Abraham Cahan

An item at American Writers Museum

Born in present day Lithuania, Abraham Cahan chronicled the immigrant experience, the complex psychological journey of becoming American. His influential Jewish Daily Forward newspaper mixed shund (sensationalism) and literatur (seriousness) to educate new arrivals to the U.S., propogate socialism, and advocate for better living conditions in New York.

Cahan's semi-autobiographical novel The Rise of David Levinsky (1917) follows its title character from Lithuania to New York City, from rags to riches-raising questions along the way about the personal cost of assimilation. Critic William Dean Howells championed Cahan "as a new star of realism" and compared his powerful portrayals of immigrant life to the work of Stephen Crane.

AMERICAN VOICES

An exhibit at American Writers Museum

American writing is distinctive, diverse, and comes in many forms from across the nation. The 100 authors featured here represent the evolution of American writing. Learn more about each writer on the timeline by turning the panels below their portraits. Explore centuries of writing by pulling, turning, and touching the interactive elements on the counter.

This is not meant to be a list of the greatest or most influential writers. Instead, we present authors and works as part of the American story as it grows and changes. Taken together, this rich literary heritage reflects America in all of its complexity: its energy, hope, conflict, disillusionment, and creativity.

American Writers Museum