I was born, i have lived, and i have been made over. Her 1912 memoir the promised land explained to the citizens of her new home why the american dream was drawing so many to their country. The promised land by mary antin is a unique book of memoire. One of the most prominent voices of the early twentieth century wave of immigration to the united states, mary antin is best known for her 1912 book the promised land, describing her experience and that of her family in settling in america and attending american schools. The promised land, houghton mifflin company, boston and new york 1912. Mary antin was born maryashe antin in the town of polotzk in the pale of settlement, the only area of russia where jews were permitted to live. The promised land, by mary antin read 23 dec 2008 i read this because i had never heard of it, and jay parini called it one of books of lasting american significance. Heath anthology of american literaturemary antin author page. One of the most prominent voices of the early twentieth century wave of immigration to the united states, mary antin is best known for her 1912 book the promised land, describing her experience and that of her family in settling in. The promised land the autobiograp hy of a russian immigrant mary antin on. Antin imm from polotzk, russia, in 1894, and wrote the promis years later, which was. The project gutenberg ebook of the promised land, by mary. The autobiography of a russian immigrant by antin, mary and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at.
On this day in 1912, over 1,000 people gathered at the waldorf astoria hotel in new york to hear boston writer mary antin. It tells of a jewish girl born in 1881 in russia, and of her life in poverty within the pale and of. The promised land by mary antin goodreads share book. Russia was the place where ones father went on business. The main themes of the story are the immigration and also the process that the immigrant take to become citizens of a different country. She is best known for her 1912 autobiography the promised land. Interweaving introspection with political commentaries, biography with history, the promised land 1912 brings to life the transformation of an east european jewish immigrant into an american citizen. The promised land, by mary antin, is an exceptional book in many respects mary antin was a distinguished writer in her time, and her account of the immigrant experience is unique on several levels. In these excerpts from her memoir, she describes becoming an american as an experience so profound that it constitutes a second birth. The autobiograp hy of a russian immigrant mary antin on. The first half of the book deals with her childhood in russia, before emigrating.
The promised land has 44 available editions to buy at half price books marketplace. Antins works often chronicled the immigrant experience in the united states. Librivox recording of the promised land by mary antin. In her book the promised land published in 1912 mary antin uses the term identity only one time. In this story, mary antin is talking on behalf all the jewish women who being oppressed by jewish. Mary antin was the second of six children born to israel and esther weltman antin, a jewish family living in polotsk, in the vitebsk governorate of the russian empire presentday belarus. A russian writer who celebrated the american dream.
Find all the books, read about the author, and more. I will write a bold finis at the end, and shut the book with a bang. The project gutenberg ebook of the promised land, by mary antin. Israel antin emigrated to boston in 1891, and three years later he sent for mary and her mother and siblings. Antins words reveal her almost desperate wish to jettison the albatross of memory that weighed so heavily upon her and from which she was not yet free. Promised land, which is an autobiographical account. The first session will feature a discussion of the promised land by mary antin, a celebrated 1912 memoir by a russianjewish immigrant to boston, followed by a show and tell from the mary antin papers as well as other archival materials related to the immigrant jewish experience held by the american jewish historical society. Related to political movements or attitudes to achieve things.
This piece is a brief excerpt from a famous autobiographical account by mary antin 18811949 entitled the promised land. When you listen to bridget reading this wonderful book, you can almost feel mary antins trials and joys. Jews within the empire were required to live in this area that stretched from the baltic sea to the black sea and encompassed portions of the presentday states of poland, lithuania, belarus, ukraine and moldova. Born to israel and esther weltman antin, a jewish family in polotsk, belarus, at that time part of russia, she immigrated to the boston area with her mother and siblings in 1894, moving from chelsea to ward 8 in bostons south end, a notorious slum. Mary antins the promised land constraints of women in the.
But in her real life, as opposed to her representation of it in the promised land, it was not so easy to say finis to the. Even when young, she became aware of how restricted life in russia was for jews. It tells the story of her early life in what is now belarus and her immigration to the united states. It being a period of pogroms, antins family decided to emigrate to the united.
Inthe promised land, mary antin tells of moving from polotzk, russia, to boston, massachusetts, when she was around thirteen years old. The promised land the autobiography of a russian immigrant mary antin on. The notion of identity in mary antins the promised land. Being a jew in russia at the end of the 19th century was not easy at all. Jul 14, 2011 this book is important to our subject because it talks about migration and the problems that the immigrants can find in their host country. Mary antin, american author remembered for her autobiographical work the promised land and other books on immigrant life in the united states. Though i disagree at some points with the author, i find it very inspirational, a good guideline for a successful hybrid identity past and present identity. All the little girls i knew lived in polotzk, with their fathers and mothers and friends. She wrote about her early experiences in her book, promised land, that was published in 1912. So extraordinary were the changes that antin underwent after she emigrated as a young girl from russian poland to america that she felt she had experienced the creation of a second self completely divorced from her earlier life. Review of mary antins the promised land appears in the new.
The promised land by mary antin was published 1912, and it narrates the story of a jewish family immigrating from russia to the united states in fact it is the autobiography of antin, she put it in this way. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. When i was a little girl, the world was divided into two parts. The promised land by mary antin mary antin, june, 1881 may 15, 1949, was an american author and immigration rights activist. Land, which describes her public school education and assimilation into american culture, as well as life for jews in czarist russia. This is an autobiographical study of the immigrant, of what he brings to america, and what he finds here, and in it the author presents the case of the russian jews american citizenship in a new and vivid light. The promised land brought antin nationwide fame, selling nearly 85,000 copies before her death. Author mary antin arrived in the united states from russia in the 1890s at the age of. Mary antin, whose jewish family suffered oppression and discrimination in russia, referred to america as the promised land.
