Touro Synagogue (Newport, R.I.)

Aaron Lopez (1731-1782) was a member of the Converso (converted) community of Portugal. In order to freely practice Judaism, he and his family left Portugal and relocated to British North America, settling in Newport, Rhode Island and later, Massachusetts. He began a successful mercantile business and eventually became a key supplier of the American revolutionary forces.

The collection contains numerous shipping records along with correspondence and accounts with merchants, mercantile families, and firms including Henry Lloyd of Boston, Henry Cruger of Bristol, George Hayley of London, William Stead of Sheffield and New Bedford whaler Joseph Rotch. The collection contains manifests, mercantile accounts, notations, correspondence and inventories of estates for several of the children of Aaron Lopez.

Jacques Judah Lyons, hazzan, rabbi and community leader, was born in Surinam and emigrated to Philadelphia in the early 1800s. Minister of the New York Congregation Shearith Israel for 38 years, he gathered extensive materials on early Jewish history in the United States, Canada and the West Indies. His papers include manuscripts, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, notebooks, photographs, and a Sansom ship's log book. Contains material relating to Jews in North and South America generally and more specifically to Congregation Shearith Israel and the Jews in New York, the Touro Synagogue and cemetery and the Jews in Newport, Rhode Island, Philadelphia and the West Indies. Also contains material relating to Jews in the wars of the United States, correspondence of the Jews with George Washington and items relating to Haym Salomon. Collection consists of manuscript material and five notebooks and three scrapbooks of Lyons. Contains material not listed in calendar consisting of sermons by Lyons, a manuscript prayer book used in Surinam and a guide for religious ceremonies at Congregation Shearith Israel, as well as letters written during the Civil War period and correspondence relating to the personal life and career of Lyons.

The papers of Philip Lax document his work with four major organizations: the American Jewish Historical Society, B'nai B'rith International, National Conference on Soviet Jewry, and Ellis Island Restoration Commission. The collection documents the years 1915 to 2008, with the bulk of the material dating from the 1970s and 1980s. The papers contain photographs, correspondence, speeches, publications, subject files, and organizational records, such as minutes, financials, memorandums, agendas, and reports.

This Collection contains personal papers, correspondence, and other material relating to the Phillips family, 1733-1954. The majority of the materials are in regard to the following family members: Jonas Phillips (1733-1802), Naphtali Phillips (1815-1868), Joseph Phillips (1811), Rebecca Hart Phillips (1812), Joshua Phillips (1852-1858), Isaac Phillips (1830-1884), Roslie Solomons Phillips (1872-1945), Naphtali Taylor Phillips (1895-1954).

Notable objects in this collection include Jonas Phillips' copy of a book on the laws and practice of shehita, printed in Wandsbeck, Germany, in 1733; Naphtali Phillips' letters regarding Congregation Shearith Israel; Isaac Phillips' correspondence relating to his position as Appraiser of Merchandise for the Port of New York; Roslie Solomons Phillips' letters from Eleanor Roosevelt; and Naphtali Taylor Phillips' correspondence relating to Congregation Shearith Israel, the Touro Synagogue, the Federation of American Zionists, the National Conference of Jewish Charities (Committee on Palestinian Charities), and Adolphus S. Solomons. Collection also contains published Masonic materials, political memorabilia, and a letter from George Mifflin Dallas to an unidentified member of the Phillips family, 1856.

The collection consists of an autographed letter from Ginsburg to Michael Feldberg, Executive Director of the American Jewish Historical Society, enclosing a speech she gave at Touro Synagogue in Newport, R.I. in celebration of the 350th anniversary of Jews in America. Ginsburg's speech summarized the careers of the following Jewish Supreme Court Justices: Louis D. Brandeis, Benjamin Cardozo, Felix Frankfurter, Arthur Goldberg, and Abe Fortas. A copy of the speech was reprinted in the catalog for the AJHS' exhibition "Greetings from Home.".

The collection contains correspondence, personal, and business papers of the following members of the Touro family: Abraham (1777/78-1822), Judah (1775-1854), and Rebecca (1779-1833) Touro of Newport, Rhode Island. Documents include an insurance policy, correspondence, and wills.