Kristen Bird

Jewish Immigrant Information Bureau & Galveston

I have been fascinated with the Jewish nation since I read a fiction book by Kay Arthur, entitled, “Israel, My Beloved” years ago.  The narrative is an account of a fictional character name Sarah and her relationship with her Guardian, and the story is essentially a metaphor for the Jewish nation and God.  The account, although fictional, walks the reader through Jewish history, and Sarah’s timeless character lives through peaceful times, uprisings, awaiting the Messiah, wars, the Holocaust, and even into the apocalypse.  The idea of the Jewish nation traditionally being recognized as God’s chosen people continues to fascinate me.  So, as we approached Jewish immigrant literature, I began to wonder: How did the Holocaust affect the migration of Jews to America?  I expected to find, of course, that there was a large influx of Jewish people and the effects this had on their nation as a whole.  However, during my research I stumbled across the term, The Jewish Immigrant Information Bureau, which I thought would be helpful.  I was surprised by what I discovered, and my question became: What role did Galveston play in bringing Jewish immigrants to America?

I went to the Rosenberg library in downtown Galveston and researched the Jewish Immigration Information Bureau in the archives section.  The name that came up again and again was Henry Cohen, 1863-1952.  According to a biography in the research labeled “Henry Cohen Papers,” a collection of writings by him, Cohen was born in London where he grew up and attended a Jewish college.  He came to Galveston in 1888 and married Mollie Levy, who was also a member of a Galveston Jewish family.  In an article published Feb. 8, 1914 on page 20 of the Galveston Daily News, Cohen wrote that 1,100 (or 2.5 percent) of Galveston residents were Jews.  He said, “In inverse ratio to their numbers has been their general service to the community and to the whole state, and when the history of Texas shall be written in detail it will be found that the Jews of Galveston have contributed immeasurably to its moral, industrial and commercial supremacy.”

Cohen oversaw the JIIB, which was organized by a committee in New York acting for Jacob H. Schiff.  Cohen said of him that Schiff’s “name is a byword in every Jewish household – for the purpose of deflecting immigration from the congested cities of the North to the South, Southwest and contiguous territory.”  The first influx of Jewish settlers to the island began around 1840, and many of them came from Germanic countries.  But according to other sources, including June Angerstein, immigrants came from France, England, Ireland, Poland, Norway, Greece, Italy, Belgium, Spain, Russia, and other Slavik countries.  The traditional process for starting a Jewish community began by dedicating a burial plot and then a synagogue soon sprang up nearby.  By Cohen’s time there would have been two prominent groups of Jewish settlers and synagogues.  The third and last group was brought to America primarily by Cohen through the JIIB.  Some remained in Galveston while others were assigned to other cities in Texas or nearby states.  The Jewish people came from Russia after the persecution there in 1891.

Cohen outlined the process of immigration in the Galveston Daily News Article.  I have listed the main points below:

• Ship in port
• Medical exam by port marine surgeon
• Interrogation by immigration inspectors
• Exam of baggage by customs house officers
• Immigrants and baggage in large wagon from docks to bureau headquarters half mile away
• Distribution of mail, bath, meal, facilities for writing home and reading Yiddish papers
• Questioning of immigrants and filling out consignee’s record
• Selection of localities, according to requisitions of the interior agents
• Purchase of railroad ticket
• Supper
• Apportionment of food for journey
• Baggage wagons and departure from bureau of those leaving on night trains
• Checking of baggage
• Saying goodbye to friends made on the boat over the past month
• Placing at railroad
• Telegrams notifying interior committees of departure allotment, so they will be met at the station
• Remaining immigrants bed to leave at a later date

            In my initial question asking how the Holocaust affected Jewish immigration, I found that the answer was too broad for an article such as this.  My research led me to a place of discovering the significance of more localized efforts (Galveston) to aid Jews in other difficult circumstances (Russian persecution).  My answer then came in finding an extraordinary man who served as citizen, rabbi and leader of his people in the Jewish community within Galveston.

http://www.cjh.org/nhprc/JIIBGalveston02.html

http://www.ajhs.org/reference/genealogy.cfm