The Promised Land

Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected in this text. For a complete list, please see the end of this document . Click on the images to see a larger version. THE PROMISED LAND MASHKE AND FETCHKE ToList THE PROMISED LAND BY MARY ANTIN WITH ILLUSTRATIONS FROM PHOTOGRAPHS BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY The Riverside Press Cambridge 1912 COPYRIGHT, 1911 AND 1912, BY THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY COMPANY COPYRIGHT, 1912, BY HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY Published April 1912 To the Memory of JOSEPHINE LAZARUS Who lives in the fulfilment of her prophecies CONTENTS Introduction xi I. Within the Pale 1 II. Children of the Law 29 III. Both Their Houses 42 IV. Daily Bread 60 V. I Remember 79 VI. The Tree of Knowledge 111 VII. The Boundaries Stretch 137 VIII. The Exodus 163 IX. The Promised Land 180 X. Initiation 206 XI. "My Country" 222 XII. Miracles 241 XIII. A Child's Paradise 252 XIV. Manna 264 XV. Tarnished Laurels 276 XVI. Dover Street 286 XVII. The Landlady 301 XVIII. The Burning Bush 321 XIX. A Kingdom in the Slums 337 XX. The Heritage 359 Acknowledgments 365 Glossary 367 ILLUSTRATIONS Mashke and Fetchke Frontispiece The Grave-Digger of Polotzk 24 Heder (Hebrew School) for Boys in Polotzk 34 The Wood Market, Polotzk 52 My Father's Portrait 70 My Grandfather's House, where I was born 80 The Meat Market, Polotzk 98 Sabbath Loaves for Sale (Bread Market, Polotzk) 124 Winter Scene on the Dvina 144 Union Place (Boston) where my New Home waited for Me 184 Twoscore of my Fellow-Citizens—Public School, Chelsea 230 Wheeler Street, in the Lower South End of Boston 264 Harrison Avenue is the Heart of the South End Ghetto 288 I liked to stand and look down on the Dim Tangle of Railroad Tracks below 298 The Natural History Club had Frequent Field Excursions 328 Bates Hall, where I spent my Longest Hours in the Library 342 The Famous Study, that was fit to have been preserved as a Shrine 346 The Tide had rushed in, stealing away our Seaweed Cushions 362 INTRODUCTION ToC I was born, I have lived, and I have been made over. Is it not time to write my life's story? I am just as much out of the way as if I were dead, for I am absolutely other than the person whose…