At the turn of the century, millions of European women set sail with their families for the United States. Behind them stood a world of peasant agriculture and small town life. Ahead lay the concrete metropolis, swept by the winds of industrial development. Immigrant Women in the Land of Dollars tells the story of the Jewish and Italian women who came to inhabit New York’s Lower East Side during this period of massive migration. By looking at two generations—mothers born in the Old World, and daughters born in the new—and making extensive use of oral histories, Elizabeth Ewen presents the compelling tale of a metamorphosis in life and in perception.

At the turn of the century, millions of European women set sail with their families for the United States. Behind them stood a world of peasant agriculture and small town life. Ahead lay the concrete metropolis, swept by the winds of industrial development. Immigrant Women in the Land of Dollars tells the story of the Jewish and Italian women who came to inhabit New York’s Lower East Side during this period of massive migration. By looking at two generations—mothers born in the Old World, and daughters born in the new—and making extensive use of oral histories, Elizabeth Ewen presents the compelling tale of a metamorphosis in life and in perception.

At the turn of the century, millions of European women set sail with their families for the United States. Behind them stood a world of peasant agriculture and small town life. Ahead lay the concrete metropolis, swept by the winds of industrial development. Immigrant Women in the Land of Dollars tells the story of the Jewish and Italian women who came to inhabit New York’s Lower East Side during this period of massive migration. By looking at two generations—mothers born in the Old World, and daughters born in the new—and making extensive use of oral histories, Elizabeth Ewen presents the compelling tale of a metamorphosis in life and in perception.