Look Who it Was Random video

Women of the Tenement | Annie Polland | TEDxJerseyCityWomen

511 views · Published 18 April 2016 · 21:16 · Indexed 21 September 2026

Channel: TEDx Talks · 2016 · Nonprofits & Activism

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A recent New York Magazine article claimed that women who opt out of careers in order to stay home and raise children are "reclaiming the domesticity of their grandmothers." But were all grandmothers and great-grandmothers domestic in the sense implied in the article? This talk examines the working class women of the Lower East Side tenements, where domesticity called for a heated engagement with the business and political worlds. This engagement is brought into relief during the 1902 Kosher Meat Boycott, when immigrant mothers rioted on the streets in their quest for affordable kosher meat. Join us as we delve into the boycott, looking at both the perspectives of the leaders as well as women who ran butcher shops, and attempt to examine the impact this political engagement had on future generations.

Annie Polland is the Senior Vice President for Programs & Education at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, where she oversees the development and ongoing improvement of all Museum interpretive programs. She is the author, with Daniel Soyer, of Emerging Metropolis: New York Jews in the Age of Immigration (NYU Press), winner of the 2012 National Jewish Book Award. She received her PhD in History from Columbia University, and previously served as Vice President of Education at the Museum at Eldridge Street. 

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

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