Melissa Rose Klapper is an American historian and storyteller. She is a professor of American and women's history at Rowan University. Klapper has authored books on American Jewish women's history and the history of children and youth in the United States.
Life
Klapper completed a B.A. at Goucher College in 1995.[1][2] Peter Bardaglio, Julie Roy Jeffrey, and Laurie Kaplan served as undergraduate mentors of Klapper.[3] She earned a Ph.D. in history from Rutgers University–New Brunswick.[2] Her 2001 dissertation was titled "A Fair Portion of the World's Knowledge": Jewish Girls Coming of Age in America, 1860-1920. Alice Kessler-Harris was Klapper's doctoral advisor.[3]
Since 2001 Klapper has been a professor of American and women's history at Rowan University, where she is also director of the Women's & Gender Studies Program.[2][4] Klapper specializes in the late 19th and early 20th century.[2] Klapper served as co-chair of the Modern Jewish History, The Americas division of the Association for Jewish Studies.[2] Her 2013 book, Ballots, Babies, and Banners of Peace: American Jewish Women's Activism, 1890-1940, won a National Jewish Book Award in women's studies.[2] In March 2023, she became a three-day champion on Jeopardy!, winning a total of $60,100.[1] In March 2024, she competed in Jeopardy!'s Tournament of Champions.[5]
Selected works
Klapper, Melissa R. (2005). Jewish Girls Coming of Age in America, 1860-1920. NYU Press. ISBN978-0-8147-4780-3.[6]
Klapper, Melissa R. (2007). Small Strangers: The Experiences of Immigrant Children in America, 1880-1925. Ivan R. Dee. ISBN978-1-56663-733-6.[7]
Klapper, Melissa R. (2013). Ballots, Babies, and Banners of Peace: American Jewish Women's Activism, 1890-1940. NYU Press. ISBN978-0-8147-4894-7.[8]
Klapper, Melissa R. (2020). Ballet Class: An American History. Oxford University Press. ISBN978-0-19-090868-3.
^ abKlapper, Melissa Rose (2001). "A fair portion of the world's knowledge" : Jewish girls coming of age in America, 1860-1920 (Ph.D. thesis). Rutgers University–New Brunswick. OCLC56898108.
^Reviews of Jewish Girls Coming of Age in America, 1860-1920:
Turk, Diana B. (2006). "Review of Jewish Girls Coming of Age in America, 1860-1920". Shofar. 24 (4): 206–208. ISSN0882-8539. JSTOR42944226.
Stern, Miriam Heller (2004). "Review of Jewish Girls Coming of Age in America, 1860–1920". American Jewish History. 92 (3): 374–376. ISSN0164-0178. JSTOR23887309.
Wild, H. Mark (2008). "Review of Small Strangers: The Experiences of Immigrant Children in America, 1880-1925". The Journal of American History. 94 (4): 1282–1283. doi:10.2307/25095396. ISSN0021-8723. JSTOR25095396.
Weissbach, Lee Shai (2008). "Review of Small Strangers: The Experience of Immigrant Children in America, 1880-1925". The American Historical Review. 113 (3): 839–840. doi:10.1086/ahr.113.3.839. ISSN0002-8762. JSTOR30223112.
Berger, Garrett (2008). "Review of Small Strangers: The Experiences of Immigrant Children in America, 1880–1925". The Virginia Quarterly Review. 84 (1): 260. ISSN0042-675X. JSTOR26445969.
Bush, William S. (2011). Davis, Rocío G.; Fass, Paula S.; Klapper, Melissa R. (eds.). "Childhood without Borders". Journal of American Ethnic History. 30 (4): 63–70. doi:10.5406/jamerethnhist.30.4.0063. ISSN0278-5927.
Antler, Joyce (2014). "Review of Ballots, Babies, and Banners of Peace: American Jewish Women's Activism, 1890–1940, KlapperMelissa R.". American Jewish History. 98 (1): 33–35. ISSN0164-0178. JSTOR26414389.
Moore, Deborah Dash; Thébaud, Françoise (2016). "Review of Ballots, Babies, and Banners of Peace: American Jewish Women's Activism, 1890-1940, Klapper Melissa R.". Clio. Femmes, Genre, Histoire (44): 317–320. ISSN1252-7017. JSTOR26265057.
Rubel, Nora L. (2015). "Review of Ballots, Babies, and Banners of Peace: American Jewish Women's Activism, 1890–1940". Journal of the American Academy of Religion. 83 (1): 284–288. doi:10.1093/jaarel/lfu113. ISSN0002-7189. JSTOR24488145.
McCune, Mary (2014). "Review of Ballots, Babies, and Banners of Peace: American Jewish Women's Activism, 1890—1940". The Journal of American History. 100 (4): 1231–1232. doi:10.1093/jahist/jau075. ISSN0021-8723. JSTOR44307928.