Jewish farmers in Connecticut Archives

LisbonCT_AnsheiIsraelSynagogue — Anshei Israel Synagogue in Lisbon, Connecticut, built in 1936

In this post, videos, an interactive map and many references supplement a short history of Jewish farming communities in Connecticut.

Beginning as early as 1891, Baron Hirsch supported the settlement of Jewish farmers in Connecticut. By 1928 there were over 5000 Jewish farm families in the state. The Baron Hirsch Fund and its subsidiary the Jewish Agricultural Society (JAS) sponsored these projects. The projects continued throughout the first half of the 20^th Century. They not only helped the Eastern European Jews escaping pogroms in the first part of the century, but after WWII, Holocaust survivors as well.

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In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Baron Maurice de Hirsch, the builder of the Vienna-Constantinople Railroad, and his friends, sponsored the settlement of Eastern European Jews in many lands. They spent the equivalent of $2 billion in today’s dollars, working primarily in North and South America. See what sparked their efforts here

This blog was established to collect and tell the stories of the Jewish farmers that Baron Maurice de Hirsch supported in both North and South America and the follow-on stories of their descendants worldwide. See our posts on Jewish farmers in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, the Catskills, Connecticut, and New Jersey.

Maurice de Hirsch *Vanity Fair* July 26, 1890, National Portrait Gallery, London

We present written works and visuals depicting the original immigrants and we relate the achievements of the descendants of these immigrants. And there are many achievements. Our forebears were courageous and ingenious people as are their grand and great-grandchildren.

We hope you will send us your stories and permission to publish them. Click here to contact us. And if you have a particular question about this immigration phenomenon, let us know. We will research the answer and write a post.

MORE ON BARON HIRSCH

For the whole story, read the official history of Baron Hirsch’s Jewish Colonization Association, An Outstretched Arm.

For information on Baron Hirsch’s work in the United States through the Jewish Agricultural Society see this post by Professor Emeritus of North Carolina State University, Gary Moore.

Here you can find over 50 different books on the life and work of Baron Hirsch.

Also, check out this short summary of Baron Hirsch’s work with Jewish farmers.

Here is a short summary of Baron Hirsch’s life, “A Prince Among Men” written in 1931 upon the 100th anniversary of his birth.

Here is a 1910 report from the U.S. Government on “Hebrews in Agriculture”. including many of Baron Hirsch’s projects.

Click here for a list of the archives worldwide of Baron Hirsch-related documents, including correspondence with individual immigrants.