Stuart Rockoff

Dr. Stuart Rockoff is the Director of the History Department at the ISJL.


Articles by Stuart Rockoff

Wrestling with History in an Old Cemetery

Since moving to Mississippi ten years ago, I have been continually struck by the state’s rich but complicated history. One ...

A Passover Mitzvah in Southeast Kentucky

In celebration of the completion of the Kentucky section of our online Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities, we bring you ...

Denouncing Germany’s Haman from Harlan, Kentucky

Few places in America are more remote than southeastern Kentucky.  Back in the early 20th century, a handful of Jewish ...

My Problem with Martin Luther King Jr. Day

The Civil Rights Movement is one of the most compelling chapters of American history. State and federal governments were right ...

“An enduring monument to the Enterprise and Liberality of Our Israelitish Citizens”: A Beautiful Kentucky Synagogue

Recently, I have started my research into the Jewish communities of Kentucky for our Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities. A ...

Historical Sources for Small Communities

Many of the Jewish communities that I research and write about for our Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities are quite ...

“The Guthrie Incident”: An Episode of Anti-Semitism in Oklahoma

The idea of a Jewish conspiracy to control the world has long been a canard of anti-Semites. Its most infamous ...

Bowling with Jews

As I was researching the Jewish history of Tulsa, Oklahoma, I came upon a wonderful photograph in the 50th anniversary ...

The High Holiday Research Method

With Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur just behind us, I thought I would share a little bit about the significance ...

Texas and Illegal Jewish Immigrants

While illegal immigration has become a hot button issue in recent years, it is not a new phenomenon. In fact, ...