Little Jerusalem: A History of the Grand Forks, North Dakota, Jewish Neighborhood, 1874-1950

In Little Jerusalem, Kenneth J. Dawes relays a thorough exploration of the history of Jewish people in rural North Dakota, emphasizing the Papermaster family and the rabbis who served in the Grand Forks area. Dawes creates an image of the Jewish community as resilient and inspiring in spite of challenges of adjusting to life in rural North Dakota. 

As a newspaper boy growing up in Little Jerusalem, Kenneth J. Dawes met and grew to appreciate his Jewish neighbors while delivering the news and collecting weekly subscription fees of thirty-five cents. In Little Jerusalem, Dawes—now a retired academic—revisits his childhood neighborhood from a scholar’s perspective. Little Jerusalem is a thorough exploration of the history of Jewish people in rural North Dakota with an emphasis on the Papermaster family and the rabbis who served in Grand Forks. Dawes delivers an image of the community members as resilient and inspiring first- and second-generation Jews on the northern plains. Little Jerusalem reveals the history of largely unknown Jewish pioneers who helped shape the city of Grand Forks from 1874 through 1950.