Jewish Sanctuary in the Atlantic World: A Social and Architectural History

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments Jewish Sanctuary in the Atlantic World was a labor of love that took me on adventures to its geographic four corners. Nonetheless, I could not have done it without some very special people and institutions. To begin with is David Rittenberg. His editorial assistance and fact checking was solid in an area where I had little experience at this level. For any remaining inaccuracies that may exist in this publication I accept full responsibility. The Special Collections at the College of Charleston Library, especially Dale Rosengarten, allowed me unfettered access to the William A. Rosenthall Judaica Collection. For assistance that allowed the research for this study to really take off, thanks to the Carolina Lowcountry and Atlantic World Program at the College of Charleston, for the Hines Prize; to the American Jewish Historic Society, for the Sid and Ruth Lapidus Fellowship; and to the Jewish Endowment Foundation of New Orleans, for the Wolff Memorial Scholarship. I am very grateful for the immense patience and understanding of Linda Fogle and Alexander Moore, at the University of South Carolina Press. I am also indebted to Jonathan Sarna of Brandeis University; Samuel Gruber of the International Survey of Jewish Monuments; Aviva Ben-Ur of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst; Howard Adelman of Queens University ; and Robert Russell of Salve Regina University for their guidance and valuable review of earlier drafts and excerpts for material content. My graduate student assistant, E. Megan Funk, was also of exceptional help in preparing the final images for this project. I also wish to thank Eugene Cizek and Colin MacLachlan at Tulane University for their support and guidance over the years. Special thanks to the Department of History at the University of Michigan, who took me in while Tulane University was closed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in the fall of 2005. My colleagues Sherri Andrews and Catherine Wright, at ASM Affiliates in Carlsbad and Pasadena, California, gave valuable editing and formatting assistance. The research phase of this study took me to the corners of the Atlantic world. From all these lands that were part of my research I encountered a plethora of fantastic people to whom I am grateful: In NorthAmerica—George xvi Acknowledgments Goodwin in Rhode Island; Arlene Hicks at Touro Synagogue in New­ port, Rhode Island; Alan Singer at Shearith Israel in New York; Randy Belin­ fante at the Library of the American Sephardi Federation in New York. In the Caribbean—Grant Gilmore, director of the St. Eustatius Center for Archaeological Research in St. Eustatius; Nicole and Anthony Henriquez and Simon Wolfson for their research assistance in Curaçao; Ainsley Cohen Henriques and the United Congregation of Israelites, Kingston, Jamaica; Miri and Jason Bowen in Barbados; Derek Miller and Michael Stoner for sharing their doctoral research on Barbados; Karl Watson of the University of the West Indies. In South America—Lily Duym at Nederlandsch-Israelietische Gemeente in Paramaribo, Suriname; Rachel Frankel in Suriname; Tania Neu­­ mann Kaufman in Brazil. In Europe—Sharman Kadish, director of Jewish Heritage UK in the United Kingdom and Gibraltar; Abraham Benady of Holy Land Travel in Gibraltar; Brenda Soiza in Gibraltar. And in Israel—Tania Coen Uzzielli at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem; and Seth Fersko. Archival research was conducted at (North America) the Center for Jewish History in New York; the American Jewish Archives at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati; Special Collections at the College of Charleston in South Carolina; South Carolina Department of Archives and History; the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York; National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia; the Jewish Museum of New York; the Jewish Public Library in Montreal; Jewish Women’s Archive in Brookline, Massachusetts; Beth Ahabah Museum and Archives and the Valentine Richmond History Center in Richmond, Virginia; William Clements Library at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor; the John Carter Brown Library in Providence, Rhode Island; the Huntington Library in San Marino, California; the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles; the Library of Congress in Washington D.C.; (Caribbean) the Mongui Maduro Library in Cura çao; the Jewish Cultural Historical Museum in Curaçao; the Nidhe Israel Museum in Barbados; (South America) Nationaal Archief Suriname in Paramaribo ; Arquivo Historico Judaico de Pernambuco in Recife, Brazil; (Europe) the Jewish Museum in London; the Joods Historisch Museum in Amsterdam; the Museo Sefardi, Toledo, Spain; (Israel) the Israel Museum in Jerusalem; and the Jewish National and University Library in Jerusalem. Finally I would like to thank my...