Off-white, on-stage: Jewish self-representation at Chicago's 1933–1934 world's fair

Abstract

World's fairs have attracted considerable geographical interest as sites where dominant ideologies are propounded and challenged, but the objectives of religious minority groups at such events remain relatively underexplored. In response, this article investigates the ways in which Jews used the 1933–1934 Chicago world's fair to advance their place in American society. In spite of an inauspicious social and political context, marked by virulent antisemitism at home and abroad, Jews enjoyed considerable autonomy to represent themselves as desired at this event, reflecting their growing albeit not unequivocal ‘whiteness’ in American society. With this opportunity, the Jewish exhibits and events successfully highlighted a unified Jewry's contributions to universal progress, interfaith collaboration and commitment to both the American nation and a future Jewish state. The fair thus enabled Jews to engage with identity questions among a broader public and stake a significant claim for their inclusion as acculturated rather than assimilated American citizens.