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Creating a Jewish city in the Niagara River...
Creating a Jewish city in the Niagara River...
Item # 623544
September 10, 1825
NILES' WEEKLY REGISTER, Baltimore, Sept. 10, 1825
* Hebrew city to be established
* Grand Island, New York
* Jews - Jewish - Judaica
One of the brief articles on the back page reads in its entirety: "An Hebrew city, to be called Ararat is to be laid off on Grand Island, N.Y., on the 15th or 18th instant, with masonic and military ceremonies. It will be located to face the mouth of the great canal." This was the project of newspaper publisher Mordecai Manuel Noah, who is credited with being the first Jew born in the United States to reach national prominence.
Among the other reports in this issue are: "Naval Court Martial" which is the case of Commodore Stewart (another article on this as well); "Capitol of the United States" "Important Indian Treaties" and a front page article which begins: "Lafayette has departed. He left Washington on Wednesday last..."
Sixteen pages, 6 1/4 by 9 1/4 inches, good condition.
AI notes: In 1825, Mordecai Manuel Noah, a Jewish American diplomat, proposed Ararat, a Jewish city of refuge on Grand Island near Niagara Falls, New York. Intended as a safe haven for Jews fleeing persecution, it was one of the earliest proto-Zionist efforts. A grand ceremony was held on September 15, 1825, with a cornerstone laid, but no actual settlement followed, and the project quickly faded. Despite its failure, Ararat is remembered as a symbolic moment in Jewish-American history.
This newspaper began in 1811 and was a prime source for national political news of the first half of the19th century. As noted in Wikipedia, this title: "...(was) one of the most widely-circulated magazines in the United States...Devoted primarily to politics...considered an important source for the history of the period."
Category: Pre-Civil War
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