Congregation Mikveh Israel records
Item
Country
US
Name of institution (official language of the state)
Language of name of institution
eng
Contact information: postal address
44 N. 4th St, Philadelphia, PA 19106
Contact information: phone number
001 (215) 922-5446
Contact information: web address
Contact information: email
info@mikvehisrael.org
Reference number
01
Type of reference number
Call number
Title (official language of the state)
Congregation Mikveh Israel records
Language of title
eng
Creator / accumulator
Congregation Mikveh Israel (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Date(s)
1765/2011
Language(s)
eng
heb
yid
Extent
36.60 linear metres
Type of material
Textual Material
Photographic Images
Graphic Material
Scope and content
This collection contains records of the Jewish congregation Mikveh Israel, dating from 1765 to 2011. There are numerous membership and vital records and many papers from former rabbis and synagogue presidents (parnassim). Additionally, there are administrative and financial records, property-related materials, photographs, publications and ephemera, and documentation of various congregational committees and activities. The collection includes materials from several people and organisations associated with Mikveh Israel, such as benevolent, educational, and religious societies. This collection mainly consists of original, primary-source documents. However, many photocopies and other secondary-source materials are interspersed throughout the collection. A portion of this collection, particularly the 18th-century documentation, including a 1765 circumcision record, minute books, a shohet (kosher butcher) contract, and letters from 18th to 20th-century United States presidents, including George Washington and William Taft, is stored off-site.
Membership and vital records in the collection include birth announcements, circumcision announcements, marriage contracts (ketubot), b'nei mitzvah (bar mitzvahs) calendars, records of deaths and burials, books of mitzvot and seat rent ledgers. Only a few of these records date from the 18th century, but many are from the 19th century. A volume with birth, marriage, and death records of Portuguese Jewish congregations in London, New York, and Philadelphia from 1776 through the early 19th century is of particular interest.
Administrative records include minute books from the congregators (as early as 1791), trustees (as early as 1900s), board of managers (early 1800s to present, with gaps), and committees. There are also various copies of the congregation's constitution and revisions.
Financial records include ledgers, bills paid/received, receipts, monthly expense records, tax records, and additional financial materials.
Buildings and grounds records, ranging in date from the early 1800s to the 2000s, include materials about the synagogue's current and previous buildings, including deeds, correspondence, dedication-planning materials and pamphlets, and architectural drawings, as well as materials about its three burial grounds (1841-1946): the original 1740 Spruce Street cemetery, the Federal Street cemetery, and the cemetery in West Philadelphia that was formerly operated by Congregation Beth El Emeth. In addition to deeds and correspondence about the acquisition of these properties, there are plot plans, grave indexes, and other records of the people buried in these cemeteries. There are about a dozen rolled blueprints, plot plans, and other oversized items. Of particular interest are original drawings by the architect William Strickland for the Cherry Street synagogue, dated 1825.
Publications and ephemera in the collection include the newsletter, Mikveh Israel Record, 1973-2011; pamphlets from Mikveh Israel synagogue building dedications; recipe books published by the congregation; tickets to Mikveh Israel events; books of remembrance; and other publications and ephemera. There are also newspaper clippings about Mikveh Israel.
There are a small number of photographs in the collection depicting the synagogue's buildings and cemetery grounds, Torahs and Torah decorations, administrators, and reverends (Sabato Morais and Isaac Leeser), congregants, and congregational events such as Purim and Sukkot.
The collection includes a small number of papers from many former religious leaders of Mikveh Israel and office files from several past parnassim (chief administrative officers), including papers relating to fundraising, events and activities, finances, strategic planning, personnel, board materials, grounds and building maintenance, relations to other groups such as the American Sephardi Association, flyers, event programs, estates and donors, the creation of the Museum of American Jewish History, and several other materials.
Additionally, the collection contains some small donations of papers from individual congregants.
Membership and vital records in the collection include birth announcements, circumcision announcements, marriage contracts (ketubot), b'nei mitzvah (bar mitzvahs) calendars, records of deaths and burials, books of mitzvot and seat rent ledgers. Only a few of these records date from the 18th century, but many are from the 19th century. A volume with birth, marriage, and death records of Portuguese Jewish congregations in London, New York, and Philadelphia from 1776 through the early 19th century is of particular interest.
Administrative records include minute books from the congregators (as early as 1791), trustees (as early as 1900s), board of managers (early 1800s to present, with gaps), and committees. There are also various copies of the congregation's constitution and revisions.
