By Liza Sheehy
Introduction
In the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the Jewish press was a dynamic industry, with new Yiddish, Hebrew, Ladino, and English publications popping up across the country, growing out of each other, merging, and creating competition and dialogue between publications. These publications–mainly newspapers, magazines, and journals—not only discussed religious and cultural matters, personal experiences, and immigration but leaned heavily on political issues and platforms as their foundations. The breadth of socialist, communist, Zionist, anti-Zionist, and other types of publications was ever-increasing as these various political platforms grew, developed, intersected and social mores shifted. Throughout various foundings, closures, outgrowths, and mergers of publications, there remained a core group of publications and contributors that shaped the Jewish press and facilitated the spread of information within and across the American Jewish community.
This social network project focuses on a roughly 100-year period between 1840-1939, starting with the founding of The Occident newspaper in 1843, and culminating with publications founded and contributions published before World War II. There are a vast number of Jewish publications and contributors during this period, though the most prominent ones identified themselves based on their repeated surfacing through extensive research. Beginning with the most well-documented papers today, important contributors could be identified, which then led to the other publications they impacted, and those publications unearthed additional contributors. The nature of this method and the findings naturally created an interconnected network. The most well-circulated papers seemed to have had the most longevity, gained the most overall and most well-known contributors, and are the most well-documented today. This reciprocal relationship between popular papers and well-known contributors creates an identifiable core of publications that would have been the most broadly influential in their time, though it is important to note that this project is limited in scope and scale, and there are likely many publications that proved influential in hyper-local communities or for short periods. Further, there are likely some missing links between contributors and publications due to a lack of documentation and the fact that the Jewish press was seemingly fluid and self-sustaining. These visualizations, however, still reveal general patterns regarding the spread of ideas and the exchange of information. Additionally, there are also non-Jewish publications that Jewish intellectuals contributed to, though this project focuses on distinctly Jewish publications to hone in on what the Jewish community, particularly with limited English-speaking abilities, was consuming. It is also important to note that this project includes no women, with the supplement Die Deborah the only publication seemingly directed at women.
Overall, the contributors and publications identified in this project highlight and reinforce various patterns. It is evident that New York City was central to Jewish publishing with such a large Jewish community. Additionally, how the use of Yiddish persisted in communities as many publications were printed in Yiddish solely or in part. In terms of politics, the presence of socialism in Jewish political consumption and dialogue is clear, as well as the existence of divisions on the topic of Zionism and the Zionist movement. All three graphs also show how Reform-affiliated publications as well as those published in Ladino seemingly operated in isolation from the other interconnected publications, though still had their traction and are well documented today.
Network Visualizations
1. American Jewish Publications and Their Contributors
Above visualization illustrates a network of notable Jewish publications, and their contributors (editors, publishers, writers, etc). Green nodes represent publications, and pink nodes represent people. Node size corresponds to degree, meaning the larger the node, the more connections that node has in the network. The Forward has the highest degree, representing the most contributors compared to other publications shown here. No contributors stand out in having a particularly high degree, however, those in the center of the largest network component tend to be slightly more well-connected, having contributed to various publications. Read about the various publications chronologically below.
2. Interconnectedness between Contributors to American Jewish Publications
Above visualization represents the network connections between contributors to publications, highlighting which people contributed to the same publications as one another. The node color represents modularity class, meaning the network is divided into communities based on interconnectedness. Node size represents degree, meaning the larger the node, the more other contributors it is connected with. Thus, Philip Krantz as the largest node, overlapped with the most number of people across various publications. The thickness, or weight, of the links represents how many of the same publications the people contributed to. The thicker the link between two people, the higher the number of the same publications they contributed to. This project illustrates a 100-year period, so not all of these people were alive or worked at the same time, but all contributed to shaping the American Jewish press. Additionally, some contributors included on the overview graph above are not present here if they did not work on the same publications as any other contributors. *The modularity colors of the two graphs do not correspond to each other.
3. Publication Interconnectedness Based on Overlapping Contributors
Above visualization represents the relationship between the publications based on overlapping contributors. Due to the basis of overlapping contributors, some publications seen in the above visualization do not appear here as overlapping contributors were not identified. The node color represents modularity class, meaning the network is divided into communities based on interconnectedness. Node size represents degree, meaning the larger the node, the more other papers it is connected with. The thickness, or weight, of the links, represents how many overlapping contributors the papers share. Based on this specific dataset of these papers and contributors, The Forward and Di Arbayter Tsaytung shared the most contributors, which makes sense as the founders of The Forward had broken off from Di Arbayter Tsaytung to form their own paper. *The modularity colors of the two graphs do not correspond to each other.
Publications Mapped (by year)
The Occident / American Jewish Advocate – Philadelphia – 1843
- The Occident and American Jewish Advocate was founded by Isaac Leeser in Philadelphia as an English monthly periodical devoted to the “diffusion of knowledge on Jewish literature and religion.”
The (American) Israelite – Cincinnati – 1854
- The Israelite was founded by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise in Cincinnati as a weekly, English, Jewish newspaper. It was later named The American Israelite in 1874. In the early 1900s, the paper took an anti-Zionist stance, and also covered Hebrew Union College extensively. Die Deborah was the German language supplement of The Israelite.
