Nathan, Mrs. Benjamin Seixas (Emily Hendricks), 275, 290
Nathan, Edgar J., Jr., 11, 12, 60
Nathan, Elvira, see Solis, Mrs. David Hays
Nathan, Emily Da Silva Solis, 12–13, 14, 16, 23, 186
Nathan, Frederick, 273, 276–80 passim
Nathan, Mrs. Frederick (Maud Nathan), 310, 315–16, 319
Nathan, Frederic Solis, 12
Nathan, Isaac Mendes Seixas, 12, 274
Nathan, Maud, see Nathan, Mrs. Frederick
Nathan, Mendes Seixas, 11
Nathan, Mrs. Mendes Seixas (Sarah Seixas), 11
Nathan, Rebecca, see Cardozo, Mrs. Albert
Nathan, Robert, 306
Nathan, Robert Weeks, 310, 311, 313, 314–15
Nathan, Mrs. Robert Weeks (Annette Florance), 311, 313–14
Nathan, Rosalie, see Florance, Mrs. Ted; Hendricks, Mrs. Henry S.
Nathan, Sarah Seixas, 276
Nathan, Washington, 276–80 passim, 284–91 passim
Nathan, Mrs. Washington (Nina Mapleson Arnott), 290
Newbold (family), 162
New Orleans: Ashkenazim, 132, 135, 138, 229
Sephardim, 101, 132–33, 134–35, 138, 187, 229
Touro bequest, 143
Newport: Jewish cemetery, 130, 145
Jewish club, 125–26, 139
Sephardim, 101–02, 120, 125–26, 127, 161, 264, 337
slave trade, 102–07 passim
Touro bequest, 143
Touro Synagogue, 101, 139
New York (English colony): Ashkenazim, 163
Dutch in, 100–01
Sephardim, 170
New York (New Amsterdam)
Sephardim, 68–70
anti-Semitism, 61–70 passim
arrival of, 2, 23–24, 49, 53–59
New York City, 233–35
Barnard College, 12, 317–18
Bronx, Sephardim in, 2
clubs closed to Jews, 5
Dutch Church, 101
Emanu-El, 306–07, 347
Harmonie Club, 344n
Lower East Side, 2, 307, 338
Montefiore Hospital, 20
Saint Mark’s in-the-Bowery, 351
Sephardic cemeteries, 347, 348
Chatham Square Cemetery, 20, 60, 71, 347
Sephardic synagogues, 9, 60, 72, 336
Sephardim, 337–38
Shearith Israel, 9, 13, 92, 97–98, 273, 307–08, 340, 344, 345–47
de Lucena, Abraham Haim, 71–72
founding, 59
Gerstein, Louis C., 344
Mendes, Henry Pereira, 18, 20
Pool, David de Sola, 20, 340, 352
Seixas, Gershom Mendes, 11, 190
and Touro Synagogue (Newport), 101
Trinity Church, 71, 92
Union Club, 266, 271, 296
Union League Club, 271
Upper East Side, 307
New York Guild for the Jewish Blind, 20
New-York Historical Society: Hendricks Collection, 16–17
Nones, Benjamin, 152
Norden, De Leon, 230
Norfolk, Bernard Marmaduke Fitzalan Howard, Duke of, 176
Nunes (family), 73
Nunes, Ricke (Rachel), 56, 59
Pacheco, Don Juan, 41
Padilla, Dona María de, 42
Payne-Gallwey, Mrs. Stephen (Phila De Lancey), 166
Peckham, Walton, 281
Peixotto (family), 8, 21, 188–89, 190, 348; see also Mendes-Peixotto (family)
Peixotto, Antonio Mendes, 189
Peixotto, Cohen, see Maduro, Mrs. Levy
Peixotto, Don Diego, 189
Peixotto, Joshua, 189
Perry, Comm. Matthew, 250
Pesoa, Isaac, 192–93
Peter I, King, 42
Philadelphia: Ashkenazim, 228–29
Meschianza, 167–69, 171
Mikveh Israel, 98, 340
Sephardim, 11, 56, 101, 159, 160–61, 162, 173–74, 223, 337
Philip I, King, 85
Philip II, King, 78
Philip III, King, 84
Philip IV, King, 89–90
Phillips (family), 21, 101
Phillips, Lloyd Peixotto, 21
Phillips, Mrs. Lloyd Peixotto (Beatrice), 21–22
Pierce, Franklin, 248
Pietersen, Solomon, 54–55, 58–59
Pilgrims, 61
Pinto, Beatrice, 185
Polhemius, Dominie Joannes, 63
Polynesia: Sephardim, 51
Pool, Dr. David de Sola, 20–21, 340, 352
Portland: Sephardim, 338
Portnoy (family), 25
Portugal: Brazil as colony, 51, 52
Sephardim, 2, 15, 19, 21, 23–27 passim, 29, 32, 33, 47, 49–50
slave trade, 104, 106
Potter, Lt. William, 208–12 passim
Primrose, Lady Lavinia Mary, 176
Pulaski, Casimir, 154
Pulgar, Hernando de, 41, 87
Puritans, 64, 146
Quakers: Dutch persecution, 62
Randolph, Edmund, 153–54
Randolph, Martha Jefferson, 237
Random, Don Francesco, 154
Rappaport (family), 25
Recife: Sephardim, 51, 52, 53
Revere, Paul, 193–94
