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Scott D. Seligman

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The Great Kosher Meat War of 1902: Immigrant Housewives and the Riots That Shook New York City Kindle Edition

by Scott D. Seligman (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.7 70 ratings

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2020–21 Reader Views Literary Award, Gold Medal Winner
2021 Independent Publisher Book Award, Gold Medal Winner
2020 National Jewish Book Award, Finalist
2020 American Book Fest Best Book Awards Finalist in the U.S. History category
2020 Foreword Indies Book of the Year Finalist

In the wee hours of May 15, 1902, three thousand Jewish women quietly took up positions on the streets of Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Convinced by the latest jump in the price of kosher meat that they were being gouged, they assembled in squads of five, intent on shutting down every kosher butcher shop in New York’s Jewish quarter.

What was conceived as a nonviolent effort did not remain so for long. Customers who crossed the picket lines were heckled and assaulted and their parcels of meat hurled into the gutters. Butchers who remained open were attacked, their windows smashed, stock ruined, equipment destroyed. Brutal blows from police nightsticks sent women to local hospitals and to court. But soon Jewish housewives throughout the area took to the streets in solidarity, while the butchers either shut their doors or had their doors shut for them. The newspapers called it a modern Jewish Boston Tea Party.

The Great Kosher Meat War of 1902 tells the twin stories of mostly uneducated women immigrants who discovered their collective consumer power and of the Beef Trust, the midwestern cartel that conspired to keep meat prices high despite efforts by the U.S. government to curtail its nefarious practices. With few resources and little experience but steely determination, this group of women organized themselves into a potent fighting force and, in their first foray into the political arena in their adopted country, successfully challenged powerful, vested corporate interests and set a pattern for future generations to follow.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Seligman's well-researched book offers a valuable window into the emergence of direct-action protest among immigrant women on Manhattan's Lower East Side. In defending their families' interests, the women boycotters displayed a high degree of intelligence, boldness, and militancy that set a new standard for activism among working-class women."—Gerald W. McFarland, CLCJ Books

"The story featured in The Great Kosher Meat War of 1902 resonates in contemporary times when women—and men—take to the streets to protest injustice, much as Rose Baskin did in 1902. Seligman writes easy-to-read prose, making this book perfect for scholars and non-scholars to appreciate his research. Its introductory timeline and its list of those connected to the strike made it easy to keep track of the events and the people involved. Anyone interested in life on the Lower East Side during the turn of the last century, Jewish women’s history or Jewish immigrant life will enjoy learning about this intriguing episode of Jewish American history."—Rabbi Rachel Esserman, Reporter

"Seligman draws a splendid picture of life in the New World for these emigres from Poland, Lithuania, and the Pale of Russia. They formed associations, elected leaders, and in response to the increase in prices, led what they called “strikes,” finding inspiration in the labor unions of the 19th century. Seligman uses as his primary resource the many Yiddish newspapers that were published daily. Each of those papers had their own take on the unrest that developed."—Roger I. Abrams, New York Journal of Books Published On: 2020-12-16

"Seligman, whose writing has appeared in the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal, has done a service in bringing this little-known part of American history to our attention, one which demonstrates that the convergence of activism, socialism, and unionization prevalent in the early 20th century remains a staple in protests to this day."—Mike Maggio, Washington Independent Review of Books Published On: 2021-02-11

"Scott D. Seligman's new book The Great Kosher Meat War of 1902: Immigrant Housewives and the Riots That Shook New York City (Potomac Books, 2020) is a full account of the Great Kosher Meat War of 1902, a milestone in the history of Jewish-American women."—New York Almanack Published On: 2020-12-15

"This is a unique book certainly worth reading."—Burton Boxerman, St. Louis Jewish Light Published On: 2021-04-30

“Seligman’s compelling book is, first and foremost, a master class in historical storytelling. . . . A welcome contribution to Jewish historical literature that both general and academic readers would enjoy, and that would prove an excellent addition to an undergraduate syllabus on gender studies, women’s history, labor history, or the history of New York.”—Hannah Zaves-Greene, American Jewish Archives Journal

"Relying on primary source materials, Seligman has created a highly readable and enjoyable account of this little-known episode in American history. Highly recommended, especially for those interested in American history and Jewish history, as well as gender and labor studies."—Library Journal, starred review Published On: 2020-10-30

"A well-written narrative history, this will appeal to historians and social scientists as well as general readers interested in a powerful but little-known community action program."—D. R. Jamieson, Choice Published On: 2021-08-01

"The traumatic, significant events of The Great Kosher Meat War of 1902 form a tale well worth remembering."—Ira Wolfman, Jewish Book Council Published On: 2021-03-26

About the Author

Scott D. Seligman is a writer and historian. He is the author of numerous books, including The Great Kosher Meat War of 1902: Immigrant Housewives and the Riots That Shook New York City (Potomac Books, 2020), the award-winning The Third Degree: The Triple Murder That Shook Washington and Changed American Criminal Justice (Potomac Books, 2018), and The First Chinese American: The Remarkable Life of Wong Chin Foo.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B086RCF683
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Potomac Books; Illustrated edition (December 1, 2020)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ December 1, 2020
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 4002 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 311 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 164012358X

Best Sellers Rank: #1,682,906 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #202 in Commerce (Kindle Store)
- #208 in Shopping & Commerce Reference
- #952 in Commerce (Books)

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4.7 70 ratings

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Scott D. Seligman

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Scott D. Seligman is a national award-winning historian and biographer with a special interest in the history of hyphenated Americans. He holds an undergraduate degree in American history from Princeton University and a master's degree from Harvard University.

