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On Middle Ground - A History of the Jews of Baltimore (Hardcover)
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On Middle Ground - A History of the Jews of Baltimore (Hardcover)
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A model of Jewish community history that will enlighten anyone
interested in Baltimore and its past. Winner of the Southern Jewish
Historical Society Book Prize by the Southern Jewish Historical
Society; Finalist of the American Jewish Studies Book Award by the
Jewish Book Council National Jewish Book Awards In 1938, Gustav
Brunn and his family fled Nazi Germany and settled in Baltimore.
Brunn found a job at McCormick's Spice Company but was fired after
three days when, according to family legend, the manager discovered
he was Jewish. He started his own successful business using a spice
mill he brought over from Germany and developed a blend especially
for the seafood purveyors across the street. Before long, his Old
Bay spice blend would grace kitchen cabinets in virtually every
home in Maryland. The Brunns sold the business in 1986. Four years
later, Old Bay was again sold-to McCormick. In On Middle Ground,
the first truly comprehensive history of Baltimore's Jewish
community, Eric L. Goldstein and Deborah R. Weiner describe not
only the formal institutions of Jewish life but also the everyday
experiences of families like the Brunns and of a diverse Jewish
population that included immigrants and natives, factory workers
and department store owners, traditionalists and reformers. The
story of Baltimore Jews-full of absorbing characters and marked by
dramas of immigration, acculturation, and assimilation-is the story
of American Jews in microcosm. But its contours also reflect the
city's unique culture. Goldstein and Weiner argue that Baltimore's
distinctive setting as both a border city and an immigrant port
offered opportunities for advancement that made it a magnet for
successive waves of Jewish settlers. The authors detail how the
city began to attract enterprising merchants during the American
Revolution, when it thrived as one of the few ports remaining free
of British blockade. They trace Baltimore's meteoric rise as a
commercial center, which drew Jewish newcomers who helped the
upstart town surpass Philadelphia as the second-largest American
city. They explore the important role of Jewish entrepreneurs as
Baltimore became a commercial gateway to the South and later
developed a thriving industrial scene. Readers learn how, in the
twentieth century, the growth of suburbia and the redevelopment of
downtown offered scope to civic leaders, business owners, and real
estate developers. From symphony benefactor Joseph Meyerhoff to
Governor Marvin Mandel and trailblazing state senator Rosalie
Abrams, Jews joined the ranks of Baltimore's most influential
cultural, philanthropic, and political leaders while working on the
grassroots level to reshape a metro area confronted with the
challenges of modern urban life. Accessibly written and enriched by
more than 130 illustrations, On Middle Ground reveals that local
Jewish life was profoundly shaped by Baltimore's "middleness"-its
hybrid identity as a meeting point between North and South, a major
industrial center with a legacy of slavery, and a large city with a
small-town feel.
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