Anger often fuels action. That was the case with the creation and publication of the Encyclopedia of American Jewish History.
Eunice Pollack, now a lecturer in history and Jewish studies at the University of North Texas, was appalled by statements that were circulating in the early 1990s. Among them were the words of Khalid Abdul Muhammad, one of Louis Farrakhan’s chief Nation of Islam ambassadors, who made headlines with inflammatory, anti-Semitic speeches at several colleges.
He “came out with the notion that Jews had promulgated the Atlantic slave trade,” and he “went from campus to campus preaching this monumental lie,” she recalls.
When her school, Columbia University, didn’t address the issue, she asked the century-old American Historical Association to take a stand, and in turn was invited to write the group’s statement.
The mills of history grind slowly, so it was 1995 before the group actually adopted its formal Resolution on Jews and Slavery – after Congress had denounced Mr. Muhammad. But that year, when the same old issue resurfaced in mainstream media and again went unaddressed, Dr. Pollack’s anger resurfaced, too.
“I’m not really an activist,” she says. “I’m a scholar who was forced to be an activist because of the absurdity of these charges. What was my knowledge for, if I was going to allow this?”
She continued speaking out, and started to compile research that culminated in her 775-page, two-volume encyclopedia, published last fall.
Understanding Jews’ role
“A lot of [college students] take only a survey course in American history, and even those who major in history know nothing about Jews,” she says. “But I don’t think you can understand American history without understanding them.
“Jews have had a profound role in shaping America, even though they’ve never been much more than 3 percent of its population.”
Most encyclopedias present alphabetized facts, but Dr. Pollack’s features 192 individual articles, arranged in 27 thematic sections.
Included are Zionism (the movement for Jewish statehood), civil rights, social change movements, immigration, sports, entertainment, and even rock ‘n’ roll. The focus is not just on religion, but also Jewish ethnicity.
“It’s very important to understand that Jews were one of the poorest groups that came to this country and ‘made it,’ ” she says. “This encyclopedia tries to explain why.
“Their communal social justice was inspired by the Prophets.
“They didn’t invent the department store, but they democratized it.
“Broadway, Hollywood, TV and radio were open to Jews because in the early days there were no established institutions to keep them out.”
When ABC-CLIO, a California reference book publisher, learned about Dr. Pollack’s work, it suggested that her work become a book.
Co-editor for the project was her husband, Steven Norwood, a University of Oklahoma history professor. The couple live in Oklahoma, and Dr. Pollack travels to Denton to teach.
Nearly all the writers they first asked to participate contributed articles, and British historian Sir Martin Gilbert, Winston Churchill’s official biographer, provided the maps.
Despite the declining number of people who do encyclopedia research at libraries today, Nancy Rivin, director of libraries at Dallas’ Temple Emanu-El, has added this book to the synagogue’s reference collection.
“I think encyclopedias are more easily replaced by Internet use, especially for younger people who have grown up with the Internet, because by their very nature they are a ‘taste’ rather than a ‘full meal,’ ” she said. “But to dig a little deeper, you need access to actual articles.”
Such articles are Dr. Pollack’s strong point. Jonathan Sarna, Brandeis University professor and chief historian for the National Museum of American Jewish History, concurs about the new encyclopedia’s value – “especially in those articles where a specialist in a particular field sums up an aspect of American Jewish life in a small space, and in articles on subjects hard to find elsewhere,” he says.
“Certainly as a companion for undergraduates, it’s a useful research tool.”
“Now people can keep 125 prominent scholars of the United States, Canada, Israel and Europe on one bookshelf,” Dr. Pollack says of the encyclopedia. “They illuminate the experiences of America’s Jews and their impact on American society and culture over 3 ½ centuries.”