Fluent in Mandarin, he lived in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China for eight years and reads and writes Chinese. He has worked as a legislative assistant to a member of the U.S. Congress, lobbied the Chinese government on behalf of American business, managed a multinational public relations agency in China, served as communications director of a Fortune 50 company and taught English and Chinese.

He is the author of ten books, including The Great Kosher Meat War of 1902: Immigrant Housewives and the Riots that Shook New York City, which won gold medals in the 2021 Independent Publisher Book Awards and the 2020-21 Reader Views Literary Awards; A Second Reckoning, which won a gold medal in the 2021 Foreword Indies Book of the Year awards; The Third Degree: The Triple Murder that Shook Washington and Changed American Criminal Justice, which won a gold medal in the 2019 Independent Publisher Book Awards and The First Chinese American: The Remarkable Life of Wong Chin Foo. He is also co-author of the best-selling Cultural Revolution Cookbook and Now You're Talking Mandarin Chinese.

He has published articles in Smithsonian Magazine, The Atlantic, the Asian Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the Seattle Times, the China Business Review, Tablet Magazine, New York Jewish Week, The Forward, China Heritage Quarterly, Bucknell Magazine, Howard Magazine, the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center blog, the New York Almanack blog, the Granite Studio blog and Traces, the Journal of the Indiana Historical Society. He lives in Washington, DC.

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L. Gavrich

A great insight into my great grandparents

Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2020

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I am named for my great grandfather Louis who emigrated to the US in the 1880s. I never knew him but my grandmother, his daughter, shared stories, and one of them leads me to believe he may have been a silent character in The Great Kosher Meat War. He was a pushcart peddler in his early years in the U.S, but later became a butcher. The story I remember most vividly from my "Bubbe" was that Louis manned the front counter at the abattoir on the East River in New York City. There, he met the wealthiest man in the world at the time, John D. Rockefeller, who suffered from stomach cancer. At the time, doctors thought cows' blood was therapeutic for stomach cancer, and ever week, my great grandfather handed John D, a bottle of blood. Apparently, Rockefeller saw something in my great grandfather and offered him a job on the Rockefeller estate just north of New York City. My most enduring memory of Bubbe's stories was that at Christmastime, the wealthiest man in the world would line up all the estate staff and, one by one, present them with a holiday bonus, a shiny dime...Great books transport you, and Scott Seligman's is so well researched and so detailed that I felt as if I were among the protesters on the streets of the Lower East Side. I was fascinated by the story, unknown to me before Scott's book, and left to wonder if Great Grandpa Louis just might have been one of those butchers caught in the Great Kosher Meat War of 1902. Excellent job.

4 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Our Great Grandmother and Great Great Grandmother

Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2021

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What a well written, factual story of this extremely significant series of events in early Jewish life in America.It can be construed as an early indication of the development of American Women’s rights movement.It poignantly has tremendous significance for me and my family as it illustrates the role my Great Great Grandmother played in this American saga.Many thanks to Mr Seligman for educating the new generations of my family with this historical account.

2 people found this helpful

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JL

Interesting

Reviewed in the United States on December 22, 2020

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Great Kosher Meat War is a very interesting read on the fascinating series of events affecting (effecting?) the kosher consumer. I was aware of kosher meat riots during the ‘10s but had no idea how much earlier and more frequent they were. Kudos to the women who organized, imp,emended, and followed up these protests. I wish someone would stand up against the ridiculously high cost of kosher meat these days.

One person found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

A Gifted Storyteller

Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2020

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Scott Seligman draws the reader in with his engrossing narrative of the inspiring Jewish women of Manhattan's Lower East Side in the early part of the 20th century. It's a fascinating and forgotten piece of New York City history.

3 people found this helpful

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Jeremy D. Booty

Interesting book about the immigrant class in an understudied period of history.

Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2020

I was eager to read this book as I had never heard of these events taking place. The author gives a blow by blow description of what happened during a time which was eventful both in the history of New York and the history of the United States. This was the era of the big trusts which controlled many of the industries of the time including in this instance, the meat industry. A comparatively few corporations combined to set the price of meat throughout the US. The Jewish population was particularly vulnerable as kosher meat must be specially treated and the animal must be slaughtered in a particular way which makes the price of the meat higher even when subject to market prices. When the "Meat Trust" increased the price of kosher meat, the women of New York rose up and protested, sometimes violently. Many of them were beaten and jailed. The businesses they were rioting against were in most ways as much victims as they were; they were simply passing on price increases handed down from the trust.

This book was indeed very informative. It covered the subject well but I had the feeling that much of the information was culled from the newspapers of the time. There was little about what made these women so very desperate. I would have liked greater use of first person accounts and family histories among other topics. In addition, this story contained the begining of what were to become major themes in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and an opportunity to expand on these beginnings was lost here at the expense of detailed explanations of anti-trust litigation. At least at first, these protests were led almost entirely by women. Although the leadership was eventually taken over by men we can see the blossoming of the women's rights movement. The victims of the trust were almost entirely immigrants. How they were seen and treated echoes in the news today. The New York City police treated the protesters brutally and they were fined excessively. Government sanctioned anti-semitism was clearly at work and although the author covered this briefly I would have liked to have known more.

This was a good book that did not live up to its potential to be a great book

Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2021

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I really enjoyed this book and am somewhat of a history buff but had no idea about these events. Very interesting to read about these women and how they organized and ended up making changes.

2 people found this helpful

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therozster

Excellent read! Enjoyed this very much!

Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2021

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Very well written and a great read!

One person found this helpful

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