Financial records include ledgers, bills paid/received, receipts, monthly expense records, tax records, and additional financial materials.
Buildings and grounds records, ranging in date from the early 1800s to the 2000s, include materials about the synagogue's current and previous buildings, including deeds, correspondence, dedication-planning materials and pamphlets, and architectural drawings, as well as materials about its three burial grounds (1841-1946): the original 1740 Spruce Street cemetery, the Federal Street cemetery, and the cemetery in West Philadelphia that was formerly operated by Congregation Beth El Emeth. In addition to deeds and correspondence about the acquisition of these properties, there are plot plans, grave indexes, and other records of the people buried in these cemeteries. There are about a dozen rolled blueprints, plot plans, and other oversized items. Of particular interest are original drawings by the architect William Strickland for the Cherry Street synagogue, dated 1825.
Publications and ephemera in the collection include the newsletter, Mikveh Israel Record, 1973-2011; pamphlets from Mikveh Israel synagogue building dedications; recipe books published by the congregation; tickets to Mikveh Israel events; books of remembrance; and other publications and ephemera. There are also newspaper clippings about Mikveh Israel.
There are a small number of photographs in the collection depicting the synagogue's buildings and cemetery grounds, Torahs and Torah decorations, administrators, and reverends (Sabato Morais and Isaac Leeser), congregants, and congregational events such as Purim and Sukkot.
The collection includes a small number of papers from many former religious leaders of Mikveh Israel and office files from several past parnassim (chief administrative officers), including papers relating to fundraising, events and activities, finances, strategic planning, personnel, board materials, grounds and building maintenance, relations to other groups such as the American Sephardi Association, flyers, event programs, estates and donors, the creation of the Museum of American Jewish History, and several other materials.
Additionally, the collection contains some small donations of papers from individual congregants.
Administrative / Biographical history
Congregation Mikveh Israel, also known as the "Synagogue of the American Revolution," is the oldest formal congregation in Philadelphia.
Scattered records indicate the presence of Jewish traders in the Delaware Valley before William Penn took possession of his colony in 1682. In 1784, a German traveller listed the presence of Jewish families among the religious sects of early Philadelphia. Nathan Levy established himself in the import/export trade with his cousin David Franks in the Philadelphia port by 1735. In 1740, Levy applied to Thomas Penn, Royal Proprietor of Pennsylvania, for a plot to bury his child under Jewish ritual. It became a Jewish cemetery, the first evidence of Jewish communal life in Philadelphia. The beginning of Mikveh Israel dates back to the establishment of the cemetery.
Religious services were first held in private homes, including Nathan Levy's. Later, rented quarters were obtained, first on Sterling Alley (presently Orianna Street), then around the corner on Cherry Street.
During the War of Independence, Jews from New York, Richmond, Charleston, Savannah, Lancaster and Easton fled to Philadelphia, seeking refuge from the British. In 1780, Rev. Gershom Mendes Seixas, Hazzan of Congregation Shearith Israel in New York, came to Philadelphia and became its religious leader. During his tenure, he was instrumental in establishing the form of prayer and organisational structure under the Spanish-Portuguese tradition, which remains today.
An increase in membership and financial help from those who sought refuge in Philadelphia allowed the congregation to establish a permanent religious home. A lot was purchased on Cherry Alley. A carpenter and bricklayer were hired to build a two-story brick building, hardly distinguishable by style from those around it. Space on the lot was approved for a home for the Hazzan, a school and a mikvah, and an oven for Matza baking for Passover.
The first Jewish charitable organisation in the city, the Ezrath Orechim (Society for the Relief of Destitute Strangers), was established in 1783, with Jacob I. Cohen as president, Isaiah Bush as secretary, and Haym Salomon as treasurer.
Congregation members, including Rev. Seixas, returned to New York, Charleston and other locations when British occupation ceased. In 1788, a subscription list was addressed to "worthy fellow Citizens of every religious Denomination", following debt incurred by synagogue construction loans. Among the contributors were Benjamin Franklin; Thomas McKean, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Chief Justice and later Governor of Pennsylvania; William Bradford, Attorney-General of Pennsylvania; and Thomas Fitzsimmons, a drafter of the U.S. Constitution, first president of the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and the city's leading Catholic layman.
