The Civil War Diary of Emma Mordecai

By: Dianne Ashton, Melissa R. Klapper

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Hardcover | 29 October 2024

At a Glance

Hardcover
256 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
22.9 x 15.2

Hardcover

RRP $70.99

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A vivid look at the wartime experiences of a Jewish woman in the Confederate South
Emma Mordecai lived an unusual life. She was Jewish when Jews comprised less than 1 percent of the population of the Old South, and unmarried in a culture that offered women few options other than marriage. She was American born when most American Jews were immigrants. She affirmed and maintained her dedication to Jewish religious practice and Jewish faith while many family members embraced Christianity. Yet she also lived well within the social parameters established for Southern white women, espoused Southern values, and owned enslaved African Americans.
The Civil War Diary of Emma Mordecai is one of the few surviving Civil War diaries by a Jewish woman in the antebellum South. It charts her daily life and her evolving perspective on Confederate nationalism and Southern identity, Jewishness, women's roles in wartime, gendered domestic roles in slave-owning households, and the centrality of family relationships. While never losing sight of the racist social and political structures that shaped Emma Mordecai's world, the book chronicles her experiences with dislocation and the loss of her home.
Bringing to life the hospital visits, food shortages, local sociability, Jewish observances, sounds and sights of nearby battles, and the very personal ramifications of emancipation and its aftermath for her household and family, The Civil War Diary of Emma Mordecai offers a valuable and distinct look at a unique historical figure from the waning years of the Civil War South.

Industry Reviews

The Civil War Diary of Emma Mordecai reminds us that Jews could be devoted to Judaism and ardent Confederates. Completing the work begun by the late pioneering religion scholar Dianne Ashton, Melissa R. Klapper has brought Emma Mordecai's diary to light for a new generation, eager to know more about an American Jewish past that was intertwined with this nation's enslaved. * Pamela S. Nadell, author of America's Jewish Women: A History from Colonial Times to Today *

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