While no Jews came to this country on the Mayflower, they were among the earliest settlers here, Rabbi Bertram W. Korn, of Philadelphia, an eminent Jewish historian, declared here today. “Among them were pioneers who tamed the wilderness, opened the frontiers, initiated trade, built cities and fought for freedom,” he emphasized.
The Jewish historian made his observations in connection with the announcement yesterday of the publication by the Hebrew Union College Press of the first genealogical survey of Jewish families who settled in America between 1654 and 1840. The volume, which weighs eight pounds, is entitled “Americans of Jewish Descent” and lists 26, 000 names. The author of the volume, Rabbi Malcolm H. Stern, of Norfolk, spent eight years on his research which he conducted for the American Jewish Archives.
The volume shows that 15 percent of the marriages recorded before 1840 were marriages between Jews and Christians. The book is being distributed by University Publishers of New York in a limited edition of 600 copies. The “popular” edition of 550 copies can be purchased for $40 each. Fifty copies printed in a “de luxe” edition can be had for $150 per copy.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
