In 1896, on Hester Street in New York's Lower East Side, a religious candle ignites the dress of a young Jewish immigrant mother, her eyes covered as she holds her toddler in her arms. Up from Hester Street presents the dramatic autobiography of Mollie Flaumenhaft, who thanks to the tenement's residents, survived her mother's tragic death. Mollie's childhood is a tale of poverty, illness, and death. She eventually became a school teacher, then married the son of Irish immigrants. She tells of his family's struggle as well. Mollie's story, supplemented by insights from her son and daughter-in-law, reveals the values of perserverance, family devotion and surprising humor. As we follow Mollie and her family, they successfully emerge from social distruption and despair and we encounter a new chapter in the American story of assimilation, survival, and achievement against overwhelming odds. Up from Hester Street will renew your faith in the future of our country and in the indomitable spirit of the human condition.
About the Author: ROBERT L. NOLAN Robert L. Nolan is a pediatrician/attorney and advocate in Lafayette, California. Born in Brooklyn, his academic education includes: graduate of Townsend Harris High School; A.B. from NYU; M.D. from Yale University; J.D. and Master of Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley, and postgraduate pediatric training at Yale and Cornell medical schools. He is currently a clinical professor at UCSF and previously served on three other medical school faculties. He is the co-editor of Appalachian and Rural Health (Thomas, 1973) and the author or coauthor of thirteen papers in public health. He is considered one of the founders of the National Health Service Corps. His career also included pediatric practice with both HIP and Kaiser Permanente and medical administrator of state and county public health programs in California. For his work he received formal resolutions of commendation from the California and West Virginia Legislatures as well as Contra Costa County (California). Dr. Nolan is also a combat veteran of WWII and a retired decorated naval officer (O-6). JANIECE SIMMONS NOLAN A native Texan, Janiece Simmons Nolan has had a lifelong interest in writing, genealogy, and history, although her careers were in science and hospital administration. She is a Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. (with high honors) and a M.A. in botany from the University of Texas, Austin. She earned a Ph.D. in biology at Tulane University, New Orleans, and a Master of Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley. Working as a research scientist at private institutes as well as during a postdoctoral at UC Berkeley, she published twenty-three articles in scientific journals. She is a retired decorated captain (O-6), U.S. Naval Reserve, Medical Service Corps, where she served as commanding officer of various hospital units. She was inducted into the Women's Hall of Fame by the Contra Costa County Commission for Women. Recently retired from a career in hospital administration, including eleven years as a CEO, she now has time to devote to writing. She contributed an essay entitled Son of Southern Rebel (about the grandfather she never knew) to the anthology Roots and Tendrils, Prose and Poetry of a Berkeley Writers' Workshop (2010). Her next book will be about this grandfather.