Only 30 years old when she published her autobiography, the promised land, mary antin captured the dreams and experiences of turnof the century russian jewish immigrants. This book was originally published prior to 1923, and represents a reproduction of an important historical work. Life was not easy, though as a child, mary describes life in boston as almost perfect. A smart and dignified girl, mary takes the good things in anything and writes her autobiography with a smile. The first meal was an object lesson of much variety.
The books popularity allowed antin to begin speaking publicly, a platform that she used to promote acceptance of immigration to the united states. A feeling of divisionbetween russia and america, jews and gentiles, yiddish and englisheverpresent in her narrative is balanced by insights, amusing and. In telling the story of one person, the promised land illuminates the lives of hundreds of thousands. The first half of the book deals with her childhood in. Review of mary antins the promised land appears in the. The promised land is the 1912 autobiography of mary antin. Essays and criticism on mary antins the promised land critical essays. Abraham cahans 1917 autobiographical novel, the rise of. I thought it a miracle, exclaimed mary antin in her bestselling autobiography, the promised land, written when she was just thirty years old, that i, mashke, the granddaughter of raphael the russian, born to a humble destiny, should be at home in an american metropolis, be free to fashion my own life, and should dream my dreams in english phrases. Mary antin, the author of the promised land, was born to a jewish family in polotsk, russia, in 1881. This penguin twentiethcentury classics edition includes eighteen blackandwhite photographs from the book s first edition and reprints for the first time antins essay how i wrote the promised land. Mar 23, 2007 free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. As a child, she lived in the russian pale, the part of russia.
The autobiography of a russian immigrant, will be forthcoming. The autobiography of a russian immigrant antin, mary on. She emigrated from polotzk to boston with her family in 1894, when she was thirteen. June, 1881, is the birthdate of mary antin, the jewish girl who began writing about the immigrant experience almost as soon as she disembarked from the boat from russia. The promised land was a bestseller when it was first published in 1912. The promised land recounts the transformation of an east european jewish immigrant into an american citizen. Introduction the pale is a strip of land stretching from the baltic to the black sea, running chiefly through the polish provinces. Author mary antin arrived in the united states from russia in the 1890s at the age of 12. She had come to make a plea for more aid to support jewish immigrant girls arriving alone in the united states. Antin immigrated to the united states with her mother, sisters, and brother in 1894, joining her father, who had preceded them in 1891, in massachusetts. The promised land reveals a pattern of reduction and conformity. It tells the story of her early life in what is now belarus and her immigration to the united states in 1894. The promised land by mary antin was published 1912, and it narrates the.
Crowd gathers to hear writer mary antin mass moments. Mary antin was an american author and immigration rights activist. Lindsay kleiman although mary antin wrote the promised land in 1912 with the ostensible intention of shedding light on the jewishamerican immigrant experience for a nonjewish audience, one can see through close readings that this autobiography was also written to serve a secondary purpose. Mary antin the promised land book jack and rose richards.
Antin had recently published the promised land, a memoir of her emigration from. The russian government allowed them few options in terms of where they could live and what work they could do. The promised land is the autobiography of mary antin, american author and immigration rights activist. The promised land, first serialized in the atlantic monthly in 1912, was written by mary antin b. So did mary antin begin the chronicle of her experiences as an immigrant in the new world. Mary antin was born in june of 1881 in polotzk, white russia what is now belarus. The book focuses on her attempts to assimilate into the culture of the united states. I n 1894 mary antin was a thirteenyearold jewish girl living with her family in the jewish pale of the russian empire. Index mary antin 18811949 mary antin 18811949 identity theories instrumentalist theory. The purpose of this study is the vision of mary antins example of discrimination and oppression against the jewish people. Born to israel and esther weltman antin, a jewish family in polotsk, belarus, at that time part of russia, she immigrated to the boston area with her mother and siblings in 1894, moving from chelsea to ward 8 in bostons south end, a notorious slum, as the venue. In this novel the author talks about the main differences that she saw when she emigrated from russia to the united states.
Brown paper tickets the first and only fair trade ticketing company. The autobiography of a russian immigrant by mary antin 1912 the promised land brought antin nationwide fame, selling nearly 85,000 copies before her death. Mary antin 18811949 mary antin was born in polotzk in the pale of settlement, the area of czarist russia in which jews were allowed to live. Mary antins ringing endorsement of americanizationof being made overwhich appeared in 1912 in her autobiography, the promised land, probably did. The autobiography of a russian immigrant 9780691005980 by antin, mary and a great selection of similar new, used and collectible books available now at great prices. Astonishingly enough, this happens in chapter ix, named after the book s title, in which antin describes her arrival in america after the exodus 7 from her russian hometown polotzk. Jun 17, 2004 buy the promised land by antin, mary isbn. Her first book, describing her voyage from russia to the united states, was published in 1899. My father produced several kinds of food, ready to eat, without any cooking, from little tin cans that had printing all over them.
Aug 01, 2012 mary antins ringing endorsement of americanizationof being made overwhich appeared in 1912 in her autobiography, the promised land, probably did. The autobiograp hy of a russian immigrant paperback international edition, november 21, 1985. Her book, the promised land, is still read today as an expression of the quintessential 19 th century eastern european immigrant experience with universal appeal to all immigrants. It was written in 1912 by mary antin, who describes the complex process of acclimation. The promised land mary antin audiobook and ebook all. She is best known for her memoir, the promised land 1912, which lyrically detailed her experience as a young russian jew who experienced culture shock upon arriving in the united states at age 12. Save by special privilege or permit, jews were not allowed to live outside of the pale.
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