Rhodes: Sephardim, 331, 332, 338, 342
Ridgely, Charles Goodwin, 5
Riker, “Big Sam,” 268
Riker, “Little Sam,” 268
Rittenhouse (family), 263
Rivera (family), 126, 139
Rivera, Jacob Rodriguez, 102, 108–15, 117, 127, 138–39
Rivera, Sally, see Lopez, Mrs. Aaron
Rockefeller (family), 4, 270
Rockefeller, Mrs. Godfrey S. (Helen Gratz), 181–82
Roos, Garret Janson, 72
Roosevelt (family), 262
Roosevelt, Franklin D., 157
Roosevelt, Theodore, 315, 350
Rosebery, Albert Edward Harry Mayer Archibald, Earl of, 176
Rowland (family), 181
rum trade, 104–07 passim, 193
Sachs (family), 25
St. Clair, Gen. Arthur, 153
Saks (family), 25
Salmasius, 62
Salomon (family), 149, 150
Salomon, Haym, 145–58 passim, 167, 346
Salomon, Mrs. Haym (Rachel Franks), 149, 150, 155, 167
Salomon, Haym Moses, 154–55, 156–57
Salonica: Sephardim, 331, 332
Sánchez (family), 41
Sánchez, Gabriel, 45, 46
Sancho II, King, 26
Santa María, Don Pablo de (Selemohha-Levi), 35–36, 37
Santangel (family), 88–89
Santangel, Clara de, 88
Santangel, Doñosa de, 88
Santangel, Gabriel de, 89
Santangel, Jaime Martin de, 88
Santangel, Luis de, 45, 46, 89
Santangel, Simon de, 88
Santangel, Violante de, see Gomez, Violante de Santangel
Saratoga: Sephardim, 264
Sartain, John, 178
Sarzedas, Abraham, 189, 190
Sarzedas, Mrs. Abraham (Caty Hays), 189–90
Savannah: Sephardim, 101, 337
Saxe (family), 25
Schiff (family), 3, 271
Schuyler, Philip, 148
Scott, Sir Walter, 178–79
Scott, Gen. Winfield, 175
Scoville, Joseph, 198–99
Seattle: Sephardim, 338
Seixas (family), 7, 11, 21, 25, 60, 188, 189, 190, 263, 337, 347
Germanized versions of name, 25
in Spain, 25
Seixas, Abraham Mendes (Miguel Pacheco da Silva), 189
Seixas, Benjamin, 7
Seixas, Gerahom Mendes, 7, 11, 18, 190, 274
Seixas, Moses, 183
Seixag, Sarah, see Nathan, Mrs. Mendes Seixas; Nathan, Sarah Seixas
Seixas, Vic, 25
Seixas, Victor Monteflore, 25
&nbs
p; Selemoh, Don, 39, 40
Seligman (family), 296
Seligman, James, 263
Seligman, Mrs. James (Rosa Content), 263
Seligman, Joseph, 296
Senior, Don Abraham, 39, 40, 41, 45–46, 47
Sepharad, 24
Sephardim, 229, 232
and Ashkenazim, 8, 131–32, 135, 138, 163, 228–31, 263, 295, 340, 344
characteristics and traits, 8–9, 62–63
conversions to Christianity, 8, 231
Conversos, 35–36, 38, 40, 42, 43, 46, 76–79, 84, 86–87
reconversions to Judaism, 52
derivation of name, 24
in finance, 26, 29–30, 34, 39, 45–46, 62, 69–70, 76, 77
importance of the past, 23, 328–29, 344–45
Ladino language (Judeo-Spanish), 31, 331, 338–39
Levantine Sephardim, 2, 48, 50, 331–40
magic and healing, 334–35
Marranos, 35, 46, 51, 56, 78–79, 87–88, 330–31
phoenix as symbol, 67
zekhut avot (ancestral merit), 10
see also Jews and Judaism; Portugal, Sephardim; Spain, Sephardim
Seville: Sephardim, 15, 19, 27, 37, 43, 78, 79
Seward, William, 97
Shackelford (family), 263
“sheeny,” origin of word, 230
Shepherd, Rezin Davis, 143
Shippen, Peggy, 167
Sixtus IV, Pope, 82
slave trade, 102–07, 193
Solis (family), 8, 11, 185, 186, 188, 190
Da Silva Solis (Da Silva y Solis; family), 185–86
Solis, David, 188
Solis, Mrs. David Hays (Elvira Nathan), 13, 188
Solis, Elvira Nathan, 13–16, 23, 25, 60, 185, 186, 187, 188
Solis, Fernao Jorge Da, 185
Solis, Isabel de, 186
Solis, Jacob da Silva, 186–88
Solis, Mrs. Jacob da Silva (Charity Hays), 187, 188
Solis, Joseph, 187
Solis, Joseph Da Silva, 186
Solis, Judith, see Cohen, Mrs. Myer David
Solis, Solomon da Silva, 186
Solis-Cohen (family), 11, 188
Souza, Victor, 135
Spain: Castilian language, 31
Crusades, 30, 34, 37
Inquisition, 15, 19, 25, 42–43, 44–45, 49–50, 74–88
auto-da-fé, 77, 79–81, 84–85, 86, 90
sanbenito, 81–82
scourging, 80, 81
see also Sephardim, Expulsion Edict below
