The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 96, July 1992 - April, 1993 Page: 145

Book Reviews

cans, Spanish and Mexican Americans, or African Americans. There are six
interviewees, three men and three women, who are all Anglo, with emphasis
given appropriately to those with a German background. Giving Walton the
benefit of the doubt, witnesses of other ethnic groups might have been hard to
find or maybe nonexistent. Also, "Volume I," is boldly printed across the front
of the book. Maybe future volumes with more stories providing the many
voices necessary for a complete history of the Sabinal Canyon region will fol-
low. In any event, the book stands on its own as a vehicle for the voices and
stories of those who helped shape a major part of that history.
Center for American Hzstory, SHEREE SCARBOROUGH
University of Texas at Austzn
Deep in the Heart: The Lives and Legends of Texas Jews; a Photographic Hzstory. By
Ruthe Winegarten and Cathy Schechter, Rabbi Jimmy Kessler, Consulting
(Austin: Eakin Press, 1990o. Pp. ix+253. Foreword, preface, benefactors
and acknowledgments, illustrations, black-and-white photographs, glos-
sary, notes, index, timeline. $29.95.)
Deep in the Heart brings to print the voices and faces of a diverse Texas Jewish
community that has been a vital part of the state's history since the late six-
teenth century. Through the sponsorship of the Texas Jewish Historical So-
ciety, the authors have assembled a comprehensive study that includes over five
hundred photographs, as well as selections from newspapers, diaries, oral his-
tories, and a variety of other historical sources. This study contributes to the
exciting and steadily growing field of ethnic history, which stresses all historical
players, not just Anglo-American males. Texas is and was multicultural, and
the Jews were just one of the significant ethnic groups who contributed to its
growth. Deep in the Heart provides an excellent model for other ethnic histories.
Organized chronologically, the book examines Texas Jewish life from the
time of the Spanish conquistadors to the Jewish presence in Texas in 1990.
Each chapter begins with a historical summary, brought to life by photographs,
people profiles, and in-depth sections on different topics, such as schools,
small-town communities, philanthropic organizations, the civil rights move-
ment, the arts, foodways, and family life. The profiles of individuals reveal that
the Jewish community, like Texas, was far from homogeneous. Rather than
producing a narrow "who's who" of historic Texas Jews, the authors chose a
representative sampling of the community mix that included housewives, poh-
ticians, business people, artists, poets, musicians, sports figures, rabbis, war he-
roes, and philanthropic leaders.
Concluding chapters on the Texas Jewish experience from 1945 to the pres-
ent successfully document the initial expansion of Jewish institutions, but do
not explore the decline of many of these organizations, particularly in small
towns. Due to a changing economy and shifts in population, small-town and
inner-city Jewish life has changed drastically. Downtown Jewish merchants no
longer able to compete with malls are forced to move; once thriving temples
and synagogues close due to lack of membership; "perpetual care" Jewish

145