'The American Jewess' on Twitter!
The American Jewess, published between 1895 and 1899, was a magazine for the contemporary Jewish American woman. (It also gave us the idea for 'Jewesses With Attitude.') The magazine covered a range of topics, including Zionism, health and fashion, marriage, travel, and the propriety of women riding bicycles.
As we discussed earlier, the phrase "American Jewess," in the 1890s, described a new type of Jewish woman -- one who could fully embrace the possibilities of both the religious and national aspects of her identity. The American Jewess set out to explore the challenges and possibilities inherent in this new identity, proclaiming that "never before, in the history of Judaism have its women more energetically devoted themselves to reviving the noblest elements of their ancestral faith."
In recent years, the Jewish Women's Archive -- in partnership with Hebrew Union College, Brandeis University Libraries, and the Library of Congress -- put the archives of The American Jewess online -- in search-able, browse-able form.
Rosa Sonneschein is clearly ahead of her time (wink), embracing cutting-edge, social networking technology to get her message out. Maybe she saw John Quincy Adams' tweets and decided that the voices of Jewish American women could likewise be shared via Twitter. Follow Rosa as she tweets tidbits and links from The American Jewess, starting with the August 1895 issue.
You can follow Rosa Sonneschein's tweets @AmericanJewess. Don't forget that the Jewish Women's Archive is tweeting too @JWAonline. See you in the Twitter-verse!
