Boston Jews Petition for First Cemetery
On this day in 1844, members of Boston's first Jewish congregation petitioned city officials to set aside a corner of an East Boston cemetery for their use. When the city refused, the 40 congregants of Ohabei Shalom contributed five dollars each to purchase their own burial ground. Eight years later, they dedicated Boston's first synagogue. Located on Warren Avenue in the South End, it originally served the city's 125 Jewish families, almost all of whom hailed from German-speaking central Europe. In the late nineteenth century, large numbers of eastern European Jews immigrated to the United States; Boston was soon home to over 20,000 Jews representing a broad range of religious, cultural, and ethnic traditions.
Related Moments
Yiddish Book Rescuer Wins Genius Grant
Yiddish Book Rescuer Wins Genius Grant
On this day in 1989, an Amherst man who had spent more than a decade scrounging in dumpsters, basements, and attics was awarded a MacArthur Foundation "genius grant." Aaron Lansky led an initially quixotic campaign...
Legislature Allows Establishment of Mount Auburn Cemetery
Legislature Allows Establishment of Mount Auburn Cemetery
On this day in 1831, the legislature granted the Massachusetts Horticultural Society permission to purchase land for use as an experimental garden and a rural cemetery. Located on the border of Cambridge and Watertown, the...
Crowd Gathers to Hear Writer Mary Antin
Crowd Gathers to Hear Writer Mary Antin
On this day in 1912, over 1,000 people gathered at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York to hear Boston writer Mary Antin. She had come to make a plea for more aid to support...
