Skip to content

Rachel Calof's Story: Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Rachel Calof's Story: Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains Paperback - 1995

by Rachel Calof; J. Sanford Rikoon (Editor)

In 1894, 18-year-old Rachel Kahn traveled from Russia to the U.S. for an arranged marriage to Abraham Calof. As North Dakota homesteaders, Rachel and Abraham carved out a life, enduring many hardships. Never sentimental, her memoir is a vital record of their struggle and triumph on the frontier. Features an Epilogue by Rachel's son, Jacob. Photos.


From the publisher

"Calof's [story] has the 'electricity' one occasionally finds in primary sources. It is powerful, shocking, and primitive, with the kind of appeal primary sources often attain without effort. . . . it is a strong addition to the literature of women's experience on the frontier." --Lillian Schlissel

In 1894, eighteen-year-old Rachel Bella Kahn travelled from Russia to the United States for an arranged marriage to Abraham Calof, an immigrant homesteader in North Dakota. Rachel Calof's Story combines her memoir of a hard pioneering life on the prairie with scholarly essays that provide historical and cultural background and show her narrative to be both unique and a representative western tale. Her narrative is riveting and candid, laced with humor and irony.

The memoir, written by Rachel Bella Calof in 1936, recounts aspects of her childhood and teenage years in a Jewish community, (shtetl) in Russia, but focuses largely on her life between 1894 and 1904, when she and her husband carved out a life as homesteaders. She recalls her horror at the hardships of pioneer life--especially the crowding of many family members into the 12 x 14' dirt-floored shanties that were their first dwellings. "Of all the privations I knew as a homesteader," says Calof, "the lack of privacy was the hardest to bear." Money, food, and fuel were scarce, and during bitter winters, three Calof households--Abraham and Rachel with their growing children, along with his parents and a brother's family--would pool resources and live together (with livestock) in one shanty.

Under harsh and primitive conditions, Rachel Bella Calof bore and raised nine children. The family withstood many dangers, including hailstorms that hammered wheat to the ground and flooded their home; droughts that reduced crops to dust; blinding snowstorms of plains winters. Through it all, however, Calof drew on a humor and resolve that is everywhere apparent in her narrative. Always striving to improve her living conditions, she made lamps from dried mud, scraps of rag, and butter; plastered the cracked wood walls of her home with clay; supplemented meagre supplies with prairie forage--wild mushrooms and garlic for a special supper, dry grass for a hot fire to bake bread. Never sentimental, Caolf's memoir is a vital historical and personal record.


J. Sanford Rikoon elaborates on the history of Jewish settlement in the rural heartland and the great tide of immigration from the Russian Pale of Settlement and Eastern Europe from 1880-1910. Elizabeth Jameson examines how Calof "writes from the interior spaces of private life, and from that vantage point, reconfigures more familiar versions of the American West." Jameson also discusses how the Calofs adapted Jewish practices to the new contingencies of North Dakota, maintaining customs that represented the core of their Jewish identity, reconstructing their "Jewishness" in new circumstances.

Details

  • Title Rachel Calof's Story: Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains
  • Author Rachel Calof; J. Sanford Rikoon (Editor)
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition [ Edition: First
  • Pages 176
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Indiana University Press, Bloomington, Indiana, U.S.A.
  • Date 1995-09-22
  • Illustrated Yes
  • Features Bibliography, Illustrated, Index
  • ISBN 9780253209863 / 0253209862
  • Weight 0.55 lbs (0.25 kg)
  • Dimensions 9 x 5.9 x 0.6 in (22.86 x 14.99 x 1.52 cm)
  • Themes
    • Cultural Region: Plains
    • Geographic Orientation: North Dakota
    • Religious Orientation: Jewish
    • Sex & Gender: Feminine
  • Library of Congress subjects Calof, Rachel, Jews - North Dakota - Biography
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 95005742
  • Dewey Decimal Code B

Media reviews

Citations

  • Booklist, 09/15/1995, Page 133
  • Kirkus Reviews, 08/01/1995, Page 1072
  • Publishers Weekly, 08/14/1995, Page 75

About the author

J. SANFORD RIKOON is Research Associate Professor in the Department of Rural Sociology at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He is the author of Threshing in the Midwest, 1820-1940. ELIZABETH JAMESON, Associate Professor of History at the University of New Mexico, is co-editor of The Women's West.