Latin language, 31
Moors, see Moors
Sephardim, 2, 15, 23–48, 341–12, 343
anti-Semitism, 29, 30, 34–38 passim, 40, 42, 74–75; see also Inquisition above
Anusim see Conversos; Marranos below
astronomy and navigation, interest in, 30, 31, 45
Conversos (Catholic converts; New Christians), 35–36, 38, 40, 42, 43, 46, 76–79, 84, 86–87; see also Marranos below
Expulsion Edict, 44–50 passim, 75, 330–31, 332, 341–42, 343
in finance, 26, 29–30, 34, 39, 45–46, 76, 77
identification badge and dress, 33–34, 37, 38, 81–82
Ladino language (Judeo-Spanish), 31, 331
limpieza doctrine, 77–78
Marranos, 35, 46, 78–79, 87–88, 330–31; see also Conversos above
as merchants, 30, 32
and Moors, 28–29, 30, 32, 34–35, 36, 44
as physicians, 29, 34, 42, 76–77
protection by the Crown, 30–31, 36
right to wear arms, 32
as scholars, 29, 30, 31
taxes, 26
Spencer, William A., 225, 226
Starin, Mrs. Jeffrey, 99
Stern, Jacob, 3
Stern, Malcolm H.: Americans of Jewish Descent, 1–11, 185, 186, 190, 232, 329
Stevenson (family), 4
Stewart, Comm. Charles, 215–16, 250
Stiles, Ezra, 104, 129–30, 147
Stringham, Comm. Silas, 250
Stuart, Gilbert, 196
Stuyvesant, Peter, 61–62, 64–69 passim, 351
Suffolk, Charles Brandon, Duke of, 321
Sully, Thomas, 166, 178, 180–81, 214
Sulzberger, Arthur Hays, 139n
Susan, Diego de, 78
Susman, Moses, 71
Talavera, Fray Hernando de, 41
Taylor (family), 181
Ten Eyek (family), 4
Thompson, Comm. Edward, 217
Tiffany (family), 4
Tobias (family), 7, 260
Tobias, Amelia Barnard, see Lazarus, Mrs. Jacob Hart
Tobias, Fanny, see Hendricks, Mrs. Uriah
Tobias, Florian, 260–61
Tobias, Harriet, see Hendricks, Mrs. Henry
Tobias, Henry, 260
Tobias, Mrs. Henry (Roselane Hendricks), 199, 260
Tobias, Isaac, 260
Tobias, Mrs. Isaac (Hermoine Hendricks), 260
Tobias, Alfred, 260
Tobias, Sophia, 266, 267
Tobias, Tobias I., 260, 263
Toledo (Spain): center of astronomical learning, 31
Sephardim, 15, 27, 38, 79, 87
Torquemada, Tomás de, 82–83, 84
Touro (family), 139, 145
Touro, Isaac, 138–39
Touro, John, 145
Touro, Judah, 138–45 passim, 158, 177, 200, 229
Townsend, Joseph, 87
Tracy, Kate, 300
Turkey: Sephardim, 2, 48, 50, 331–36, 337
see also Sephardim, Levantine Sephardim
Tuttle, Bishop, 182
Tweed, “Boss” William, 293–94, 295
Tyler, John, 243, 244
Van Cortlandt (family), 101
Vanderbilt (family), 5, 270
Vanderpoel, Aaron, 251
Van Horn, Cornelia, 174–75
Van Rensselaer (family), 4, 101, 263
Van Rensselaer, Gratz, 178
Verplanck (family), 162
Vincent Ferrer, Saint, 38
Von Mayhoff, Mrs. Amelia Levy, 350
Waag, Rachel, 196
Wallace (family), 181
Walling, George, 287–88
Warburg (family), 3
Washington, George, 11, 146, 147, 152–53, 155, 157, 170, 182, 183–84, 201
Wayne, Gen. Anthony, 169–70
Weaver, Lt. William, 223, 224
Weed, Ella, 317
Wharton, Edith, 265, 274
Wharton, Joseph, 168
Whichcote, Sir Thomas, 176
Willis, Nathaniel Parker, 253
Wilson, Ellen, 144, 145
Wilson, James, 153
Wolff (family), 263
Wolff, Agnes Hendricks, 264
Wolff, Frances Nathan, 7
Woortman, Henrick, 111–12, 114
yellow, as color of cowardice: in identification badges and dress, 33–34, 37, 38, 81–82, 352
Yiddish language, 231
Zacuto, Abraham ben, 45
zekhut avot (ancestral merit), 10
Zuntz (family), 2
“The Rest of Us”
The Rise of America’s Eastern European Jews
Stephen Birmingham
For Harry Sions in memory
Contents
Preface
Part One
BEGINNINGS: 1880–1919
1. Uptown Firebrand
2. Why They Came
3. A Jewish Cinderella
4. An Occupation for Gentlemen
5. Heroes and Heroines
Part Two
GETTING OUT: 1920–1950
6. The Jewish Lake and Other Creations
7. Fitting In
8. Minstrels and Minstrelsy
9. High Rollers
10. Little Caesars
11. Deals
12. War
13. At Last, a Homeland
14. Touches of Class
