Deborah Dash Moore (born 1946) is an American historian, the former director of the Frankel Center for Judaic Studies, and a Frederick G.L. Huetwell Professor of History and Judaic Studies at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

Ann Arbor Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

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Early life and education

Deborah Dash Moore earned her bachelor's degree - BA magna cum laude, with honors in history - from

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

. She continued her education at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, receiving her M.A. in history in 1968 and her Ph.D. in history in 1975.

Career and publications

Moore taught for many years at

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...

Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ) is a city within the Poughkeepsie (town), New York, Town of Poughkeepsie, New York (state), New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, New York, Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie i ...

. While there she served intermittently as head of Religious Studies and helped found a program in

Jewish Studies Jewish studies (or Judaic studies; ) is an academic discipline centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is interdisciplinary and combines aspects of history (especially Jewish history), Middle Eastern studies, Asian studies, ...

. At Vassar, Deborah Dash Moore wrote and co-edited numerous books, articles and collections. She was a highly regarded educator and classroom professor in addition to her scholarship. Her first book, ''At Home in America: Second Generation New York Jews'' (1981), explores how the children of immigrants created an ethnic world that blended elements of Jewish and American culture into a vibrant urban society. '' To the Golden Cities: Pursuing the American Jewish Dream in Miami and L. A.'' (1994) follows those big city Jews who chose to move to new homes after World War II and examines the type of communities and politics that flourished in these rapidly growing centers. Issues of leadership, authority and accomplishment have also engaged her attention, first in ''B'nai B'rith and the Challenge of Ethnic Leadership'' (1981), and more recently in the award-winning two-volume ''Jewish Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia'' (1997), which she edited with Paula Hyman. Her 2004 book, ''GI Jews: How World War II Changed a Generation'', charts the lives of fifteen young Jewish men as they faced military service and tried to make sense of its demands, simultaneously wrestling with what it meant to be an American and a Jew. GI Jews, ''

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Best Book of the Year'', is a powerful, intimate portrayal of the costs of a conflict that was at once physical, emotional, and spiritual. In 2008, Moore published ''American Jewish Identity Politics'' (

University of Michigan Press The University of Michigan Press is a university press that is a part of Michigan Publishing at the University of Michigan Library. It publishes 170 new titles each year in the humanities and social sciences. Titles from the press have earn ...

), a collection of essays by such notable Jewish studies scholars as Hasia Diner, Jonathan Sarna, and Paula Hyman. In 2011, her book ''Gender & Jewish History'' (

Indiana University Press Indiana University Press, also known as IU Press, is an academic publisher founded in 1950 at Indiana University that specializes in the humanities and social sciences. Its headquarters are located in Bloomington, Indiana. IU Press publishes ...

), written with co-editor Marion Kaplan in honor of historian Paula Hyman, was awarded the National Jewish Book Award in the category of Anthologies and Collections. In September 2012, NYU Press published a three-volume series edited by Moore, City of Promises: A History of the Jews of New York. This history was selected for the National Jewish Book Award. In 2017, NYU Press publishe
Jewish New York: The Remarkable Story of a City and a People
based on the 2012 three-volume series. In spring 2016, Moore was named Editor-in-Chief of the Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, a ten-volume anthology of Jewish literature, artwork, and artifacts published by

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...

. Moore was the co-editor, with Nurith Gertz, of Volume 10 of the ''Posen Library'', which covered the period from 1973 to 2005. Moore's boo
Walkers in the City: Jewish Street Photographers of Midcentury New York
was published in 2023 b
Three Hills
a trade imprint of

Cornell University Press The Cornell University Press is the university press of Cornell University, an Ivy League university in Ithaca, New York. It is currently housed in Sage House, the former residence of Henry William Sage. It was first established in 1869, maki ...

. This book received the National Jewish Book Award in the category of American Jewish Studies.

Awards and honors

National Jewish Book Award The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1943, is an American organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature. The goal of the council, as stated on its website, is "to promote the reading, writing and publishing of qual ...

for ''City of Promises'', 2012 *Lee Max Friedman Award Medal in teaching *

in the Anthologies and Collections category for ''Gender & Jewish History'', 2012 * Marshall Sklare Award, 2006 *''

'' Best Book of the Year, 2005 *Saul Viener Prize for Best Book in American Jewish History for ''GI Jews: How World War II Changed a Generation, 2003–2004,'' *Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, awarded by Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, June 2001 *

for best book in Women's Studies for ''Jewish Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia'', 1997 *Choice Outstanding Academic Book in 1998, ''Jewish Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia'', 1997 *

Dartmouth Medal The Dartmouth Medal of the American Library Association is awarded annually to a reference work of outstanding quality and significance, published during the previous calendar year. The Medal was designed by Rudolph Ruzicka. History Dartmouth Co ...

of the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world. History 19th century ...

in the best reference work category for ''Jewish Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia'', 1997 *Association of Jewish Librarians reference book award for ''Jewish Women in America: An Historical Encyclopedia, 1997''

References

External links

Jeanne & Samuel Frankel Center for Judaic Studies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Deborah Dash 1946 births Brandeis University alumni American Hebraists Living people University of Michigan faculty Vassar College faculty 21st-century American historians Historians of Jews and Judaism American women historians Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Women orientalists 21st-century American women