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Country
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US
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Language of name of institution
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eng
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Contact information: postal address
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15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011
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Contact information: phone number
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001 212 294 8301
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Contact information: email
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RCMiller@cjh.org (archive and library services)
Inquiries@cjh.org (research inquiries)
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Reference number
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P-255
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Type of reference number
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Archival reference number
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Title (official language of the state)
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Samuel Oppenheim Papers
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Language of title
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eng
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Creator / accumulator
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Samuel Oppenheim
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Date(s)
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1614/1938
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Language(s)
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eng
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dut
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fra
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por
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yid
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Extent
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31 boxes and 1 oversize folder
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Type of material
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Textual Material
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Physical condition
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Good
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Scope and content
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This collection documents the research undertaken by Samuel Oppenheim (1857-1928) on Jewish history in the Americas in the 17th–19th centuries, mainly focusing on those who lived in what would become the city of New York. The collection contains transcripts, photocopies, court records, correspondence, essays, and notebooks.
Records are organised into ten series according to types of documents, subjects and geographical areas. Each series contains relevant documentation for the history of the Sephardim in North America and the Caribbean.
Series I: Individuals: Comprises information about nearly 1,100 Jewish settlers in Dutch and English colonies in the New York area. It includes transcriptions of original documents from various collections, including newspaper accounts, court records, registries and ledgers. This series served as an index for Oppenheim’s research, as all known Jews on a particular document were given an individual folder. Most folders include notes on numerous cross-references to other folders with mentions of a particular individual.
Series II: Groups of Jews: this series includes the same type of records as series I, but it is organised by subjects, namely locations, document types, events, institutions, and various topics.
Series III: Congregation Shearith Israel (New York): It includes transcripts of the early records of the Congregation Shearith Israel (1654-1834), including documents related to the cemetery, expenditures, administration and governing, kashrut and ritual slaughter, the Sedaka fund and marriage records.
Series IV: Correspondence of Aaron Lopez (1731-1782): This series is composed of typewritten copies of the correspondence of Aaron Lopez from originals found at the Newport Historical Society.
Series V: Newspaper Advertisements: It includes typewritten copies of newspaper advertisements relating to the Jewish community between 1735 and 1799.
Series VI: Dutch West India Company: This series comprises photocopies, transcripts and translations of documents relating to the Jewish communities in Amsterdam and Dutch Caribbean colonies. This material was given to Samuel Oppenheim by the Portuguese Jewish community of Amsterdam. The series is divided into four sub-series based on the geographical focus of the documents: 1) General; 2) Brazil, mainly containing records on the plight of Jews living in Dutch Brazil after the reconquest by the Portuguese; 3) New Netherlands and 4) Suriname.
Series VII: Early Court Records of New York City, 1653-1760: It comprises original documents from the mid-17th century to the mid-18th century of the New York City Mayor’s Court.
Series VIII: Writings, undated, 1905-1926 contains copies of Oppenheim’s writings and speeches. The titles of the folders are those of the articles and speeches they contain.
Series IX: Correspondence: Oppenheim’s research correspondence between 1905 and 1927.
Series X: Shorthand Notebooks: This series comprises notebooks written in Pitman shorthand (a system of shorthand for the English language developed by Isaac Pitman) by Oppenheim on material found elsewhere in the collection.
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Archival history
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This collection is composed of records donated to the American Jewish Historical Society by the family of Samuel Oppenheim.
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Administrative / Biographical history
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Samuel Oppenheim was an American lawyer and historian. He was born to Isaac and Melia Oppenheim in New York City on December 2, 1859. Educated at the College of the City of New York and Columbia Law School, he was admitted to the New York Bar in 1885. As a lawyer, he worked with noted attorneys Simon Sterne and Oscar S. Straus. Oppenheim served as secretary of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors from 1889-1891; and assistant general counsel from 1896-1901 for the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway Company. He also served as secretary of the Central Park Involvement Company from 1887-1901 and the recording secretary of the American Jewish Historical Society from 1914 to 1927. Other affiliations included the New York State Historical Association, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the London Shorthand Society, and the Judaeans, a Jewish community organisation in New York.
