Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 2013-06-03 Documenting the Dissin's Guest House: Esther Bubley's Exploration of Jewish-American Identity, 1942-43 Vriean Diether Taggart Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the Art Practice Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Taggart, Vriean Diether, "Documenting the Dissin's Guest House: Esther Bubley's Exploration of Jewish- American Identity, 1942-43" (2013). Theses and Dissertations. 3599. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/3599 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact
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[email protected]. Documenting the Dissin’s Guest House: Esther Bubley’s Exploration of Jewish- American Identity, 1942-43 Vriean 'Breezy' Diether Taggart A thesis submitted to the faculty of Brigham Young University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts James Russel Swensen, Chair Marian E. Wardle Heather Jensen Department of Visual Arts Brigham Young University May 2013 Copyright © 2013 Vriean 'Breezy' Diether Taggart All rights reserved ABSTRACT Documenting the Dissin’s Guest House: Esther Bubley’s Exploration of Jewish- American Identity, 1942-43 Vriean 'Breezy' Diether Taggart Department of Visual Arts Master of Arts This thesis considers Esther Bubley’s photographic documentation of a boarding house for Jewish workingmen and women during World War II. An examination of Bubley’s photographs reveals the complexities surrounding Jewish-American identity, which included aspects of social inclusion and exclusion, a rejection of past traditions and acceptance of contemporary transitions.