When the 1782 building became inadequate, the Board of Adjuntos (Managers) voted to build a larger synagogue on the same site. The new building opened in 1825, designed by architect William Strickland. The growth of the Jewish population in Philadelphia before the Civil War (1861-1865) led to the construction of a new synagogue on 7th Street, designed by John McArthur, Jr. (later, architect of City Hall of Philadelphia). In the early 20th century, many Jews moved to the area between Broad and 16th Streets, north of Girard Avenue, and a new building was constructed in 1909 at Broad and York Streets, flanked by Gratz and Dropsie Colleges. In 1976, the congregation moved to Independence Mall, close to its original site, together with the National Museum of American Jewish History. The building opened on July 4, 1976, the Nation's Bicentennial. In August 2010, the National Museum of American Jewish History moved from the synagogue's building to a new building at 5th and Market Streets.
Scattered records indicate the presence of Jewish traders in the Delaware Valley before William Penn took possession of his colony in 1682. In 1784, a German traveller listed the presence of Jewish families among the religious sects of early Philadelphia. Nathan Levy established himself in the import/export trade with his cousin David Franks in the Philadelphia port by 1735. In 1740, Levy applied to Thomas Penn, Royal Proprietor of Pennsylvania, for a plot to bury his child under Jewish ritual. It became a Jewish cemetery, the first evidence of Jewish communal life in Philadelphia. The beginning of Mikveh Israel dates back to the establishment of the cemetery.
Religious services were first held in private homes, including Nathan Levy's. Later, rented quarters were obtained, first on Sterling Alley (presently Orianna Street), then around the corner on Cherry Street.
During the War of Independence, Jews from New York, Richmond, Charleston, Savannah, Lancaster and Easton fled to Philadelphia, seeking refuge from the British. In 1780, Rev. Gershom Mendes Seixas, Hazzan of Congregation Shearith Israel in New York, came to Philadelphia and became its religious leader. During his tenure, he was instrumental in establishing the form of prayer and organisational structure under the Spanish-Portuguese tradition, which remains today.
An increase in membership and financial help from those who sought refuge in Philadelphia allowed the congregation to establish a permanent religious home. A lot was purchased on Cherry Alley. A carpenter and bricklayer were hired to build a two-story brick building, hardly distinguishable by style from those around it. Space on the lot was approved for a home for the Hazzan, a school and a mikvah, and an oven for Matza baking for Passover.
The first Jewish charitable organisation in the city, the Ezrath Orechim (Society for the Relief of Destitute Strangers), was established in 1783, with Jacob I. Cohen as president, Isaiah Bush as secretary, and Haym Salomon as treasurer.
Congregation members, including Rev. Seixas, returned to New York, Charleston and other locations when British occupation ceased. In 1788, a subscription list was addressed to "worthy fellow Citizens of every religious Denomination", following debt incurred by synagogue construction loans. Among the contributors were Benjamin Franklin; Thomas McKean, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Chief Justice and later Governor of Pennsylvania; William Bradford, Attorney-General of Pennsylvania; and Thomas Fitzsimmons, a drafter of the U.S. Constitution, first president of the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and the city's leading Catholic layman.
When the 1782 building became inadequate, the Board of Adjuntos (Managers) voted to build a larger synagogue on the same site. The new building opened in 1825, designed by architect William Strickland. The growth of the Jewish population in Philadelphia before the Civil War (1861-1865) led to the construction of a new synagogue on 7th Street, designed by John McArthur, Jr. (later, architect of City Hall of Philadelphia). In the early 20th century, many Jews moved to the area between Broad and 16th Streets, north of Girard Avenue, and a new building was constructed in 1909 at Broad and York Streets, flanked by Gratz and Dropsie Colleges. In 1976, the congregation moved to Independence Mall, close to its original site, together with the National Museum of American Jewish History. The building opened on July 4, 1976, the Nation's Bicentennial. In August 2010, the National Museum of American Jewish History moved from the synagogue's building to a new building at 5th and Market Streets.
Access points: locations
Access points: corporate bodies
Access points: subject terms
Access points: document types
Access, restrictions
Digital copies of some records are available online:
Links to finding aids
Existence and location of copies
Author of the description
Carla Vieira, 2023
Published primary sources
Linked resources
Filter by property
| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Congregation Mickve Israel (Savannah, Ga.) Collection | Existence and location of copies |
| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Congregation Mikveh Israel | Collections (official language of the state) |
| Title | Alternate label | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Congregation Mikveh Israel (Philadelphia, Pa.) Records | Existence and location of originals | |
| Minutes and correspondence of the congregation, 1782-1790 | Existence and location of originals |