Taking care of our own
Professor Shelly Tenenbaum's research
Twenty-first century Americans take for granted a
well-developed welfare system supported by federal and state government.
But, during the Great Depression of the last century, who could poor Jewish immigrants turn to in hard times?
- If you were Arnold Seller, you applied to the Jewish
Federation's Rehabilitation Loan Fund for $500 to start a tailoring business.
- If you were 28-year old beautician Rebecca Miller, you
sheltered at the Emanu-El Sisterhood House while you looked for work.
- If you were Russian immigrant Bertha Isserman, you received
subsidized medical care at Mount Zion Hospital.
Jewish self-help organizations
Sociologist and Jewish Studies professor Shelly Tenenbaum has been examining the support resources available to San Francisco Jews during the Great Depression of the 1930s. In early 1900s America, members of tight-knit immigrant communities often formed and had access to what sociologists call ethnic self-help organizations. A person needing assistance often preferred to receive it from an organization sponsored and funded by his or her own ethnic community rather than resort to the local poorhouse. During the Depression, poor and working class Jews living in San Francisco had access to organizations that provided a wide range of services, including
- student scholarships
- subsidized medical care
- summer camps for children
- vocational guidance
- cash assistance
- interest free business loans
- assistance to persons residing in prisons and mental institutions
- shelter for orphans, the elderly and young women
Strong foundations
In a forthcoming article, Tenenbaum argues that this impressive range of self-help organizations helped the Jewish community in San Francisco weather the Great Depression more successfully than other Americans in that city. She attributes
the strength and success of Jewish self-help organizations to two factors:
- The economic class structure of the San Francisco Jewish community was such that by the 1930s, 83% of its members worked in white-collar jobs. A strong white-collar base provided the financial support needed to create and maintain a strong communal infrastructure that included hospitals, orphanages and credit organizations.
- Jewish immigrants had a long history of self-help organizations and a tradition of “taking care of their own” that was often a response to anti-Semitic prejudice. (As early as the Colonial Period, for example, the directors of the Dutch West India Company allowed Jews to remain in New Amsterdam (New York) only under the condition that they take financial responsibility for their own poor.)
The blurring of private and public assistance
As economic conditions worsened during the Depression, it became apparent that the amount of public assistance required could not be entirely met by self-help organizations, including those supported by the Jewish community. Americans gradually began to see assistance during hard times as a responsibility of federal and state government.
At first government assistance was channelled into self-help organizations, which in turn passed it to individuals in their communities. To many, this system made sense because community organizations were often in a better position to know the needs of their constituents. However, as public welfare developed, government assistance was given directly to individuals, bypassing community organizations. As a result, some Jewish self-help organizations disappeared during this time, while others refocused their missions into areas of assistance not covered by government programs.
Implications for the U.S. welfare system today
Professor Tenenbaum sees a possible model for a revised welfare system in that public/private partnership implemented during the Depression. She notes that while there is a difference of opinion as to the appropriate degree of government involvement in welfare, both liberals and conservatives agree on the importance of self-help, both at the individual and local community levels. Tenenbaum suggests that it is worth exploring whether a combination of government assistance and self-help strategies would make for a more effective welfare system and one that might obtain bipartisan support within the contemporary political landscape.