Jewish Women Homesteaders on the Plains

Abstract

The homesteading experience is being revisited with the regrowth of Midwestern Studies. What has been ignored and is now being investigated are the women homesteaders, who worked with their men (husband, brother, or father) to build farms on the wild plains. However, often forgotten among these women are the Jewish women who battled to keep their religion in an environment that was unknown to them. By understanding this minority in the western expansion experience, a greater understanding of the American experience can be uncovered.