What happened when chop suey, a Chinese dish with American roots, encountered Jewish customers in New York at the turn of the century? A new Center for Women’s History installation in the Joyce B. Cowin Women’s History Niche sheds light on the vibrant, gastronomic collaboration between two ethnic communities. From debates in the Yiddish press to the publication of  kosher Chinese cookbooks, and from representations in fine art to restaurant ephemera, the installation explores how Jewish and Chinese women, with a shared love for food, together introduced a new phenomenon in the 1960s: kosher Chinese cuisine. Curated by Shiyong Lu, Mellon Foundation Predoctoral Fellow in Women’s History and Public History, and Anna Danziger Halperin, Director for the Center for Women’s History. 

Image: Gifford Reynolds Beal (1879–1956). Chinese Restaurant #1, ca. 1930. Oil on wood panel (reproduction). The New York Historical, Gift of Charles H. Berman and Norman and Joanne Berman, 2022.9