 1781 - 1869 (88 years)
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| Name |
Rebecca Gratz [3] |
| Born |
4 Mar 1781 |
Lancaster, Lancaster, PA  [3, 4] |
| Gender |
Female |
| Alt. Burial |
Spruce Street Cemetery, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania [5] |
| Reference Number |
1839 |
| Buried |
1869 |
Mikva Israel - Federal Street Cemetery, Philadelphia, PA [6, 7] |
| Died |
27 Aug 1869 [3, 4] |
| Person ID |
I1839 |
aojd |
| Last Modified |
11 Nov 2011 |
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| Notes |
- Rebecca Gratz (1781-1869) achieved renown as founder and officer of social and educational institutions managed by women. These organizations served as a model for others. They are the source of schools and social agencies in existence today. A bronze plaque in appreciation of her communal activities can be found at the cemetery. The leading American Jewish woman of the nineteenth century, Rebecca Gratz founded several organizations that poignantly defined American Jewish public life for years to come and helped move women to the center of that life. The daughter of Miriam Simon and Michael Gratz , Rebecca grew up in Philadelphia surrounded by older and younger siblings, among them Frances and Benjamin .
Her mother instilled in Rebecca a sense of charitable duty, and the two of them were among the founders of the Female Association for Relief of Women and Children in Reduced Circumstances, an organization that provided assistance to women whose families had suffered economic losses during the Revolution and one of the first female societies in the country. She would serve as secretary for over forty years.
Though Rebecca never married, she was surrounded by her numerous nieces and nephews, perhaps the source of her profound love for and interest in children. In 1815 she helped found the Philadelphia Orphans Asylum.
In the wake of her sister Sarah's death in 1817, Rebecca increased her engagement with Judaism and the Jewish community. At Mikveh Israel she founded the Female Hebrew Benevolent Society. The organization offered financial assistance to Jewish women in need, especially among European immigrants, arriving in increasing numbers. It would serve as a template for Jewish charitable organizations in other communities. Gratz also organized and founded a Sunday school at Mikveh Israel. Based on the pedagogy of Isaac Leeser , this marked the start of the Jewish Sunday school movement.
In addition to her numerous accomplishments, Gratz was known to be one of Philadelphia's great beauties. It has often been repeated that Rebecca served as the model for the character bearing the same name in Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe.
Anne Joseph:
PORTRAIT IN SCRAPBOOK ------------------------ The Edward Greene Malbone miniature of Rebecca Gratz is reported upon by Hannah London in her 1926 book Portrait of Jews. At that time it was owned by Miss Rachel Gratz Nathan of New York. The Thomas Sully portrait was also reported upon in the same book, and at that time was owned by Henry Joseph of Montreal. And the Anna Claypool Peale miniature was at that time owned by Mrs. Andrew Van Pelt, of Radnor, Pennsylvania. ------------------------ The Thomas Sully portrait, 25 by 30 inches, was painted in 1831. It became the property of Rebecca's niece and adoptive daughter, Sarah Gratz (Moses) Joseph, who married Jacob Henry Joseph in 1848, and who proudly displayed the portrait in their Montreal home, Dorchester House.
Their son, Henry, inherited the portait. Hannah London, in Portraits of Jews, writes of this painting: "The brilliant youth of Rebecca Gratz, so charmingly portrayed in the Malbone miniatures, was fulfilled in a life devoted to charity and philanthropy, and in Mr. Joseph's large painting of her by Sully, much of this loveliness of character finds expression. She has an olive complexion, brilliant colour, soft dark brown eyes and black hair. Over her claret-coloured dress she wears a white lace drape and a pale yellow mantle lined with white fur. That this was a faithful representation of the subject is confirmed by John Sartain in his 'Reminiscences of a very Old man' in which he tells of a visit to Miss Gratz in her later life. 'Her eyes struck me as piercingly dark, yet of mild expression, in a face tenderly pale. The portrait Sully painted o her must have been a remarkable likelness, that so many years after I should recognize her instantly by remembrance of it'."
