AJA Educational Articles
Jacob Rader Marcus, the founder of the American Jewish Archives (AJA), was born in Connelsville, PA on March 5, 1896. Known as the “Dean” of American Jewish historians, Dr. Marcus was the first American born, scientifically trained historian to earn an academic Ph.D. to examine the American Jewish experience. In 1947—with the great centers of…
Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, the founder of the Hebrew Union College and the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), was born in Steingrub, Bohemia on March 20, 1819. Isaac Mayer Wise received a traditional Jewish education. He came to America in 1846 and soon began serving as rabbi at Congregation Beth El in Albany, New…
Two 19th-century ketubot. The first is from 1857 and is for the marriage of Solomon Joseph and Rebecca Abraham, both of Charleston, S.C. The other is from 1873 and is for the marriage of David Nieto and Esther Belasco—residents of Kingston, Jamaica.
Born in 1925 on New York’s Lower East Side, Manhattan, Nathan Hilu (d. April 19, 2019) was a soldier, artist and storyteller who referred to himself as an “illustrator of life.” He served in the U.S. Army during WWII, the Korean War and the Cold War, first as a prison guard at Nuremberg, then throughout…
Beth Chayim Chadashim’s (BCC) first service was held on June 9, 1972 in Los Angeles, California. BCC is the first primarily LGBT synagogue in the United States. BCC, which at the time was known as the Metropolitan Community Temple, began with fifteen members and held services in the local community center. BCC grew and prospered…
Yehudi Menuhin (1916-1999) was a Jewish American violinist and conductor born in New York to Lithuanian immigrants. He spent most of his career performing in Europe and is considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th Century. Menuhin began learning the violin at age four, and by the time he was seven was doing…
The Voting Rights Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965. It abrogated poll taxes, literacy tests, and other bureaucratic restrictions which had been implemented to deny African Americans and other minorities the right to vote. The murder of three voting rights activists—Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner, and James Chaney—in Mississippi in…
Enjoying a plate of end-of-Summer Buffalo Wings? Well you can thank Jewish American entrepreneur Jacob Frank for that. In 1896, Jacob Frank and his brothers Emil and Charles founded Frank Tea and Spice Company in Cincinnati, Ohio. The company produced spices, teas, olives, and even peanut butter. In 1918 Frank partnered with Adam Estilette to…
Let us take a moment to highlight the legacy of American Jewish entrepreneur, Levi Strauss. Strauss was born in Buttenheim, Bavaria on February 26, 1829. He emigrated to New York in 1846 and began to work with his brothers at their company “J. Strauss brother & CO.” Strauss and his family relocated to San Francisco…
American Jewish educator and philanthropist Rebecca Gratz grew up outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where she lived with her eleven siblings and her parents in a high-society family. In 1801 she established the Female Association for the Relief of Women and Children in Reduced Circumstances which helped families affected by the Revolutionary War. After this she became…