By Donald H. Harrison
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SAN DIEGO — After a year’s absence, Western States Jewish History, a half-century-old journal, has made its reappearance in a new format. No longer a quarterly, the journal will be published semi-annually by Texas Tech University Press, under the editorship of Jonathan L. Friedmann, professor of Jewish Music History at the Academy for Jewish Religion-California in Los Angeles.
In the just-issued Volume 51, Issue 1, and henceforth, all articles are peer reviewed, making their publication academically relevant. In the past, Western States Jewish History accepted articles from both professional historians and laypeople, including journalists.
Four major articles along with nine book reviews appear in the current issue. Friedmann wrote one of the articles, “‘The Rising Paganini’ of Jewish Sacramento,” concerning the life of violinist Michael Joshua Banner (1868-1941). Another writer, Oliver B. Pollak, professor emeritus from the University of Nebraska-Omaha, is well known to readers of San Diego Jewish World as he serves as the Richmond-based correspondent for Northern California. Pollak’s contribution is “The Omaha Jewish Cookbook Trilogy, 1901-1928.”
The other two major articles in the new format are by independent researchers. “A Sort of Jewish-Black Alliance: The Early History of the NAACP in Minneapolis” is by Deborah Y. Bachrach, and “H.H. Brodeck: A Legacy of Early Alaskan Photographs” is by Donna Aycock Cummins.
Nine books dealing with Jewish history in the American West round out the issue. These include:
—Adolph Sutro: King of the Comstock Lode and Mayor of San Francisco by William R. Huber.
—Boss Simon: Joseph Simon, the First Jewish Republican Senator by Richard Simon.
—The Jews’ Indian: Colonialism, Pluralism, and Belonging in America by David S. Koffman.
—Jews on the Frontier: Religion and Mobility in Nineteenth Century America by Shari Rabin.
—The Kosher Capones: A History of Chicago’s Jewish Gangsters by Joe Kraus.
—Kugel and Frijoles: Latino Jews in the United States by Laura Limonic.
—Pioneer Jewish Families in New Mexico, edited by Noel H. Pugach and Richard Melizer.
—A Place of Exodus: Home, Memory and Texas by David Biespiel.
—The Sun and Her Stars: Salka Viertel and Hitler’s Exiles in the Golden Age of Hollywood by Donna Rifkind.
Among the book reviewers were the journal’s editorial board members Abraham Hoffman of Los Angeles Valley College; Tamar Frankiel of the Academy for Jewish Religion-California; John F. Guest of the Western States Jewish History Association; independent researcher Mark Abbott Stern; Jason Schulman of John Jay College; and Hollace Ava Weiner of the Fort Worth Jewish Archives. An additional reviewer was Judith S Pinnolis of Hebrew College, who serves as reviews editor.
In addition to those board members who wrote reviews, Western States Jewish History’s editorial board includes Marc Dollinger of San Francisco State University; Victoria Fisch of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Sacramento; Aaron Fruchtman of California State University Long Beach; Joel Gereboff, Arizona State University & Academy for Jewish Religion California, and Wynne Waugaman, of the University of Southern California.
Yearly subscriptions cost $60 for individuals, $104 for institutions. Those interested in submitting articles may contact editor Friedmann via jfriedmann@ajrca.edu.
` was founded in 1968 by Rabbi William Kramer and historian Norton Stern, both of Los Angeles.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World and a former editor of Western States Jewish History. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com