“Hammerin’ Hank”: Hank Greenberg and Jewish American Identity Development During the Early and Mid-20th Century Open Access

Abstract

There is an inextricable link between Jewish American culture and baseball. This connection was solidified by the visibility given to Jewish Americans when Detroit Tigers’ star first-baseman, Hank Greenberg, decided to play baseball on the Jewish holiday, Rosh Hashanah, in 1934. This decision came during a crucial stretch of the season's pennant race. When he sat out on Yom Kippur just a week later, he became revered as a hero willing to sacrifice his professional success for the practice of Judaism. He was in this moment truly symbolic of the compromise that was being a Jewish American, a trait that would follow him for his entire life in baseball.  This thesis analyzes the career of Hank Greenberg to explain how his progression to stardom increased the visibility of Jewish Americans and can help to understand religious, racial, and cultural issues as they pertain to the identity of Jewish Americans in the Interwar period. Particularly, this thesis focuses on secular practices, the development of “racial ambiguity” as it pertains to Jewish Americans, and the various ways in which Jewish Americans became acculturated. The thesis engages with primary sources from the interwar period and scholarly commentary on the development of Jewish American identity to present a holistic picture of identity development. Chiefly, the thesis engages with the work of Eric Goldstein, Beth Wenger, Marcus Lee Hansen, Stuart Hall, William M. Simons, and Gilbert Hans to address both the baseball aspect and broader cultural implications.

By tracing the developments of Hank Greenberg's life in the 1930s and 40s 

and placing it alongside the greater Americanization of Jewish culture, a larger picture emerges of how Jewish-American identity developed through secularism, acculturation, and racial ambiguity during the early and mid-20th century. 

Table of Contents

First Pitch- 1

Ethnicity vs. Cultural Identity -10

Pinch Hitting: Secularism As Religious Identity-20

Battlefields and Ballfields: Methods of Jewish American Acculturation and Integration- 34

Double Play: Racial Ambiguity and Jewish American Identity- 45

Call to the bullpen - 59

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	American Studies
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	History, United States American Studies
Keyword	Baseball, American, Jewish, Ethnicity, Identity
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Arri Eisen, Emory University
Committee Members	Eric Goldstein, Emory University Kim Loudermilk, Emory University

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