Our Crowd by Stephen Birmingham is a well written and often amusing social history of the rise of Jewish bankers in New York beginning in the mid 1800s and continuing through World War II. It is really a story of a certain part of the history of New York City. I had never really been interested in the rich people of New York. I think because I was really more influenced by reading books like A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and being interested in the muckraking and labor movements rather than the financial history of the city and those who struck it big. For instance, I've never had any desire to read Edith Wharton novels. They seem boring to me from the start!
Birmingham sets out to dispel the myth that there is some great international Jewish bankers conspiracy. Jewish immigrants were a minority in the banking and finance industry dominated by such folks as J.P. Morgan and Rockefeller. However some did hit the jackpot of being in the right place at the right time with the right skills. There were German Jewish peasants or tradesmen who immigrated to the U.S. in the early 1800s and by hard work, frugality and making felicitous and clever choices were able to profit from the booming, freewheeling economics of the time.
Birmingham focuses on the handful of families that made it big. They intermarried like crazy, as they were socially isolated by their Jewishness, and their Germanness. The author really focuses on the Seligman family, among others. I'd never heard of these people before. The son of a German cloth weaver, the oldest son Joseph with two younger brothers immigrated to Pennsylvania to become peddlers. They literally walked from town to town in the Allegheny mountains selling goods they could carry on their backs. They slept out under the stars many times. Slowly through clever business decisions and lots of sacrifice, they acquired a store. The really big break came during the gold rush. Instead of going out to California to pan for gold, they decided they set up a shop to serve the suddenly booming population. One of the brothers, who had a fear of fire, rented one of the few brick buildings in downtown San Francisco. When the great fire broke out, his store survived and he was essential to the recovery afterwards.
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| Oldest of 11 siblings, Joseph is the patriarch of the Seligman dynasty. |
From store keeping, which also dealt with loans and IOU's, they moved into banking. I didn't quite understand the banking stuff. I kind of glossed over the technicalities. I don't understand money. But this book really doesn't focus on that at all. The author loves telling a good story. These people are quirky, smart, lucky and colorful. It's a fascinating story. I learned a lot. For instance, I had no idea that the Metropolitan Opera in NYC is basically the work of one rich Jewish banker, Otto Kahn who loved music and decided to devote his wealth to promoting it.
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| A dapper little man who was a great philanthropist, Otto Kahn. |
From the gold rush, to cotton, to railroads to oil, the bankers and financiers of rough and tumble Wall St. of the day, were taking huge risks and making huge amounts of money. The book also focuses on the antisemitism the Jewish immigrants had to face and how they dealt with it, each in their own way. And for the German Jews, who had been so proud of their German heritage, the Holocaust and World War II were devastating and heartbreaking to them.
Reading about old New York made me really appreciate the video I have below. I happened upon this on the internet while reading this book. Birmingham is a fun writer who really creates a feeling of the time and all the personalities at play.
This book was written back in the 1960s, so it is a tad dated when it gets to talking about things like the great success of Sears, Roebuck and such. Interestingly, this book was recommended to R by our pastor! R is now reading another Birmingham history on the Russian Jews to New York.
Two thumbs up. For more book reviews go to Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks.
