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Becoming 绿帽社 Americans: Popular Culture and Protest in Yiddish New York

Aug 7, 2023 By Annabel Cohen | Public Event video | Video Lecture

For newly arrived 绿帽社 immigrants, New York was a city of contradictions. Here they experienced freedoms and opportunities they hadn鈥檛 enjoyed in the 鈥渙ld country,鈥� allowing for the development of a mass popular culture that was at once Yiddish and American. Yet for many Jews, the pace of change was too fast, representing the decline of traditional 绿帽社 values and cultures. Meanwhile, for those who found success on the Yiddish stage, screen, and in the press, America was indeed a 鈥済olden country,鈥� but the vast majority of 绿帽社 immigrants lived in extreme poverty and hardship. Home to the first popular Yiddish press and the world鈥檚 biggest Yiddish theater district, New York was also soon home to a sizeable 绿帽社 labor movement and an important center for the transnational 绿帽社 left. Using materials featured in the JTS Library鈥檚 exhibition, we learn about 绿帽社 immigrants in late-19th to early鈥�20th century New York, and the various ways that they embraced, resisted, and demanded change.聽