The miniature of Rebecca Gratz by Edward Greene Malbone in 1804 was exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum in the Spring of 1927, and in the National Gallelry of Art in 1929, lent by the late Miss Rachel Gratz Nathan. By 1953, it was owned by Mrs. Carrie M. Serra, i.e. Caroline (Joseph) Serra, daughter of Jacob Henry and Sarah (Moses) Joseph. Carrie Serra died, childless, on 23 May 1955.
Edward Greene Malbone met the Gratz sisters through Mr. and Mrs. J. Ogden Hoffman of New York, at whose home the Gratz girls were frequent visitors. Here they became acquainted with many members of the brilliant circle which gave New York literary distinction in the early years of the nineteenth century - William Cullen Bryant, James Fenimore Cooper, John Inman, brother of Henry Inman, the artist, Henry Tuckerman, and Washingrton Irving. The latter was engaged to the Hoffmans' daughter, Matilda, to whom Rebecca was devotedly attached, and whom she nursed during her fatal illness. Ever afterward, a beautiful friendship existed between Irving and Rebecca Gratz, and when he spoke of her subsequently to Walter Scott, the latter was so impressed by the beauty of her character that he immortalized his friend's friend in his conception of Rebecca in 'Ivanhoe'.
The miniature by Anna Claypool Peale had been owned by Mrs. Joseph Drexel (Lucy Wharton) of Pennrynn, Pennsylvania, who bequeathed it to her granddaughter, Mrs. Andrew Van Pelt of Radnor, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Van Pelt owned it in 1953. Source: Hannah R. London ------------------------ Although she was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Rebecca Gratz was a lifelong Philadelphian. While her mother delivered Rebecca, her 7th child, among her own family in Lancaster, her father remained in Philadelphia - building ships, running the British blockades, and privateering for the new country, often in partnership with men who had signed the Declaration of Independence only a few years earlier. As the nation developed into maturity, so did the Gratz family.
The honour and acclaim accorded to Rebecca in her own time continues to this day. The beauty of her face and qualities, described by Washington Irving to his friend, Sir Walter Scott, suggested the character of "Rebecca" in "Ivanhoe". She combined in her own person all the characteristics of the Biblical "Virtuous Woman". She devoted her life to good works. She founded and conducted organizations of benevolence and of Jewish Education, which still function. She possess not only a kind and loving heart and tireless energy, but marked powers of organization, and a vigorous intellect as well.
Source: The Jewish Cemetery, by Leon H. Elmaleh (1962) [6]
- (Research):AJLLJ Portrait Database 5 Aug 2011
The leading American Jewish woman of the nineteenth century, Rebecca Gratz founded several organizations that poignantly defined American Jewish public life for years to come and helped move women to the center of that life. The daughter of Miriam Simon and Michael Gratz, Rebecca grew up in Philadelphia, surrounded by older and younger siblings, among them Frances and Benjamin.
Her mother instilled in Rebecca a sense of charitable duty, and the two of them were among the founders of the Female Association for Relief of Women and Children in Reduced Circumstances, an organization that provided assistance to women whose families had suffered economic losses during the Revolution and one of the first female societies in the country. She would serve as secretary for over forty years.
Though Rebecca never married, she was surrounded by her numerous nieces and nephews, perhaps the source of her profound love for and interest in children. In 1815 she helped found the Philadelphia Orphans Asylum.
In the wake of her sister Sarah's death in 1817, Rebecca increased her engagement with Judaism and the Jewish community. At Mikveh Israel she founded the Female Hebrew Benevolent Society. The organization offered financial assistance to Jewish women in need, especially among European immigrants then arriving in increasing numbers. It would serve as a template for Jewish charitable organizations in other communities. Gratz also organized and founded a Sunday school at Mikveh Israel. Based on the pedagogy of Isaac Leeser, this marked the start of the Jewish Sunday school movement.
In addition to her numerous accomplishments, Gratz was known to be one of Philadelphia's great beauties. It has often been repeated that Rebecca served as the model for the character bearing the same name in Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe. [8]
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| Sources |
- [S81] .
- [S285] .
- [S4] PG. 87 GRATZ (1) (Reliability: 3).
- [S47] .
- [S81] (Reliability: 3).
- [S392] HTTP://WWW.MIKVEHISRAEL.ORG/THECEMETERIES/ (Reliability: 3).
- [S391] .
- [S294] GRATZ, REBECCA (Reliability: 3).
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