Abraham Cahan and the Advent of 'Public Service' Features in the FORVERTS

• In Event: The Social Landscape of Yiddish Literature

Abstract

After a short stint as founding editor of the socialist Yiddish daily FORVERTS in 1897, Abraham Cahan left the paper to write in English for the NEW YORK COMMERCIAL ADVERTISER under its innovative city editor, Lincoln Steffens, who encouraged Cahan to experiment with writing in a variety of journalistic genres. Returning to the FORVERTS in 1903, Cahan was determined to boost the failing paper’s circulation by introducing features that would both entertain immigrant readers and address their anxieties about acculturation. In addition to publishing serialized romance fiction, which portrayed protagonists struggling to reinvent themselves as Americans, in 1906 Cahan created the daily advice column “A bintl briv” (A Bundle of Letters), touting it as a vehicle for offering guidance to readers about acculturation, education, family problems and romance.
In 1908, during a period of intense public controversy about Jewish criminality, he introduced a new weekly feature, “Galerye fun farshvundene mener” (Gallery of Missing Husbands), in cooperation with social workers employed by United Hebrew Charities, whose job it was to track down and bring legal charges against Jewish men who deserted their families. Photos and descriptions of family deserters appeared in “Galerye,” and clippings were distributed to Jewish communal agencies throughout the United States to aid in identifying suspects. This innovative use of mass media proved an effective tool, and the FORVERTS took credit for providing a public service, the purpose of which was to protect deserted wives and children from destitution. “Galerye” quickly became one of the most popular features in the paper, substantially increasing its circulation.
In addition to “Galerye,” Cahan printed 'true' stories and comments about family deserters in “A bintl briv,” on the editorial pages and in the news sections of the paper, creating an exciting synergy among these features. In doing so, however, he sometimes invented characters and scenarios, in an apparent effort to maximize the sensational impact of the material and accentuate his stringent critique of the behavior of immigrant Jewish men. The proposed paper investigates and analyzes several such falsified stories and interprets Cahan’s reasons for publishing them in light of his acculturationist politics.

author

• Ellen Deborah Kellman, Brandeis University