History of the Jews in the American West
The 19th century saw Jews, like many other people, moving to the American West.[1]
Jewish congregations[]
Lewis A. Franklin moved to San Diego in 1851 and organized the first High Holiday services in southern California. Another contemporary congregation, Sherith Israel, was formed in San Francisco in 1849, and neither had a permanent home initially. In 1852, Sherith Israel bought land on Stockton Street and collected donations to build a temple of their own. The temple was completed in one year and the strictly Orthodox congregation soon[when?] had 110 members, mostly from Northern Europe and England. Congregation Emanu-el, a reform congregation, was formed in San Francisco in 1854, under rabbi Dr. Cohen, originally from Germany. The congregation had 260 members,[when?][citation needed] mostly German and French natives.
Jewish politicians[]
Jewish mayors in the early American West included Charles Himrod, , , and . There were over 30 Jewish mayors in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Adolph Sutro, a Jewish tradesman from Prussia, ran as the "Anti-Octopus" candidate and served one term as the Mayor of San Francisco in 1895-1897.
Solomon Star was born in Bavaria in 1840, and was sent to live with his uncle in Ohio when he was ten years old. When the Civil War broke out he went to Missouri, then later to Deadwood, South Dakota, where he was elected mayor in 1884. He was the mayor for nine years, before becoming a state senator in 1893. After his term he was elected for a second term as mayor in 1896. He died in 1917.
Western states with large Mormon populations were particularly welcoming to Jews, and among the first to elect Jews to statewide office. Moses Alexander (1853 – 1932) was the second elected Jewish governor of a US state, serving as the 11th Governor of Idaho from 1915 until 1919. Simon Bamberger was the third Jewish governor of a US State and the first non-Mormon to be elected Governor of Utah, serving as the 4th Governor of Utah (1917–1921) after it achieved statehood in 1896.
The first Jewish congresswoman in the United States was Florence Kahn, who represented California succeeding her husband Julius Kahn when he died in the middle of his 12th term. In addition to being a congresswoman, she taught English and history to high school students. She was involved in many Jewish organizations and motivated women across California to participate in politics.[2]
California[]
Today, California has one of the largest Jewish-American populations at about 1 million, and the state's main Jewish communities are found in Los Angeles (especially western parts of the city such as Westwood and Beverly Hills) and the San Francisco Bay Area (especially San Francisco and Berkeley). Recent Russian Jewish immigrants are settling in urban Jewish communities, such as the state capital of Sacramento and a smaller Jewish community in Palm Springs.
See also[]
References[]
- History of the American West
- Jewish-American history by place