In addition to his legal work, he is perhaps best known for his efforts to understand better the history of Jews in the Americas, particularly those living in the colonial period. His research was not limited to those in the British colonies but also encompassed those living in the Dutch colonies in modern-day Brazil, New York, and Suriname. Much of Oppenheim's writings can be found in the Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society.
He passed away on August 11, 1928, being survived by his siblings and their children.
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(source: Rusinek, Marvin, and Montalbano, Michael D. 2010. Guide to the Samuel Oppenheim Papers (1859-1928), undated, 1614-1938 P-255)
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Access points: persons, families
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Aguilar, Moses Raphael de
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Bueno de Mesquita, Joseph
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Cohen Nassy, David (Cristóvão de Távora, Joseph Nunes da Fonseca)
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Costa, Isaac da
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Gomez, Benjamin
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Gomez, Daniel
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Gomez, David
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Gomez, Lewis (Lewis Moses Gomez, Luis Moses Gomez)
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Gomez, Moses
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Levi Morteira, Saul (Saul Levi Mortera)
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Lopez, Aaron (Duarte Lopes)
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Lopez, Abraham
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Lopez, Moses (José Lopes)
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Lucena, Abraham de
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Lucena, John Charles (João Carlos Lucena)
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Pacheco, Rodrigo
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Pinto, Joseph Jesurun
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Rodriguez Rivera, Jacob
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Sarzedas, Abraham
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Seixas, Moses
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Torres, Daniel
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System of arrangement
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The collection is arranged into ten series. Most series have their records arranged alphabetically by individuals (I, IV and VI), subjects (II and III) or titles (VIII and X). Documents of series V and IX are ordered chronologically. Series VI is divided into four subseries, whose records are arranged alphabetically by subject.
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Access, restrictions
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The collection is open to all researchers except for items that may be restricted due to their fragility or privacy. A digital copy of box 12, folder 3 is available online:
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Center for Jewish History Digital Archive
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Author of the description
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Carla Vieira, 2022
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Published primary sources
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Oppenheim, Samuel. 1907. “An Early Jewish Colony Western Guiana, 1658-1666: And Its Relation to the Jews in Surinam, Cayenne and Tobago.” Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, no. 16: 95–186. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43059606.
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Oppenheim, Samuel. 1909. “The Early History of the Jews in New New York, 1654-1664. Some New Matter on the Subject.” Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society 18: 1–91. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43057824.
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Oppenheim, Samuel. 1909. “An Early Jewish Colony in Western Guiana: Supplemental Data.” Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, no. 17: 53–70. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43057793.
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Oppenheim, Samuel. 1910. “The Jews and Masonry in the United States Before 1810.” Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, no. 19: 1–94. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43057843.
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Oppenheim, Samuel. 1911. “A List of Jews Made Denizens in the Reigns of Charles II and James II.” Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society 20: 109–13. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43057878.
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Oppenheim, Samuel. 1914. “The Jews in Barbados in 1739. An Attack upon Their Synagogue. Their Long Oath.” Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, no. 22: 197–98. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43057945.
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Oppenheim, Samuel. 1914. “The Chapters of Isaac the Scribe: A Bibliographical Rarity, New York, 1772.” Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, no. 22: 39–51. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43057925.
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Oppenheim, Samuel. 1914. “A Newspaper Account of an Auto Da Fé in Lisbon in 1726, in Which a Jew, a Native of Bahia, South America Was Burnt.” Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society 22: 180–82. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43057935.
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Oppenheim, Samuel. 1915. “A Letter of David Nassy, of Surinam.” Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, no. 23: 185–86. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43057988.
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Oppenheim, Samuel. 1917. “Will of Nathan Simson, A Jewish Merchant in New York before 1722, and Genealogical Note Concerning Him and Joseph Simson.” Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society 25: 87–91. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43058053.
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Oppenheim, Samuel. 1918. “Memorial of Solomon and Ellas De Paz on the Capture of Their Ship in 1728-9 off Jamaica by the Spaniards.” Publications of the American Jewish Historical Society, no. 26: 248–49. https://www.jstor.org/stable/43059321.
