The Iowa town of Postville

Postville has been in the news a lot lately. In one of its articles, The Des Moines Register mentioned Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America by Stephen G. Bloom. The Waterloo Public Library owns a copy.

Author Stephen G. Bloom had never stepped foot in Iowa until he was accepted for a teaching post at the University of Iowa. As a practicing Jew, he wanted to connect with other Jewish families. He was quite surprised at how different Iowa is compared to San Francisco, where he previously lived. In his attempt to meet other Jews, he began traveling beyond Iowa City. His travels led him to the northeast Iowa town of Postville. He was amazed to find that in a small town, with a population of about 2,000 would have a relatively large Jewish population.

According to the 2000 census, Postville has a population of 2,273. 1,809 are classified as white and 469 or Hispanic. In the "other race" category, there are 387. Many of the "other race" are Ukranian and Russian immigrants. That's quite a switch from the almost German/Norwegian heritage of years ago.

Bloom explores the history of the town and while doing that interviews many of the residents from the Hasidic Jews to those of German descent. Agriprocessors, the kosher meat plant, was formed in 1987 when a group of Jews came in. Postville went through a lot of economic hardship before the plant came in.

The Hasidic Jews are much stricter with their routine and tradition than the author. This created problems once the book came out. Many of the Jews were upset over how the book was written. In fact, the paperback copy that we own has an afterward where Bloom talks about how the book has brought him a lot of grief. Be sure to read it.

Postville by Stephen G. Bloom is on the second floor under the call number 977.733 BLO.

c Waterloo Public Library 2008