Judaic Treasures of the
Library of Congress:
Four Founders: Noah, Leeser, Wise, and Lazarus

At the beginning of the nineteenth century there were fewer than two thousand Jews in the United States; at the century's end the number had risen to over a million. Synagogues increased in number from a half dozen to over eight hundred. in the course of the century, charitable and educational institutions were founded; cultural and fraternal organizations were established; and a periodical press in four languages was developed. During that time, too, American Jewry evolved from a tiny, hardly noticed presence in a few Eastern seaboard cities, to a visible factor in the social, economic, cultural, religious, and political life of the American nation. Many were the players in the drama of growth and unfolding, and the Library of Congress is a rich storehouse of books, pamphlets, broadsides, prints, and manuscripts which record and document those personalities and events. We choose four participants to represent the many.

• Emma Lazarus
• Isaac Leeser
• Mordecai Manuel Noah
• Isaac Mayer Wise