The Jewish Americans To Air on NHPTV Beginning 1/14 @ 9 p.m.

THE JEWISH AMERICANSThree-part documentary follows 350 years of Jewish American history, and explores the experience of immigration and assimilationAIRS ON NHPTV: Episode 1: They Came to Stay/A World of Their Own Monday, January 14 @ 9 PM Covers the period from the 1700s, when the first Jews arrive in America, to the early 20th century, when more than two million Eastern European Jews, fleeing poverty and oppression, emigrate. Gravitating to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, they develop their own unique cultural institutions. Episode 2: The Best of Times, The Worst of Times Monday, January 21 @ 9 PM Covers the early 20th century, when anti-Semitism is on the rise even as some Jews succeed in mainstream pursuits; in the 1920s, Jewish immigrants come to dominate Hollywood. The episode also outlines the Depression and the reaction to the destruction of European Jewry during WWII. At war’s end, American Jews suddenly find themselves the largest and most powerful Jewish community in the world. Episode 3: Home Monday, January 28 @ 11 PM & Wednesday, January 30 @ 9 PM Covers the post-war period, when discrimination against Jews in daily life begins to abate and Jews enter professions such as medicine, law and banking in record numbers. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(DURHAM, January 7, 2008) — Beginning with the first Jews to arrive in New Amsterdam in the 17th century, THE JEWISH AMERICANS offers a portrait of a people who epitomize the immigrant experience, embracing American culture while keeping alive traditions and heritage. It is also a unique story of ongoing discrimination and stereotyping coupled with some of the most remarkable accomplishments in American history, the arts, commerce, science and academia.The film tells the stories of Jews who have participated in major milestones and cultural phases of U.S. history, including Judah P. Benjamin, secretary of state for the Confederacy; Hank Greenberg, Detroit’s baseball slugger; Louis Brandeis, the first Jewish U.S. Supreme Court justice; Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the only Jewish woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court; Henry Morgenthau, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s secretary of treasury, who pushed Roosevelt to save European Jews from the Nazi concentration camps; Carl Reiner, Sid Caesar, Jerry Stiller and other “Borscht Belt” comedians who defined American humor in the second half of the 20th century; Jerry Siegel and Joel Shuster, creators of Superman; Bess Myerson, the first Jewish Miss America; Jewish Americans involved in the Civil Rights movement during the 1960s; Betty Friedan, a founder of the modern feminist movement; and Matisyahu, the popular Hasidic rapper who combines hip-hop music with traditional Jewish themes, and many others.The series examines the separation of church and state and how that opened up the door for Jewish immigrants to establish a home in which they were on equal footing with their neighbors. THE JEWISH AMERICANS also documents a history of anti-Semitism in the United States, epitomized by the virulent attacks of automotive magnate Henry Ford; the lynching of Leo Frank in the South; and the establishment of Jewish quotas at elite universities. Ultimately, however, THE JEWISH AMERICANS is an exploration of the opportunities, freedoms and prosperity that Jews have found in America, after struggling through millennia of persecution. THE JEWISH AMERICANS features narration by Emmy- and Tony-nominated actor Liev Schreiber and interviews with prominent Jewish Americans in entertainment, academia, business and politics who share their personal reflections on what it means to be Jewish American.

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Carla Gordon Russell
Director of Communications
crussell@nhpbs.org
(603) 868-4339