Daughters of the Shtetl

In this fascinating portrayal of Jewish immigrant wage earners, Susan A. Glenn waves together several strands of social history to show the emergence of an ethnic version of what early twentieth-century Americans called the "New Womanhood." She maintains that during an era when Americans perceived women as temporary workers interested ultimately in marriage and motherhood, these young Jewish women turned the garment industry uspide down with a wave of militant strikes and shop-floor activism and helped build the two major clothing workers' unions.