Meet The Author: Steven Ujifusa

Celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month

Mr. Ujifusa will discuss his book "The Last Ships from Hamburg", about the exodus of persecuted Jews from Eastern Europe to America in the early years of the 20th century.

Named by Publishers Weekly as one of the best books of 2023 and finalist for the Athenaeum of Philadelphia's 2023 Literary Award, Steven Ujifusa's book The Last Ships from Hamburg: Business, Rivalry and the Race to Save Russian Jews on the Eve of World War I tells the story of 2.5 million Jews, fleeing discrimination and violence in their homelands of Eastern Europe and arriving in the United States, from 1890 to 1921, many sailing on steamships from Hamburg.

This mass exodus was facilitated by three American businessmen whose involvement in the Jewish-American narrative has been largely forgotten: Jacob Schiff, the managing partner of the investment bank Kuhn, Loeb & Company; Albert Ballin, managing director of the Hamburg-American Line; and J. P. Morgan, mastermind of the International Mercantile Marine (I.M.M.) trust. Though their goals were often contradictory, together they made possible a migration that spared millions from persecution. Descendants of these immigrants included Estée Lauder, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Fanny Brice, Lauren Bacall, the Marx Brothers, Sam Goldwyn, Felix Frankfurter, Moses Annenberg, and many more—including Ujifusa’s great grandparents. That is their legacy.

Meticulously researched, masterfully told, Ujifusa’s story offers original insight into the American experience, connecting banking, shipping, politics, immigration, nativism, and war—and delivers crucial insight into the burgeoning refugee crisis of our own time.​

Steven is the recipient of the Washington Irving Medal for Literary Excellence from the Saint Nicholas Society of the City of New York, a MacDowell artist residency, and the Athenaeum of Philadelphia's Literary Award for Non-Fiction.  

A native of New York City and raised in Chappaqua, New York, Steven received his undergraduate degree in history from Harvard University and a joint masters in historic preservation and real estate development from the University of Pennsylvania.  He resides in Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. 

​Q & A and book signing. The book is available for purchase at the Friends of the Library of Montgomery County online store through this link.

Questions about this program? Contact the Connie Morella Library at 240-777-0970.

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Accommodation Requests

People who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing should request English-language captioning or sign-language interpretation at least five days before the library-sponsored program they plan to attend. Contact the Assistant Facilities and Accessibility Program Manager at 240-777-0002 with all other accommodation requests.

cm 1.1 01/03/2023

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