Beloved strangers : interfaith families in nineteenth-century America
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Beloved strangers : interfaith families in nineteenth-century America
Harvard University Press, 2001
Available at / 2 libraries
-
No Libraries matched.
- Remove all filters.
Note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Interfaith marriage is a visible and often controversial part of American life - and one with a significant history. In this historical study of religious diversity in the home. Anne Rose draws a vivid picture of interfaith marriages over the century before World War I, their problems and their social consequences. She shows how mixed-faith families became agents of change in a culture moving toward pluralism. Following them over several generations, Rose tracks the experiences of 26 interfaith families who recorded their thoughts and feelings in letters, journals, and memoirs. She examines the decisions husbands and wives made about religious commitment, their relationships with the extended families on both sides, and their convictions. These couples - who came from strong Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish backgrounds - did not turn away from religion but made personalized adjustments in religious observance. Increasingly, the author notes, women took charge of religion in the home. Rose's family-centered look at private religious decisions and practice offers insight on American society in a period when it was becoming more open, more diverse, and less community-bound.
Table of Contents
Introduction: In Search of Ancestors 1 Children of the Religious Enlightenment Parents How Children Reinterpreted Their Parents' Values Getting Married, Raising Families Descendants 2 Conversations about Interfaith Marriage Official Opinions Moral Tales Newspaper Romances 3 The Strange Intimacy of Piety and Politics Washington Courtships Converts and Their Husbands Interfaith Families and Their Church A Failed Marriage The Rabbi's Daughter 4 The Uncertain Limits of Liberalism "Can the Ethiopian Change His Skin or the Leopard His Spots?" Rules and Exceptions Immigrant Autobiographies Interfaith Marriage Moves to an Inside Page 5 Fitting Religion into Complicated Lives A New Kind of Wife One's Own Way to Heaven A Taste for Misbehavior Family Ties A World Turned Upside Down? Epilogue: The Discovery of Interfaith Marriage Appendix The Interfaith Couples Studied, Listed in Chronological Order by Wedding Date Genealogy of the Sherman Family Genealogy of the Mordecai Family Abbreviations Used in the Notes Notes Index Illustrations 1. William Tecumseh Sherman and His Son Tom 2. Mordecai House, Raleigh, North Carolina 3. Catholic Dispensation Form, Vincennes, Indiana, 1888 4. Pere Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, Burial Place of Judah Benjamin 5. Plum Street Temple, Cincinnati, Ohio 6. Ralph Barton Perry and Rachel Berenson Perry 7. Bessie McCoy Davis, 1911
by "Nielsen BookData"