Jews and Booze: Becoming American in the Age of Prohibition
Jews and Booze: Becoming American in the Age of Prohibition
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Finalist for the 2014 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature from the Jewish Book Council, Jews and Booze explores the long and complex relationship between American Jews and alcohol from the late nineteenth century through Prohibition. Drawing on extensive archival research, Marni Davis examines Jewish involvement in the production and sale of liquor, wine, and beer, showing how alcohol commerce supported immigrant acculturation and community growth. The rise of Prohibition, however, forced American Jews to confront and redefine this history as they navigated questions of identity, belonging, and participation in the American mainstream.
May 3rd
Location TBD
Dr. Marnie Davis
Dr. Marnie Davis
Marni Davis is a historian of ethnicity and immigration in the United States. She is the author of Jews and Booze: Becoming American in the Age of Prohibition (New York University Press, 2012), which was a finalist for the Sami Rohr Prize in Jewish Literature and the Jordan Schnitzer Book Award from the Association for Jewish Studies.
Davis has recently developed research interests in the history of cities in the U.S. South. Her 2019 essay, “Toward an ‘Immigrant Turn’ in Jewish Entrepreneurial History: A View from the New South,” was awarded the Wasserman Prize from the journal American Jewish History. She is currently writing a book about the history of immigration, race, and urban development in Atlanta, with a focus on Black-Jewish relations. She is an affiliate faculty member of Georgia State University’s Urban Studies Institute.
Davis is co-Editor-in-Chief of American Jewish History, the scholarly journal of the American Jewish Historical Society.
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