Family Connections: A History of Italian and Jewish Immigrant Lives in Providence, Rhode Island, 1900-1940

by Judith E. Smith | State University of New York Press, 1985

Family Connections book cover

Smith’s important book on Italian and Jewish immigrants to Providence provides us with a first-rate analysis of the ways in which kin relations were maintained and changed for the first two generations…Smith’s study of changing kin relationships among Italians and Jews over four decades stands as a crucial contribution to one of the most important aspects of twentieth century working-class and immigrant history.

— Miriam Cohen, International Labor and Working-Class history

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Judith Smith has written a finely crafted history relying on quantitative materials…She presents her findings in polished literary style which strikes a good balance between data and discourse. Period photographs enhance the presentation. This is an important contribution not only for its judicious and convincing arguments but for its accessibility to general readers
— John Briggs, International Migration Review

Family Connections is… a premiere example of the ways in which a gender conscious perspective enriches urban and family history.
— Susan Porter Benson, Signs

Because of her work, no future community studies can slight the intensive relationship between family, neighborhood institutions, and workplace, nor the role of women in the redeployment of family resources.
— William Toll, American Jewish Archives

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