A Credit to the Nation: The Lost World of East European Jewish Immigrant ‘Bankers,’ 1873-1930 with Dr. Rebecca Kobrin

How different would the central narrative of American Jewish immigration history sound if we invited its commercial practices to center stage? Between 1870 and 1930 thousands of East European Jewish immigrant businessmen set up financial enterprises called immigrant banks that not only shaped mass Jewish migration from Eastern Europe but American finance as well.  Using an interdisciplinary approach that draws on court cases, the foreign language press, business records, and memoirs, my talk highlights the central role East European Jewish immigrant entrepreneurs played on both sides of the Atlantic. Offering credit to prospective migrants by selling them ship tickets on installment, these immigrant businessmen embedded East European migrants in a larger system of distribution and established them as lucrative commodities.  Once these migrants settled in their new homes, these entrepreneurs continued to offer them credit for business ventures and real estate investment, as more established banks refused to address their financial needs.  In doing so, they not only aided in Jewish immigrant adaptation but left an indelible imprint on New York City’s development and industries.