Back to Top

More Copies for Sale

Rachel Calof's Story: Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Rachel Calof's Story: Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains

by Rachel Calof

  • Used
Condition
Used - Good
ISBN 13
9780253209863
ISBN 10
0253209862
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Waltham, Massachusetts, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$1.00
$3.00 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Indiana University Press. Used - Good. . . All orders guaranteed and ship within 24 hours. Your purchase supports More Than Words, a nonprofit job training program for youth, empowering youth to take charge of their lives by taking charge of a business.
Item Price
$1.00
$3.00 shipping to USA
Rachel Calof's Story: Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Rachel Calof's Story: Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains

by Calof, Rachel

  • Used
Condition
UsedAcceptable
ISBN 13
9780253209863
ISBN 10
0253209862
Quantity Available
2
Seller
Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$1.86
$2.99 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
UsedAcceptable. Corners are bent. Cover has some rubbing and edgewear. Access codes, CD's, and other accessories may not be included.
Item Price
$1.86
$2.99 shipping to USA
Rachel Calof's Story: Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Rachel Calof's Story: Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains

by Rachel Calof

  • Used
  • very good
  • Paperback
Condition
Used - Very Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 13
9780253209863
ISBN 10
0253209862
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Simi Valley, California, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$3.51
$3.99 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Indiana University Press, 1995-10. Paperback. Very Good. 0.6000 8.8000 5.8000.
Item Price
$3.51
$3.99 shipping to USA
Rachel Calof's Story: Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Rachel Calof's Story: Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains

by Rachel Calof

  • Used
  • good
  • Paperback
Condition
Used - Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 13
9780253209863
ISBN 10
0253209862
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Simi Valley, California, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$3.51
$3.99 shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Indiana University Press, 1995-10. Paperback. Good. 0.6000 8.8000 5.8000. light highlighting/ underlining\r\n
Item Price
$3.51
$3.99 shipping to USA
Rachel Calof's Story : Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains

Rachel Calof's Story : Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains

by Rachel Calof

  • Used
  • Acceptable
  • Paperback
Condition
Used - Acceptable
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 13
9780253209863
ISBN 10
0253209862
Quantity Available
2
Seller
Seattle, Washington, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$5.99
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Indiana University Press, 1995. Paperback. Acceptable. Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
Item Price
$5.99
FREE shipping to USA
Rachel Calof's Story : Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains

Rachel Calof's Story : Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains

by Rachel Calof

  • Used
  • Paperback
Condition
Like New
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 13
9780253209863
ISBN 10
0253209862
Quantity Available
1
Seller
Seattle, Washington, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$5.99
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Indiana University Press, 1995. Paperback. Like New. Pages are clean and are not marred by notes or folds of any kind. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
Item Price
$5.99
FREE shipping to USA
Rachel Calof's Story : Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains

Rachel Calof's Story : Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains

by Rachel Calof

  • Used
  • very good
  • Paperback
Condition
Used - Very Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 13
9780253209863
ISBN 10
0253209862
Quantity Available
2
Seller
Seattle, Washington, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$5.99
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Indiana University Press, 1995. Paperback. Very Good. Disclaimer:May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
Item Price
$5.99
FREE shipping to USA
Rachel Calof's Story : Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains

Rachel Calof's Story : Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains

by Rachel Calof

  • Used
  • good
  • Paperback
Condition
Used - Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 13
9780253209863
ISBN 10
0253209862
Quantity Available
4
Seller
Seattle, Washington, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$5.99
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Indiana University Press, 1995. Paperback. Good. Pages can have notes/highlighting. Spine may show signs of wear. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
Item Price
$5.99
FREE shipping to USA
Rachel Calof's Story: Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Rachel Calof's Story: Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains

by Rachel Calof; Editor-J. Sanford Rikoon

  • Used
  • Paperback
Condition
Used: Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 13
9780253209863
ISBN 10
0253209862
Quantity Available
1
Seller
HOUSTON, Texas, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 4 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$6.96
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Indiana University Press, 1995-09-22. Paperback. Used: Good.
Item Price
$6.96
FREE shipping to USA
Rachel Calof's Story : Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Rachel Calof's Story : Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains

by Calof, Rachel

  • Used
Condition
Used - Good
ISBN 13
9780253209863
ISBN 10
0253209862
Quantity Available
10
Seller
Mishawaka, Indiana, United States
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Item Price
$7.40
FREE shipping to USA

Show Details

Description:
Indiana University Press. Used - Good. Used book that is in clean, average condition without any missing pages.
Item Price
$7.40
FREE shipping to USA