Healthcare was similarly overloaded during the 1918 influenza as it is today during the coronavirus epidemic, as seen in this article originally published in the Forverts 11/6/1918. Yente Serdatsky, a staff writer at the Forverts, was a contentious figure known for her stories, novellas, and dramatic sketches. Here, she uses her descriptive talents to paint…
On October 6th, 1918, the Forverts published NYC’s health commissioner’s latest rules to help stop the spread of influenza. All stores except for groceries were ordered to close no later than four pm. The Forverts, likely aware of skeptic LES locals — new immigrants and do-geboyrene (American born) folks alike — emphasized this decision was…
Reading the Forverts in 1918 you’d be forgiven for thinking revolution—rather than an influenza pandemic—was in the air. In June they thrilled to America’s military victory over Germany due to the spread of flu among Germany’s soldiers, not realizing it would make its way here, a viral passenger along for the ride with soldiers returning…
Read this article in Yiddish Editor’s Note: The more things change, the more they stay the same. This piece appeared in the Forverts, in Yiddish of course, during the influenza epidemic of 1918. Today, as the coronavirus spreads, health authorities are telling us not to touch our face, which is very difficult. Back then, they…
Join the Forward in celebrating the opening of an exhibit at the Museum at Eldridge Street in Manhattan, featuring the storied publication’s treasured vintage photographic press plates. “Pressed: Images from the Jewish Daily Forward” is a collaboration with Eldridge Street and the Bowne Print Shop at the Seaport Museum. The opening is Wednesday, October 23…
Carey Purcell’s confessional essay in the Washington Post — about being a Gentile woman dating Jewish men, only to be broken up with for Jewish women — has touched a sore nerve, evidently. “Over almost seven years and two serious relationships with Jewish men who at first said religion didn’t matter — and then backtracked…
I would have sworn that the pumpkin-spice megatrend was started by Starbucks. But I would have been wrong. In an ad for condensed milk that appeared in the November 17, 1947 issue of the Forverts, alongside a recipe for coconut pumpkin chiffon pie, is ad copy says, “If you like pumpkin spice flavored pie…” The…
One group of Judaica scholars is taking crowdsourcing to a new level. In a new initiative to unlock the thousands of parchment fragments from the Cairo Geniza, scholars are inviting the public to help scholars sort document fragments — all online, as part of a project by the University of Pennsylvania Libraries, the Princeton Geniza…
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