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Alaina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a perfectly serviceable work of scholarly writing. It never gripped me like some women's history has, but then I devoted only half my attention to it. In fact, I read it over the course of many months.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quite encyclopedic if not always eye-catching chronicle of the women of the Lower East Side but featuring an admirable number of primary accounts from the women who lived there. I have to say that it did lack in the one thing I came for (and the title seemed to imply) any information on crime or sex work in the quarter. An unfortunate oversight.