Melissa Klapper

Melissa Rose Klapper is an American historian and storyteller. She is a professor of American and women's history at Rowan University. Klapper has authored books on American Jewish women's history and the history of children and youth in the United States.

Life
Klapper completed a B.A. at Goucher College in 1995. Peter Bardaglio, Julie Roy Jeffrey, and Laurie Kaplan served as undergraduate mentors of Klapper. She earned a Ph.D. in history from Rutgers University–New Brunswick. Her 2001 dissertation was titled "A Fair Portion of the World's Knowledge": Jewish Girls Coming of Age in America, 1860-1920. Alice Kessler-Harris was Klapper's doctoral advisor.

Since 2001 Klapper has been a professor of American and women's history at Rowan University, where she is also director of the Women's & Gender Studies Program. Klapper specializes in the late 19th and early 20th century. Klapper served as co-chair of the Modern Jewish History, The Americas division of the Association for Jewish Studies. Her 2013 book, Ballots, Babies, and Banners of Peace: American Jewish Women's Activism, 1890-1940, won a National Jewish Book Award in women's studies. In March 2023, she became a three-day champion on Jeopardy!, winning a total of $60,100. In March 2024, she competed in Jeopardy!'s Tournament of Champions.

Selected works

 * Reviews of Jewish Girls Coming of Age in America, 1860-1920:


 * Reviews of Small Strangers:
 * Reviews of Small Strangers:
 * Reviews of Small Strangers:
 * Reviews of Small Strangers:
 * Reviews of Small Strangers:
 * Reviews of Small Strangers:
 * Reviews of Small Strangers:
 * Reviews of Small Strangers:
 * Reviews of Small Strangers: