Emma Wolf

{{Infobox writer

| name = Emma Wolf

| image = Emma Wolf (American Jewess, 1896).png

| image_size = 200px

| image_upright =

| alt =

| caption = (1896)

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1865|06|15}}

| birth_place = San Francisco, California, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1932|08|30|1865|06|15}}

| death_place = San Francisco, California, U.S.

| resting_place =

| occupation = Author

| alma_mater = {{hlist|Girls High School|California State Normal School}}

| notable_works = A Prodigal in Love

| genre = {{hlist|American Jews|New Woman}}

| signature = Emma Wolf signature (Book News, 1897).png

}}

Emma Wolf (June 15, 1865 – August 30, 1932) was an American litterateur and novelist. She published early in life and was the author of five novels. Wolf was born with a congenital defect and spent part of her life in a wheelchair.

Early life and education

Emma Wolf was born June 15, 1865, in San Francisco, California. Her parents, Simon and Annette (née Levy) Wolf, were Jewish{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Herringshaw |first1=Thomas William |title=Herringshaw's National Library of American Biography: Contains Thirty-five Thousand Biographies of the Acknowledged Leaders of Life and Thought of the United States; Illustrated with Three Thousand Vignette Portraits ... |date=1914 |publisher=American Publishers' Association |page=753 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gMTTAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA753 |access-date=8 June 2023 |language=en}} {{source-attribution}}{{cite encyclopedia |title=The Encyclopedia Americana: A Library of Universal Knowledge ... |date=1924 |publisher=Encyclopedia Americana Corporation |page=437 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c-KWudr_3ooC&pg=PA437 |access-date=8 June 2023 |language=en}} {{source-attribution}}{{cite book |title=Who's who in American Jewry |date=1927 |publisher=Jewish Biographical Bureau |page=301 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uWrXAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA301 |access-date=8 June 2023 |language=en}} {{source-attribution}} and were emigrants from Alsace, France.{{cite web |last1=Kirzane |first1=Jessica |title=Emma Wolf |url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/wolf-emma |website=Jewish Women's Archive |access-date=8 June 2023 |language=en |date=23 June 2021}}{{cite book |title=The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day |date=1912 |publisher=Funk and Wagnalls |page=547 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h_w1swDm2DMC&pg=PA547 |access-date=8 June 2023 |language=en}} {{source-attribution}} There were ten siblings, including a sister, Alice, who was also an author.{{cite book |last1=Baym |first1=Nina |title=Women Writers of the American West, 1833-1927 |date=17 August 2012 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=978-0-252-07884-2 |page=308 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XGZRPKsPb8sC&pg=PA308 |access-date=8 June 2023 |language=en}}

She was educated in the public schools of San Francisco, including the Girls High School, as well as the Teacher's College. A physical disability kept her from becoming a teacher.

Career

Early on, Wolf developed a bent for publishing her work. Her Jewish-themed novels attracted particular attention, while other novels focused on the changing roles of women. Numerous short stories were contributed to magazines.

Her first novel, Other Things Being Equal (Chicago, A. C. McClurg, 1892), focused on the present-day social life of the American Jew, with the lesson derived being that other things being equal, a Jewish woman may marry a Christian. It affirmed the morality and peace of Jewish homes.{{cite book |last1=Adler |first1=Cyrus |last2=Szold |first2=Henrietta |title=American Jewish Year Book |volume=8 |date=1906 |publisher=Jewish Publication Society of America |pages=141–42 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FsE8AAAAIAAJ&pg=RA1-PA142 |access-date=8 June 2023 |language=en}} {{source-attribution}} A Prodigal in Love (New York City, Harper, 1894), again set in San Francisco, was a successful novel telling the story of home perplexities.{{cite book |title=Appletons' Annual Cyclopædia and Register of Important Events of the Year ... |date=1895 |publisher=D. Appleton & Company |page=391 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=66sYAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA391 |access-date=8 June 2023 |language=en}} {{source-attribution}}{{cite book |title=The Annual American Catalogue 1886-1900: Being the Full Titles, with Descriptive Notes, of All Books Recorded in the Publishers' Weekly, 1886-1900 with Author, Title, and Subject Index, Publishers' Annual Lists, and Directory of Publishers |date=1895 |publisher=Publishers' weekly |volume=9 |page=206 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d3pJAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA206 |access-date=8 June 2023 |language=en}} {{source-attribution}} This was followed by Joy of Life (New York City, A. C. McClurg, 1896), the story of two very different brothers.{{cite magazine |title=Joy of Life |magazine=Book News: An Illustrated Magazine of Literature and Books ... |date=March 1897 |volume=15 |issue=175 |pages=342, 378 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Yli-OdTP2sIC&pg=PA378 |access-date=8 June 2023 |publisher=John Wanamaker |language=en}} {{source-attribution}} Heirs of Yesterday (Chicago, A. C. McClurg, 1900) was described by Adler & Szold (1906) as "an interesting novel in which the force of tradition upon the Jew and the prejudiced attitude of the Christians are the underlying motives". Wolf's last novel, published in 1916, was entitled Fulfillment.

Personal life

Affected by a congenital defect, Wolf did not lead a very active life. In her later years, she was reliant on a wheelchair.{{Cite web |last=Singer |first=Saul Jay |date=December 7, 2022 |orig-date=December 7, 2022 |title=The Forgotten Great Jewish American Novels Of Emma Wolf |url=https://www.jewishpress.com/sections/features/features-on-jewish-world/the-forgotten-great-jewish-american-novels-of-emma-wolf/2022/12/07/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230923080150/https://www.jewishpress.com/sections/features/features-on-jewish-world/the-forgotten-great-jewish-american-novels-of-emma-wolf/2022/12/07/ |archive-date=September 23, 2023 |access-date=2024-08-27 |website=thejewishpress.com |language=en-US}} She lived for a number of years at San Francisco's Dante Sanitorium. Wolf was a member of Congregation Emanu-El and the Philomath Club.

Emma Wolf died in San Francisco, on August 30, 1932.{{cite news |title=AUTHOR'S RITES WILL BE TODAY. Obit, Emma Wolf. Died, San Francisco, 30 Aug 1932. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/oakland-tribune-authors-rites-will-be-t/125990809/ |access-date=8 June 2023 |work=Oakland Tribune |via=Newspapers.com |date=31 August 1932 |page=7}}

Selected works

Other Things Being Equal (1892)
A Prodigal in Love (1894)
Joy of Life (1896)
Heirs of Yesterday (1900)
Fulfillment (1916)

Gallery

Other things being equal (IA otherthingsequal00wolfrich).pdf|Other things being equal (1892)

A prodigal in love - a novel (IA prodigalinloveno00wolfrich).pdf|A prodigal in love (1894)

The joy of life (a novel) (IA joyoflifeanovel00wolf).pdf|The joy of life (1896)

Heirs of yesterday (IA heirsyesterday00wolfrich).pdf|Heirs of yesterday (1900)

Fulfillment; a California novel (IA fulfillment00wolfrich).pdf|Fulfillment (1916)