GWCJL SPEAKER SERIES: “How Jews Transformed American Culture after WWII,” Prof. Deborah D Moore

The post-war years saw an extraordinary boom in Jewish cultural creativity, from
Broadway to literature to film, which paved the way for a more inclusive vision of
American life.  The events of 1939-1945 had transformed American Jews’ sense of
identity, raised the stakes incalculably, and primed them to fight for a defining role in
American culture. The events of 1939-1945 had transformed American Jews’ sense
of identity, raised the stakes incalculably, and primed them to fight for a defining role
in American culture.  Over half a million Jews returned from WWII ready to fight for Civil Rights and to
craft an inclusive version of American culture in music, art and theatre and the movies they helped to
shape a postwar world filled with promise.

Deborah Dash Moore is an American historian, the Jonathan Freedman distinguished University
Professor of History and Professor of Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan. She and historian
Jeffry Gurock chronicled in their book “Jewish New York”: The Remarkable Story of a City and a
People,” and in her award-winning book, “GI Jews”: How WWII Changed a Generation.”  She is also
Editor in Chief of the Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization.

Sure to be another fascinating session, join us!

With gratitude to the generous support of the Rene Bloch Foundation.