Book Cover of From Plotzk to Boston

From Plotzk to Boston

by Mary Antin

An intensely personal account of the immigration experience as related by a young Jewish girl from Plotzk (a town in the government of Vitebsk, Russia). Mary Antin, with her mother, sisters, and brother, set out from Plotzk in 1894 to join their father, who had journeyed to the "Promised Land" of America three years before. Fourth class railroad cars packed to suffocation, corrupt crossing guards, luggage and persons crudely "disinfected" by German officials who feared the cholera, locked "quarantine" portside, and, finally, the steamer voyage and a family reunited. For anyone who has ever wondered what it was like for their grandparents or great grandparents to emigrate from Europe to the United States last century, this is a fascinating narrative. Mary Antin went on to become an immigration rights activist. She also wrote an autobiography, The Promised Land, published in 1912, which detailed her assimilation into American culture.

Book Details

Language

English

Original Language

Yiddish

Published In

1899

Author

Mary Antin image

Mary Antin

United States

Mary Antin was an American author and immigration rights activist. She is best known for her 1912 autobiography The Promised Land, an account of her emigration and subseq...

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