Size: 9.25 x 10.75
Pages: 288
Illustrations: 74 b&w halftones, 86 color halftones

Southern History
 Cultural Studies & Sociology
 hardcover
 Books
 South Carolina History & Culture
 Jewish Studies

A Portion of the People

Three Hundred Years of Southern Jewish Life

edited by Theodore Rosengarten and Dale Rosengarten
McKissick Museum

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978-1-57003-445-9
 Published: Sep 1 2002

$44.99

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The inclusion of this book in the Open Carolina collection is made possible by the generous funding of

An enduring interpretation, in text and illsutrations, of Jewish life and culture in the American South

In the year 1800, South Carolina was home to more Jews than any other place in North America. As old as the province of Carolina itself, the Jewish presence has been a vital but little-examined element in the growth of South Carolina's cities and towns, in the economy of slavery and post-slavery society, and in the creation of American Jewish religious identity. Just as the Jews in the South tested American freedoms, liberty and tolerance tried the newcomers' adherence to their ancient religion.

A Portion of the People: Three Hundred Years of Southern Jewish Life is a remarkable collection of art and cultural objects and represents a provocative investigation of the chracters and circumstances that produced them. One hundred sixty color and black-and-white images, with more than eighty objects from the exhibition of the same name, are included, with narrative descriptions placing each object in its historical and artistic contexts. Portraits of Jewish citizens prominent in the region's history appear side by side with artifacts that tell stories ofimmgration and settlement, adaption, and alienation, and success and failure. A photographic essay by Bill Aron, who has documented Jewish communities around the world, brings the story to the turn of the twenty-first century. The record of a dynamic faith in a turbulent world, A Portion of the People takes readers on a powerful journey through three hundred years of southern arts and letters.



Theodore Rosengarten, PhD, is a teacher, writer, and community activist. Author of All God's Dangers: The Life of Nate Shaw and Tombee: Portrait of a Cotton Planter, Rosengarten was named a MacArthur Fellow in 1989.

Dale Rosengarten PhD, is curator emerita of the Jewish Heritage Collection at the College of Charleston Libraries. For McKissick Museum at the University of South Carolina, she developed the exhibition and catalog Row Upon Row: Sea Grass Baskets of the South Carolina Lowcountry. She co-curated Grass Roots: African Origins of an American Art and, for Princeton Univeristy Art Museum, By Dawn's Early Light: Jewish Contributions to American Culture from the Nation's Founding to the Civil War. The Rosengartens live in McClellanville, South Carolina.

"As a model study of a pivotal city and its surrounding region, this masterpiece eloquently traces Jewish engagements with freedom and the wider community. Emerging from a landmark exhibition, A Portion o fhte People stands as a testament to the power of collaborative scholarship to produce work of lasting significance."—Michael R. Cohen, Tulane University, author of Cotton Capitalists

"A Portion of the People beauitfully captures the vitality ad complexity of three centuries of Jewish life in South Carolina. Through artificast, illustraions, and elegant essays we are introduced to a stunning cast of Jewish CArolinians. Filled with empathy and life, this book is a magnificent achievement."—Adam Mendelsohn, University of Cape Town, author of Jewish Soldiers in the Civil War

"An indispensable guide to the Jewish history South Carolina. Drawing on the rich archives of the state's Jewish community. Theodore and Dale Rosengarten guide their readers through 300 years of history. Their emphasis on the materials culture produced by a wide range of South Carolina Jews is particularly innovatve."—Shari Rabin, Oberlin College, author of The Jewish South

"Until 1830 Charleston was the captial of American Jewry; Christians in South Carolina elected the first professing Jew to office; Reform Judaism first came to the United States in the Palmetto State. These and many other fascinating facts are explored in this handsome treasure troce, a must-read for anybdy interested in the complex relationship of Jews and the South. Theodore and Dale Rosengarten have lovingly and movingly compiled a masterpiece, a delight for both the mind and the eye."—Philip Morgan, Harry C. Black Professor Emeritus of History, Johns Hopkins University