Die Deborah – Cincinnati – 1855
- Die Deborah was a German language supplement of The Israelite and aimed at women.
Yidishes ṭogblaṭ – New York City – 1885
- Yidishes ṭogblaṭ was founded in New York City in 1885 as a daily Yiddish language newspaper by Kasriel Hirsch Sarasohn.
Fraye arbayṭer shṭime – New York City – 1890
- Fraye arbayṭer shṭime was a Yiddish language weekly published in New York City with anarchist-communist views.
Di Arbayṭer Tsayṭung – New York City – 1890
- Di Arbayṭer Tsayṭung was founded as a Yiddish language weekly in New York City by members of the Socialist Labor Party, and later became the daily Dos Abend Blatt, an official affiliate of the party in 1894. By 1897 there had become an internal split, and those who broke off went on to found The Forward. The two papers became competitors and The Forward outperformed Dos Abend Blatt.
The Reform Advocate – Chicago – 1891
- The Reform Advocate was a weekly English-language newspaper founded in Chicago by Emil G. Hirsch. Hirsch was an important figure in the Reform Jewish movement in the United States.
Tsukunft / Tzukunft / Zukunft – New York City – 1892
- Zukunft was founded in New York in 1892 as a Yiddish monthly for Yiddish-speaking members of the Socialist Labor Party.
Ha’ivri – New York City – 1892
- Ha’ivri was founded as a Hebrew-language weekly newspaper in New York City in the 1890s.
The Forward / Forṿerṭs – New York City – 1897
- The Forward was founded in 1897 and became one of the world’s most successful Jewish newspapers. It was founded as a Yiddish paper by socialist immigrants that had split off from Di Arbayṭer Tsayṭung, among them Abraham Cahan, who went on to become the face of the paper for many years. In its time, The Forward has seen a vast number of editors and contributors.
B’nai B’rith Messenger – Los Angeles – 1897
- The B’nai B’rith Messenger was founded in Los Angeles as the English language Emanu-El by Lionel L. Edwards, who changed the name a year later to B’nai B’rith Messenger. The Messenger aimed to inform the growing Jewish community in Los Angeles, and among other things supported Zionism. By the 1920s the paper transitioned from a bi-monthly to a weekly edition.
Der Morgen zshurnal – New York City – 1901
- Der Morgen zshurnal was founded as a Yiddish language daily newspaper in New York City in 1901. Its founder, Jacob Saphirstein was politically conservative and religiously orthodox making the paper more unique. It initially was in support of the Republican Party, though with editorial changes the paper developed a more liberal and intellectual outlook.
The Jewish Advocate – Boston – 1902
- The Jewish Advocate was founded in Boston in 1902 as a monthly English periodical for one of Boston’s Jewish hospitals. Run by Jacob de Haas at the direction of Theodor Herzl, the paper was Zionist in nature.
Di vahrhayt / warheit – New York City – 1905
- Di vahrhayt was founded as a daily Yiddish language newspaper by Louis E. Miller. Miller had previously helped to start The Forward but parted ways and created this paper. Initially, he expressed an explicitly socialist policy platform to compete with the forward, but later moved on to priorities of Jewish culture and nationalism.
The Jewish Farmer – New York City – 1909
- The Jewish Farmer was founded in 1909 as a Yiddish newspaper devoted to Jews in agriculture and farming industries. Some issues have English supplements.
La Amérika – New York City – 1910
- La Amérika was a Ladino weekly newspaper founded by Moise Gadol that chronicled the experiences of Sephardic immigrants.
Der Tog – New York City – 1914
- Der Tog was founded as Yiddish language daily newspaper in New York City in 1914. Over time the paper went through various mergers, such as in 1919 with Die wahrheit and much later with Der Morgen zshurnal.
The Menorah Journal – New York City – 1915
- The Menorah Journal was founded in New York City as a magazine that grew out of Harvard University’s Menorah Association. The Association and Journal had a focus on humanism and humanistic values in Judaism.
El Progreso-La Bos del Pueblo-La Epoca – New York City – 1915
- El Progreso was founded as a socialist Ladino magazine by Maurica Nessim in 1915 in New York City. Socialist journalism from Ladino communities in the Ottoman Empire made its way to the United States with the migration of Sephardic Jews. El Progreso later changed its name to La Bos/Voz del Pueblo and then to La Époka de Nu York.
In Zikh – 1920
- In Zikh was founded as part of an introspectivist Yiddish poetry movement as a poetry/literary journal.
La Luz – New York City – 1921
- La Luz was a weekly Ladino language newspaper in New York City from 1921-22.
La Vara – New York City – 1922
- La Vara was a weekly Ladino language newspaper founded in New York in 1922. The paper aimed to “expose hypocrisy — in the Sephardic community, in American politics, and beyond.”
Morgen Freiheit – New York City – 1922
- Morgen Freiheit was founded in 1922 as a daily Yiddish language newspaper and was affiliated with the Communist party.
El Luzero Sefaradí – New York City – 1926
- El Luzero was a monthly, illustrated magazine, in the Ladino language published in New York from 1926-27.
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