Mary Antin's memoir recounts her Jewish childhood in the Russian Pale of Settlement and her family's emigration to America. It follows her growing up, schooling, and adaptation to a new country, offering a personal testimony of immigration and hope. It is worth listening to for its vivid account of identity, freedom, and the search for a better life.
For teachers and schools: paste the code into your site or blog.
Cover illustration generated by AI.
Text source: gutenberg.org · The work is in the public domain.
Opening of the book
Transcriber's Note: Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected in this text. For a complete list, please see the end of this document. Click on the images to see a larger version. THE PROMISED LAND Mashke and Fetchke MASHKE AND FETCHKEToList
THE PROMISED LAND BY MARY ANTIN WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS Publisher's Logo BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY The Riverside Press Cambridge 1912 COPYRIGHT, 1911 AND 1912, BY THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY COMPANY COPYRIGHT, 1912, BY HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY Published April 1912
To the Memory of JOSEPHINE LAZARUS Who lives in the fulfilment of her prophecies CONTENTS Introduction xi I. Within the Pale 1 II. Children of the Law 29 III. Both Their Houses 42 IV. Daily Bread 60 V. I Remember 79 VI. The Tree of Knowledge 111 VII. The Boundaries Stretch 137 VIII. The Exodus 163 IX. The Promised Land 180 X. Initiation 206
XI. "My Country" 222 XII. Miracles 241 XIII. A Child's Paradise 252 XIV. Manna 264 XV. Tarnished Laurels 276 XVI. Dover Street 286 XVII. The Landlady 301 XVIII. The Burning Bush 321 XIX. A Kingdom in the Slums 337 XX. The Heritage 359 Acknowledgments 365 Glossary 367 ILLUSTRATIONS Mashke and Fetchke Frontispiece The Grave-Digger of Polotzk 24 Heder (Hebrew School) for Boys in Polotzk 34 The Wood Market, Polotzk 52 My Father's Portrait 70 My Grandfather's House, where I was born 80 The Meat Market, Polotzk 98 Sabbath Loaves for Sale (Bread Market, Polotzk) 124 Winter Scene on the Dvina 144
Readnara
