San Francisco Jewish Pioneers

Early California Jews Elected to Leadership Offices

Early California Jews Elected to Leadership Offices   In the era ending in 1920, San Francisco elected Jewish candidates to six leadership offices and Los Angeles three. Other California cities and towns elected Jewish leaders six times.   Statewide Offices    The California senate elected Elcan Heydenfeldt

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William Leidesdorff: First Jew Elected in California and America’s “First Black Millionaire”

William Leidesdorff Values Codes  I – E – P   William Leidesdorff (c. 1810-1848) was born in St. Croix, in the British Virgin Islands, to Anna Marie Sparks, a mixed-race Creole, and to William Leidesdorff, a Danish-born Jewish sugar planter and seaman. The parents never married but

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Julius Kahn: Twelve-Term California Congressman and his Wife, Florence Prag Kahn, Who Succeeded Him in Congress for Five Terms

Julius Kahn and Florence Prag Kahn Values Codes  I – E – L   Julius Kahn (1861-1924) was born in Germany and came to the U.S. with his parents, settling in California in 1866. After high school, Kahn left San Francisco and worked as an actor for

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Elcan Heydenfeldt: America’s First Jewish State Senate President and First Jew Elected to Both Houses of California Legislature

Elcan Heydenfeldt Values Codes  I – E   Elcan Heydenfeldt (1821-1898) was born in Charleston, South Carolina. At the age of twenty, he left to study law in Alabama with his older brother Solomon Heydenfeldt. San Francisco In 1849, Elcan relocated to San Francisco, where he remained

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Southern California Postcards, 1904 – 1907

Southern California Postcards, 1904 – 1907 Source These historic postcards were donated to the museum by Sara Borczuk Applebaum. Jonathan Friedmann is curator for this Southern California Postcards exhibit.

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Solomon Levinson: Jewish Boxing Glove Manufacturer of San Francisco

Solomon Levinson Values Codes I – E – L   Solomon Levinson was born in 1867 in Lake County, California. He was the fifth child of Abraham and Henrietta Boukofsky Levinson. Abraham Levinson was born in Zempelburg, Prussia in 1826, and settled in Napa, California, in 1850, where

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