Amalgam- a mixture; a blend -
“a curious amalgam of the individual and the group”
“a curious amalgam of the pragmatic and the visionary”
20-year-old Abe Goldstein arrived in America in 1911.
He got a job as a pocket maker in a New York City garment factory
where he started to notice the pockets of those around him.
He became a foot soldier in his union, fighting for human rights.
At home, where he was a tyrannical patriarch, there were no human rights.
Abe was my grandfather. In the same year that he and my grandmother became citizens,
the Immigration Act of 1917 excluded Asians and Middle Easterners.
In 1924, it was expanded, with quotas, to keep Jews and Italians out.
The new country, the union and the family were all curious amalgams-
mixtures, blends- of convictions and contradictions.
“Amalgam” follows the lives of an American family of factory workers and their intersection with history-
the Great Depression, World War II, and the ongoing fight for a living wage.
“Amalgam: An immigrant, His Labor Union, and His American Family in Brooklyn,”
(a graphic history) was 12 years in the making. Most of its images were cut from 24” x 18” linoleum blocks-
several are lithographs and multimedia.
It was published by Fantagraphics Books on October 8th, 2024
To order the book:
