Suriname

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.

An entry of merchandise imported by Asher Levy from Surinam to New York in 1807.

Leather bound receipt book of approximately 200 pages, with 20 interleaved unbound sheets filled with signed transactions of voyage records in English of the commercial dealings of the brothers Moses and Isaac in the West Indies. Of note are vital statistics of the members of the family, and the record of a slave purchase. One of the interleaved sheets contains a record of the inscriptions on the monuments of the Battle of Waterloo. Among the merchants who signed the book are the following members of the Jewish community of Barbados: Abraham Rodrigues Brandon, Isaac Lopez Brandon, Hananel de Castra, Moses Mendes da Costa, Benjamin Elkin, Mozley Elkin, Abraham Finzi, David Lindo, Jacob Lindo, Raphael Lindo, D.M. Lobo, Isaac de Moses Lobo, Jacob Lobo, Hart Lyon, John Montefiore, Phin S. Nunes, Daniel Pass. Mention is made of S.E. Daniels, Sarah Finzi, Joseph Hart, Edward Aaron Moses and Sampson Shannon.

The Papers of Graenum Berger (1908-1999) document Berger's involvement with Ethiopian Jewry and his efforts to bring about their rescue from Ethiopia through his organization, the American Association for Ethiopian Jews (AAEJ). The Papers also contain materials regarding Berger's other interests-his writings, his travels throughout the world, his community affiliations, his career as a Jewish social work executive, his commitment to Jewish causes, and his commitment to Israel. Also included are personal and biographical materials from his many long-term friendships and associations; correspondence, minutes, reports, clippings, manuscripts, research materials, journal articles, photographs, and publications.

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.

Consists of an order, signed by the governor of Surinam, entitling Lyons to leave for New York (1800); two miscellaneous items concerning the Adelphic Society of Philadelphia (1800, 1802); a diary recording his voyage from New York to Surinam with his family (1805); and a personal journal (1836-1837).

The Papers of Reverend Abraham Lopes and Mrs. Irma Robles Cardozo contain various materials reflecting the personal and professional lives of Rev. and Mrs. Cardozo, including Rev. Cardozo’s position as Hazzan at Congregation Shearith Israel in New York City and Irma Lopes Cardozo’s numerous philanthropic activities. In addition, there are various materials relating to Sephardic communities throughout the world, honors the Cardozos received, and individuals who had an important influence upon them.

This collection documents the research of Jewish historian Samuel Oppenheim (1857-1928) concerning the lives of colonial Jews in the Americas, and the early history of the United States. Included in the collection are his notes, transcripts of original works, photocopies of the records of the Dutch West India Company, correspondence relating to his research, his writings, and original documents from the Mayor’s Court of the City of New York that date from 1653-1760.

This volume, which belonged to Shmuel Robles de Medina, hazzan of Congregation Neve Shalom, contains the following: a Hebrew poem with the first letters forming the acrostic, "Shmuel Robles de Medina"; formulas for ketubot, divorce, power of attorney, certification of ritual slaughter, removal of a required levirate marriage (halizah) in Portuguese and Hebrew; specifications for a mikveh with the mention that land for the mikveh was purchased by Rabbi Olivera. Of interest is a document for halizah which was received from Amsterdam. The document includes the names of the parties involved as well as the names of the witnesses, including David Cohen d'Azevedo (d. 1792). The last few pages contain copies of documents which have been copied out in Dutch.