| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 112.1

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| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 112.1 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Canada and the United States

Melissa R. Klapper. Jewish Girls Coming of Age in America, 1860–1920. New York: New York University Press. 2005. Pp. x, 310. $45.00.
In 1898, Bernard M. Kaplan wrote that "One may be a perfect Jew and a perfect American at the same time. Judaism and Americanism as two lofty and independent ideals, are not only in full harmony with each other ... both stand for what is lofty, true, and just" (p. 147). Kaplan's idealized view of American Jewish identity undergirds the yearnings and aspirations of the girls who are the subject of Melissa R. Klapper's fascinating study of American Jewish female adolescence. Masterfully weaving together stories of adolescent girls based on an analysis of their diaries, personal letters, and memoirs, Klapper illuminates the ways these young women grappled with contradictory feelings about their friends, family, and future. Klapper enhances her analysis of these private sources by introducing relevant periodical literature, textbooks, and institutional records. Looking at the upbringing and education of girls and young women from the Civil War to World War I, she traces the many ways in which American Jewish girls forged identities that strengthened their Americanism while fostering their Jewishness. Thanks to Klapper's excellent study, we no longer have to surmise the history of American Jewish girlhood based on information about American Jewish boys or American Protestant children.	1
Yet Klapper's study does more than this. Even as she focuses the spotlight on how education influenced the acculturation process for American Jewish girls, the author helps us better understand the broader topic of American female education. We learn about the many venues in which girls gained their education, and the way gender, class, and religion affected the educational experiences of American girls.	. . .

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