15. All That Money Can Buy
Part Three
H
ERE WE ARE: 1951–
16. Crown Princes
17. Witch-Hunting
18. “People Who Are Solid”
19. From Poland to Polo
Image Gallery
Acknowledgments
Source Notes
Selected Bibliography
Index
Preface
It was not my intention when I decided to write this book to write a book that would merely be “about rich people.” There are some readers, of course, who will argue that this is what the book has become, since our American society inevitably measures success in dollars. But I was actually thinking of America’s Eastern European Jews in terms of another kind of success—a social success, that of a mass migration of millions of people who have managed to become, within the lifespan of a single generation, an essential part of our social fabric and civic landscape.
The Jewish immigrants who came to America between 1881 and 1915 seemed, at first glance, to be culturally unadaptable: poor, hungry, ill-clothed, often sickly, speaking no English and in some cases illiterate, they were also steeped in a religious tradition that even America’s older-established Jews considered barbaric and bordering upon fanaticism. Politically, they burned with ideas that most Americans had been taught were radical and dangerous. No culture could have seemed more alien to our shores. What could possibly be done with these people, these benighted escapees from a distant, despotic land? How and where would they ever fit in?
And yet, barely a hundred years later, here they are—as people of prominence and influence in every major American city, and in nearly every walk of life. They have survived anti-Semitism from both Christians and fellow Jews. And they have prospered—in a wide-ranging spectrum of businesses from Wall Street to Hollywood, as well as in science, education, politics, the professions, and the arts—and their prosperity has contributed to the prosperity of America at large. Theirs has been a success story in what the sociologists call assimilation.
It would be simplistic to say that this is a story that could have happened “only in America.” America did not offer the Eastern Europeans much of anything to begin with, beyond a chance to be lucky. But, with the inner resources these Jews were possessed of, that chance was enough. Throughout the world, and throughout history, Jews had been punished and persecuted whenever and wherever they seemed to outstep their bounds and threaten, economically, the Christian majority. In fifteenth-century Spain and Portugal, the Catholic monarchs expelled the Jews simply because they had become too important, too necessary. Similar Christian illogic was behind the czarist pogroms of Russia. For a time, for instance, Russian Jews were permitted to be bartenders and innkeepers, and to work in the liquor trade. But when they proved to be good at it, and prospered at it, allegations arose that the Jews were plotting to take over Russia, using vodka as a weapon to befuddle innocent Russian Christian minds, and a harsh reaction followed. Fears that Jews were usurping more than their rightful share of Europe’s money and power were also behind Hitler’s grisly plan to “cleanse” Europe of its Jews. But in America, to its credit, as the Russian Jews prospered, this did not happen, though there were plenty of mutterings of “too much Jewish power” from certain quarters. It didn’t happen, perhaps, because we are a nation of immigrants, a nation of gamblers—what greater gamble is there than immigration itself?—and in our hearts we all believe that everyone deserves that chance to be lucky, and this is what we mean when we talk about freedom.
The Jews in America Trilogy Page 87
