Going Greek: Jewish College Fraternities in the United States, 1895-1945Wayne State University Press, 2003 - 446 pages Going Greek offers an unprecedented look at the relationship between American Jewish students and fraternity life during its heyday in the first half of the twentieth century. More than secret social clubs, fraternities and sororities profoundly shaped the lives of members long after they left college—often dictating choices in marriage as well as business alliances. Widely viewed as a key to success, membership in these self-governing, sectarian organizations was desirable but not easily accessible, especially to non-Protestants and nonwhites. In Going Greek Marianne Sanua examines the founding of Jewish fraternities in light of such topics as antisemitism, the unique challenges faced by Jewish students on campuses across the United States, responses to World War II, and questions pertaining to assimilation and/or identity reinforcement. The book covers a vast array of information, from the many famous people who belonged to Jewish fraternities to the songs they sang. Snobbery within the fraternities—what behavior constituted the "proper image" for an American Jew—comes up for discussion, but so does the increasing awareness of Jewish students toward issues of social justice. For several generations of leaders in the national Jewish community, fraternities were central to their lives. Going Greek thus provides historians and biographers with a window onto an important aspect of American Jewish cultural experience. |
Contents
The Origins of Jewish Fraternities | 29 |
Oh Yes That Nonsectarian Jewish Fraternity The Search for Identity 18951906 | 45 |
Great Things on a Great Scale Expansion and Opposition 19091919 | 67 |
The Golden Age College Fraternities in the Roaring Twenties | 93 |
A Treacherous Alma Mater Facing College Antisemitism | 115 |
What Have I Done? IntraJewish Hostility and th Internalization of Antisemitism | 141 |
The Idea of Quitting Is Abborrent Challenges during the Great Depression | 171 |
Fighting Back and Keeping Up Standards | 195 |
Chapter Rolls of the National Jewish College Fraternities and Sororities to 1968 | 281 |
Directory of Jewish Fraternity and Sorority Chapters at Selected Colleges and Universities | 317 |
Some Distinguished Alumni | 341 |
Songs of the Jewish Fraternities and Sororities c 1920s1950s | 345 |
NOTES | 357 |
BIBLIOGRAPHY | 407 |
INDEX OF NAMES | 413 |
423 | |
In the Shadow of Hitler Social Life Snobbery and Jewish Identity | 227 |
World War II and the Beginning of the End for the Jewish Fraternity System | 263 |
Other editions - View all
Going Greek: Jewish College Fraternities in the United States, 1895-1945 Marianne R. Sanua No preview available - 2018 |
Going Greek: Jewish College Fraternities in the United States, 1895-1945 Marianne Rachel Sanua No preview available - 2003 |