Laura Cooper Brown – lbrow266@gmail.com
Suzanne Lipkin – slipkin@pratt.edu
Overview: Shearith Israel, founded in New York 1654, is North America’s first and oldest Jewish congregation. This presentation will highlight what Suzanne Lipkin and Laura Brown discovered when researching the congregation’s Second Cemetery (in operation from 1804-1829), located around the corner from SILS on 11th Street and 6th Avenue. The cemetery was reduced to a fraction of its original size during the development of the city’s grid system. Its history tells the story New York City in the post-Revolutionary years, the Jewish community of the time, public health and laws, and more. Also discussed will be a cross-section of the residents of the cemetery, from prominent society man, Ephraim Hart (one of the founders of the New York Stock Exchange), to those less known or who died in less than fortunate circumstances.
Statement: Shearith Israel, founded in New York 1654, is North America’s first and oldest Jewish congregation. This presentation will highlight what Suzanne Lipkin and Laura Brown discovered about New York City and the Jewish population of the post-Revolutionary years when researching the congregation’s Second Cemetery, located around the corner from SILS on 11th Street and 6th Avenue.
lbrow266