When the Present took Precedence over the Past: Social Adjustment and the Mainstreaming of American Jewish History in the Supplementary School

Abstract

This paper traces the mainstreaming of American Jewish history and social studies in the American Jewish school curricula, a process which began in the 1920s and picked up momentum in the mid‐late 1930s and 1940s. From the beginning, the raison d'etre for teaching American Jewish history and community studies was articulated in terms of socialization as opposed to content. Thus, the extent to which an educational agency or institution's agenda was driven by a desire to effect students’ social adjustment as opposed to expanding their knowledge base, and the degree to which the educational program itself was shaped by indigenous as opposed to Eastern European Jewish pedagogic paradigms and priorities determined their receptivity to American Jewish history and social studies as legitimate fields of study.

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Jonathan Krasner

Dr. Jonathan Krasner is Assistant Professor of American Jewish History at Hebrew Union College‐Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati.