Exhibition Catalogue | Becoming American Women

exaggerated pointy toes? "I neversaw hightopshoesbefore, but the toesare pointy like ...thefootonlyhad one toe. AndI wasthinking to myself, my God, what's wrong here, what kind ofcountryisthis? People have pointyfeet."41

Right: Jewish vendors selling shoes on New York'sLower East Side. Below left: ZeldaAsch Merewitz purchased these fashionable laceup boots on the Lower EastSide in 1918.

Lower right: Early twentieth-century shoes.

memoirs,Foxleerecordednumerouscase studiesdocumentingtheresultsofherwork.In someinstances,theprimaryconcernwaspractical:aPolishwomanwhoarrivedwearinga cottondressandbadlyworncoatlefttheisland warmlyclothedinawoolendressand"oldfashionedblackplushcoat."Forotherwomen, achangeofclotheshelpeddisguisetheir greenhornstatus.WhenZofiaF.arrivedfrom Russiatojoinherhusband,thesocialworker detectedabadhaircutpartiallyhiddenbythe foldsofan"immensewhitewoolenshawl."A fellowtravelertoldher"shecouldnotproceed lookinglikethat"andcutandarrangedZofia's

hairinan"artistic"style.Foxleethenoffered herasmallhatthatZofia"gladlyaccepted whenItoldherthattheshawlwouldmarkher asanewcomeratfirstsight."(Althoughfashionabletoday,atthetumofthecenturyshawls wereconsideredthegarmentofpoor,workingclasswomen.)Foxleeadmitedthatnotall immigrantswelcomedsuchadvice,however well-intentioned.Somewomenfoundthe changestoostartlingandrequestedthefamiliarityoftheiroldclothes."

Foxleetriedtoarrangethesetransformationswithaneyeonculturaldifferences.She understood,forexample,thatdespitewhat

Below: Social workers sometimesprovided recent immigrants with American clothing.