Description
Book SynopsisDuring World War II, Elaine Black Yoneda, the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants, spent eight months in a concentration campnot in Europe, but in California. She did this voluntarily and in solidarity, insisting on accompanying her husband, Karl, and their son, Tommy, when they were incarcerated at the Manzanar Relocation Center. Surprisingly, while in the camp, Elaine and Karl publicly supported the United States' decision to exclude Japanese Americans from the coast. Elaine Black Yoneda is the first critical biography of this pioneering feminist and activist. Rachel Schreiber deftly traces Yoneda's life as she became invested in radical politics and interracial and interethnic activism. In her work for the International Labor Defense of the Communist Party, Yoneda rose to the rank of vice president. After their incarceration, Elaine and Karl became active in the campaigns to designate Manzanar a federally recognized memorial site, for redress and reparations to Japanese American
Trade Review"Elaine Black Yoneda
wonderfully weaves the narrative of Yoneda’s exuberant life into many key historical movements, with a particular focus on the West Coast and California. Schreiber does a fine job of informing the reader on historical questions about race, capitalism, labor relations, economic justice, and the roles of women, both in adversity and in triumph, by weaving those questions into the life stories of Yoneda and her family. The connection to this elegant, feisty, and courageous woman personalizes the history and makes it more accessible."—
California History"[A] concise and informative biography of the relatively well-known, yet under-studied, Communist labor activist.... Elaine Black Yoneda
is a lively account of a woman who lived a fascinating life. It brings interesting texture to a life lived through important issues in the histories of immigration, labor, race, ethnicity, and gender.""—
The Journal of American Ethnic History"Rachel Schreiber, an expert on Jewish women labor activists, presents a highly useful biographical sketch of an important figure in Elaine Black Yoneda
. Avoiding the extremes of mythologizing or demonizing her subject, she offers a balanced account that historians specializing in women’s history, labor history, and Japanese American history will heartily welcome to the scholarly works in these areas of inquiry."—
Brian Hayashi, Professor of History at Kent State University, and author of
Asian American Spies: Race, Loyalty, and the Office of Strategic Services during World War II"Elaine Black Yoneda
is an important contribution to the studies of women, labor, radicalism, civil liberties, and ethnicity. Schreiber’s accessible and nuanced biography of California labor activist Elaine Black Yoneda provides a model for scholars writing about radical women; it illuminates Yoneda’s complicated and contradictory stands for civil liberties and civil rights. Schreiber beautifully positions Yoneda within the ethnic, labor, and radical communities in which she operated and offers lucid interpretations of both Yoneda’s personal and professional life and the historical issues and controversies in which she was involved."—
Kathleen A. Brown, Professor of History at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas
"Rejecting the limitations placed on working-class Jewish women of her era, Elaine Black Yoneda dedicated her life to fighting oppression. Rachel Schreiber deftly chronicles the journey of this remarkable woman, whose activism traversed many of the key political and social issues of mid-twentieth-century America. Though a work of history, this is a timely book; Schreiber shows us how much her subject’s story can teach us about today’s vital social justice concerns."—
Mark Wild, Professor of History at California State University, Los Angeles, and author of
Street Meeting: Multiethnic Neighborhoods in Early Twentieth Century Los Angeles
