Cultural History of Jews in California

The aim of this collection of essays is to stress the cultural aspects of the Jewish experience of coming to, and living in, the Golden State. The contributors explore how the Jews who settled in California helped shape the state's culture and were, in turn, molded by cultural influences that were uniquely Californian. While this volume looks at the Jewish experience in California in general, particular emphasis is placed on Southern California where the Casden Institute, originators of The Jewish Role in American Life series of annual reviews, is based. The collection presents choice snapshots of how life developed and changed for Jews in California as California itself evolved and grew.

William F. Deverell, a historian of the nineteenth- and twentieth-century American West, has published numerous books and papers on the history of California and the American West. He is a professor of history at the University of Southern California (USC) and director of the newly established Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West, a collaborative research and teaching effort of the USC College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences and the Huntington Library.