The most notable of the books on Jewish subjects written by Gentiles in the United States is The Settlement of the Jews in North America, by Charles P. Daly (1816–99), which was one of the sources of the present work. Dr. Madison C. Peters has written several popular and sympathetic works about the Jews; while Harold Frederic’s The New Exodus (New York, 1892) gives a vivid description of the conditions in Russia at the time of the renewed expulsions from Moscow and other places in 1891. Hutchins Hapgood, author of The Spirit of the Ghetto, and Myra Kelly (Mrs. Allan Macnaughton; d. 1910) are among those who attempted to describe the Jewish immigrant in his new surroundings in the thickly settled quarters in the first period after his arrival, when he was in many respects unintelligible to himself, as well as to others.
As journalists, editors and publishers of newspapers, a number of Jews have occupied, and still occupy, prominent positions. Mordecai Manuel Noah was one of the influential newspaper men of New York in his time (see above [p. 162]). Edwin de Leon, who has also been mentioned in a former chapter, was the editor of the Southern Press of Washington, which was at that time considered the representative organ of the southern people at the national capital. Barnet Phillips (b. in Philadelphia, 1828; d. 1905) was for more than thirty years connected with the New York Times, which is now published by Adolph S. Ochs (b. in Cincinnati, 1858), who married a daughter of Rabbi Isaac M. Wise. A younger brother, George Washington Ochs (b. in Cincinnati, 1861), is now at the head of the Public Ledger of Philadelphia, and still another brother, Milton Barlow Ochs (b. in Cincinnati, 1864) was managing editor of the Chattanooga Times and is now the publisher of the Nashville American. Morris Phillips (1834–1904) was the chief editor and proprietor of The New York Home Journal for a generation. Edward Rosewater (b. in Bohemia, 1841; a. 1854; died in Omaha, Neb., 1906) was for many years the editor of the Omaha Bee, which became under him one of the great newspapers of the Middle West, and is now edited by his son, Victor Rosewater (b. in Omaha, 1871), who was a member of the Republican National Committee for the State of Nebraska. Philip Rapoport (b. in Germany, 1845) was for nearly twenty years editor of the Indianapolis Tribune. Samuel Strauss, of Des Moines, Ia., owned the Register and Leader there, and was later publisher of the New York Globe. Joseph Pulitzer (b. in Hungary, 1847; a. 1864; d. 1911) of the New York World was of Jewish descent, and so is Michael Harry de Young (b. in St. Louis, 1848), who owns and edits the San Francisco Chronicle. Solomon Solis Carvalho (b. in Baltimore, 1856), the son of the artist, Solomon N. Carvalho, is the general manager of W. R. Hearst’s newspapers. A large number of Jews hold various positions on the staffs of newspapers and magazines all over the country, from editors, literary, dramatic and musical critics down to reporters. Many are also engaged in the business parts of the work, as publishers, advertising managers, etc.
Mordecai Manuel Noah.
The most important of the older Jewish periodicals in the vernacular were mentioned in former chapters. The Menorah Monthly, which was for many years edited by Moritz Ellinger (b. in Bavaria, 1830; d. in New York, 1907), was the best Jewish magazine in America, as well as the one which existed for the longest time. The New Era Illustrated Magazine, which was published for several years by Isidor Lewi (b. in Albany, N. Y., 1850), of the editorial staff of the New York Tribune, was an other valuable periodical. The Zionist Maccabean is now the only Jewish monthly magazine published in America. There is one semi-monthly, the B’nai B’rith Messenger, of Los Angeles, Cal. (established 1897), and over twenty weeklies, most of which are of only local interest. The more important are: The American Hebrew of New York, established 1879, by Philip Cowen (b. in New York, 1853); the American Israelite and its Chicago edition, founded by Isaac M. Wise in 1854; The Emanuel of San Francisco, Cal., which was founded in 1895 by Rabbi Jacob Voorsanger (b. in Amsterdam Holland, 1852; d. 1908); The Hebrew Standard of New York, established 1883 by Jacob P. Solomon (b. in Manchester, Eng., 1838; d. in New York, 1909); The Jewish Comment of Baltimore, established 1895, of which Louis H. Levin (b. in Baltimore, 1866) is the editor; The Jewish Exponent of Philadelphia, established 1886; The Jewish Voice of St. Louis, established, in 1884, and still edited by Rabbi Moritz Spitz (b. in Hungary, 1848); the Reform Advocate of Chicago, established, in 1891, and still edited by Dr. Emil G. Hirsch. One bi-monthly which deserves to be mentioned is the Sanatorium, edited since 1907 by Dr. C. D. Spivak (b. in Kremenchug, Russia, 1861) and published as the organ of the Jewish Consumptives’ Relief Society of Denver, Colorado.
CHAPTER XLIII.
YIDDISH LITERATURE, DRAMA AND THE PRESS.
Yiddish poets of the United States equal, if they do not excell, the poets of the same tongue in other countries—Morris Rosenfeld—“Yehoash” and Sharkansky—Bovshoer and other radicals—Zunser—Old fashioned novelists—The sketch writers who are under the influence of the Russian realistic writers—Abner Tannenbaum—Alexander Harkavy—“Krantz,” Hermalin, Zevin and others—Abraham Goldfaden and the playwrights who followed him—Jacob Gordin and the realists—Yiddish actors and actresses—The Yiddish Press—The high position attained by the dailies—Weekly and monthly publications.
Judeo-German or Yiddish literature has attained in this country a respectable state of development, and some of the better work done here compares favorably with the same kind of work in Russia. This is especially true of poetry and of the drama, though the first consists mostly of ballads or short lyrical songs, and the last rarely goes beyond adaptation. Morris Rosenfeld (b. in Russian-Poland, 1862; a. 1886) is considered the best Yiddish poet in the New World, and some of his works have been translated into English and several other European languages. Solomon Bloomgarden (“Yehoash,” b. in Wirballen, Russia, 1870; a. 1892) is hardly less gifted, and the songs of Abraham M. Sharkansky (1867–1907) rank with the best in the language. The late David Edelstadt, Morris Winchevsky (b. in Russia, 1856; a. 1893) and I. Bovshoer (b. in Russia, 1874; incapacitated by sickness 1899) are the radical poets, in whose songs the tendency often overshadows the art. The old, popular bard, Eliakim Zunser (b. in Wilna, Russia, about 1840; a. 1889), has written some excellent songs since he came to this country. The most Jewish, and in some respect the greatest, of all Yiddish song writers, Abraham Goldfaden (b. in Russia, 1840; d. in New York, 1908), belongs as a poet, even more than as a playwright, to the Old World.