Early feminist Ernestine Rose, more famous in her time than Elizabeth Cady Stanton or Susan B. Anthony, has been undeservedly forgotten. During the 1850s, Rose was an outstanding orator for women's rights in the United States who became known as "the Queen of the platform." Yet despite her successes and close friendships with other activists, she would gradually be erased from history for being too much of an outlier: a foreigner, a radical, and, of most concern to her peers and later historians, an atheist. In The Rabbi's Atheist Daughter, the most extensively researched account of Rose's life and career to date, Bonnie S. Anderson recovers the unique legacy of one of the nineteenth century's most prominent radical activists. Born the only child of a Polish rabbi, Ernestine Rose rejected religion at an early age, legally fought a betrothal to a man she did not want to marry, and left her family, Judaism, and Poland forever. After living in Berlin and Paris, she moved to London, where she became a follower of the manufacturer-turned-socialist Robert Owen. There she met her future husband, fellow Owenite William Rose, and together they emigrated to New York City in 1836. In the U. S., Rose was a prominent leader at every national women's rights convention. She lectured in twenty-three of the thirty-one existing states, in favor of feminism and against slavery and religion. But the rise of anti-Semitism and religious fervor during the Civil War-coupled with rifts in the women's movement when black men, but not women, got the vote-effectively left Rose without a platform. Returning to England, she continued speaking, advocating for feminism, free thought, and pacifism. Although many radicals honored her work, her contributions to women's rights had been passed over by historians by the 1920s. Nearly a century later, The Rabbi's Atheist Daughter, an engaging, well-rounded portrait of one of the mothers of the American feminist movement, returns Ernestine Rose to her rightful place.

About the Author
Bonnie S. Anderson is professor emerita at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center, CUNY, co-author of A History of Their Own: Women in Europe from Prehistory to the Present, and author of Joyous Greetings: The First International Women's Movement.

Reviews
Well-written and insightful, this book is a welcome addition to recent literature that internationalizes our understanding of nineteenth-century American social activism. In recounting Rose's highly unusual path into American antislavery, women's rights and freethought, Anderson enriches the traditional narrative of antebellum reform and points out the ways in which transatlantic connections both enhanced and complicated the life of key antebellum social movements. * Paul E. Teed, History *
In this deeply researched, eloquently crafted volume, Bonnie Anderson brings to life one of the most fascinating, yet elusive, figures of the nineteenth century... Anderson restores her subject to the pivotal place she clearly occupied among her peers. And for contemporary readers, Anderson draws inspiration from the past to challenge us to seek a future-feminist, internationalist, anti-racist-that Ernestine Rose worked hard to envision. * Kathi Kern, American Jewish History *
Engaging... Bonnie S. Anderson's biography of the remarkable Ernestine Potowska Rose explores a once-famous activist and utilizes her life to offer new insights about the movement for rights in antebellum America and beyond... In her careful exploration of a woman's-rights pioneer, an internationalist, and an atheist, Anderson offers new insights not only into the reform experience but also Rose's individual journey, one occasionally at odds with the communities to which she belonged. * Bonnie Laughlin-Schultz, Journal of the Early Republic *
Highly engaging... A wide-ranging and informative biography, The Rabbi's Atheist Daughter provides exceptional insights into the status of Christianity within the major political movements of the nineteenth century. Anderson offers a model life-and-times study of Rose. She also frames a biography, rich in context, that seems surprisingly relevant to readers today. Anderson sagely concludes that Rose's concerns for racial equality, feminism, and free thought, enriched by an international perspective, gain new importance during an era of resurging religious fundamentalism * Mari Jo Buhle, Journal of American History *
Anderson has written a carefully researched and engaging biography, which, while sympathetic, is never fawning. Despite the dearth of information about Rose's personal life, Anderson constructs an intimate, honest portrait that captures Rose's immense intellect and wit and her tendency toward self-righteous condescension. * Dawn M. Greeley, English Historical Review *
Tapping international research and literature, drawing on her expertise in international women's history and emphasizing the transatlantic nature of Rose's life and work, Anderson creates new context for understanding Ernestine Rose's life, work, and words. * Katherine Durack, American Jewish Archives Journal *



Book Information
ISBN 9780199756247
Author Bonnie S. Anderson
Format Hardback
Page Count 264
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 499g
Dimensions(mm) 157mm * 239mm * 28mm