Much has been written about the academic legacy of Salo Baron as a result of his scholarship and research. A recent book from Columbia University Press broadens our perspective of his legacy, by reflecting on the role he played in reshaping Jewish studies in the United States from his perch in Morningside Heights. Collecting articles from numerous scholars to mark the 90th anniversary of Baron’s arrival at Columbia University, this book features analysis of his impact as a public intellectual, the creator of the first academic center to study Israel, and champion of libraries. Rebecca Kobrin and Michelle Chesner discussed the recent book and how it informs Baron’s important impact on Columbia University and the world.
Rebecca Kobrin is the Russell and Bettina Knapp Associate Professor of American Jewish History at Columbia University, where she is also co-director of Columbia’s Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies. Her book Jewish Bialystok and Its Diaspora (2010) was awarded the Jordan Schnitzer prize. She is the editor of Chosen Capital: The Jewish Encounter with American Capitalism (2012) and is coeditor with Adam Teller of Purchasing Power: The Economics of Jewish History (2015). Her forthcoming book, A Credit to the Nation: East European Immigrant Bankers and American Finance, 1870–1930, will be published by Harvard University Press.