Going South : Jewish Women in the Civil Rights Movement

Read the PrefaceRead a Sample ChapterContributes[s] interesting new dimensions to the literature on Jews and blacks in the United States.--The Journal of American HistoryA fascinating text which adds to our understanding of recent Jewish Left and feminist politics and activism--Australian Jewish News, Aug. 2001Blending together 15 oral histories and archival research, Schultz shows how northern Jewish women's commitment to social justice - informed in part by living in the shadow of the Holocaust - played out in a time of enormous political, social, and personal upheaval...Sharply observant of her informants' lives, Schultz opens a new window not only into the civil rights movement but also into the sociology of mid-century Jewish-American culture. Her analysis is most impressive at the book's end, when she perceptively describes the protean nature of Jewish identities in the U.S. Such insightful cultural readings and criticism make this a fine contribution to both the literature of the civil rights movement and the field of Jewish studies.--Publishers WeeklySchultz's book makes a substantial contribution to feminist scholarship, but in the end it is also a call to renewed action - to never forget the sacrifices of previous generations.--The Journal of Southern HistoryA well-written, serious, and important book. I learned a great deal from this interesting and rich study.--Joyce Antler, author of The Journey Home: How Jewish Women Shaped Modern AmericaGoing South is a heartfelt plea for incorporating women's activism into social movement history.--Linn Shapiro, American Jewish HistoryGoing South is a remarkable book, reflecting the experiences of fifteen women who joined the 1960s civil rights movement showing how and why they got there, what role, if any religion played in their lives, and what happened to them afterwards.--Journal of American StudiesThe strength of the book is that it is based on interviews; the reader is introduced to each women, her family, the work she performed in the South, the people she met and the difficulties she overcame while there.--Jewish ObserverMany people today know that the 1964 murder in Mississippi of two Jewish men--Mickey Schwerner and Andrew Goodman--and their Black colleague, James Chaney, marked one of the most wrenching episodes of the civil rights movement. Yet very few realize that Andrew Goodman had been in Mississippi for one day when he was killed; Rita Schwerner, Mickey's wife, had been organizing in Mississippi for six difficult months. Organized around a rich blend of oral histories, Going South followsa group of Jewish women--come of age in the shadow of the Holocaust and deeply committed to social justice--who put their bodies andlives on the line to fight racism. Actively rejecting the post-war idyll of suburban, Jewish, middle-class life, these women were deeply influenced by Jewish notions of morality and social justice. Many thus perceived the call of the movement as positively irresistible.Representing a link between the sensibilities of the early civil rights era and contemporary efforts to move beyond the limits of identity politics, the book provides a resource for all who are interested in anti-racism, the civil rights movement, social justice, Jewish activism and radical women's traditions.

Debra L. Schultz, a feminist historian, is Director of Programs of The Open Society Institute (Soros Foundations Network) Women's Program, which works to include women in the development of more democratic societies. She has taught courses on the History of Black-Jewish Relations and on Multicultural Women's History at Rutgers University and the New School University