Jane Rubin
In 2009, a cancer diagnosis revealing a genetic defect, together with a lifelong fascination with the history of medicine, propelled Jane Rubin to put pen to paper.
Her research into New York City’s history, restrictive reproductive laws, and period medicine led to her award-winning historical series. The timeline opens with In the Hands of Women (5/23 Level Best Books) and its prequel, Threadbare (5/24 Level Best Books), both acclaimed by historical fiction fans.Over There (6/25 Level Best Books), the third installment, moves to 1917 as medically trained members of the Isaacson family travel to France during World War I, shortlisted by the Historical Novel Society’s 2024 First Chapters Competition and a Finalist for the Chanticleer Hemingway Award for Twentieth Century Wartime Fiction. Mayhem in the Mountains (6/26 Level Best Books), the fourth book in the series, follows the survivors to the Catskills in the summer of 1924, when bootleggers, gangsters, and the KKK disrupt the peaceful ambiance of the region.
Ms. Rubin, a University of Michigan (BS, MS) and Washington University (MBA) graduate, lives in Northern New Jersey with her husband, David, an attorney. Together, they have five adult children and seven grandchildren.
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The Rise Of The Garment Industry In New York City
This program delves deeply into the extraordinary immigration at the turn of the twentieth century and the rise of the garment industry on the Lower East Side due to the advancement of the sewing machine. It explores tenement life, the plight of women in the late 1800s, and rampant disease. A slide set accompanies program.
The Rise Of The Suffragette Movement And Its Impact On The Ordinary Woman
This program explores the outcry for improved general and reproductive health, the insistence on further education for girls and access to jobs. Suffragette jewelry and its clever, subliminal marketing are shared through an intriging slide set.
The Dawn Of Modern Medicine In WW1
Trauma care as we know it today, along with the impact of the Spanish Flu drove vast improvements in the care of soldiers, favorably impacting survival rates. The ambulance service began efore American troop involvement in 1917, Xray, and blood transfusions were key additions. We will discuss the role and contributions of immigrant soldiers, including the beginning of America’s melting pot.
The Catskills In 1924
In the decades before the great hotels, the Catskill Mountain range was a pastural thoroughfare for bootleggers, gangsters, and the KKK. If history had played out differently, we may never have seen the success of the famous Borscht Belt hotels. This program delves into the history of each component.