Jewish Historical Society of Fairfield County

JHSFC News

Announcements, etc.

Want a program about Jewish history in Fairfield County 1654 - 2016?

Do you know that the first Jew came to Fairfield County in 1654 to buy a slave? Do you know about some of the earliest Fairfield County Jews?

The first Jewish resident of Stamford was Nehemiah Marks. The earliest Jewish resident of Greenwich, was Abraham Hays, who settled there in 1728. The first Jew in Norwalk was Ralph Isaacs, who lived there with his family in 1724.

According to historian Irwin Miller, "There are many stories, such as the tale of Louis Drucker, the first Jew to settle in New Canaan in 1869. He was a tailor, volunteer fireman and town constable. He was murdered attempting to thwart a robbery, and his killer is thought to be the last man hanged in Connecticut." And, there's so much more! Join us to discover what we know, how we know it, and how you can be part of the continuing Jewish story of Fairfield County.

For information, contact JHSFC:
Phone: (203) 321-1373 x150
Email: info@jhsfc-ct.org

Joan Lapin, of New Canaan, visits the JHSFC Archives to donate photos, newspaper clippings, historical documents, a Master's thesis about the history of the Jews of New Canaan, and many other items from her files and scrapbooks. She is showing Elissa Kaplan, President of JHSFC, pictures of her father's grocery store, Rosen Brother's Market.

What's Your Story?

Bridging Yesterday and Tomorrow,
Will You Be Part of the Story?

The Jewish Historical Society of Fairfield County is one of the largest secular Jewish organizations in Fairfield County, Connecticut.

As we enter our 30+ years, we invite you to join us. We need your help in telling your community's story so that we can together explore it further, preserve it and share it. Who were the first Jews in your community? Why did they come, what did they accomplish? How did the community change and grow? Who were and are the Jewish movers and shakers in the Jewish and overall community? What Jewish institutions were established? Through our archives in Fairfield County and our programs, library, traveling exhibit and oral/video history projects we discover and maintain our communities' collective memory dating back to the first recorded Jewish presence in our area in the late 1600's.

Help us capture your special story, so your community will be included in the greater story that is the Jewish story of Fairfield County, Connecticut.

Diaries, emigration documents, household objects, legal documents, letters, obituaries, postcards, posters recipes, scrapbooks vintage clothing, photographs and film clips of family and community events . . .

For information contact JHSFC:
Phone: (203) 359-2196
Email: archives@jhsfc-ct.org

Publications

The Jewish Communities of Greater Stamford

This publication presents a broad historical view of the Jewish people of Stamford, Darien, and New Canaan, Connecticut and Pound Ridge, New York from the era just prior to the American Revolution to the 1900s.

An American Jewish Community 50 Years, 1889-1939: The Sociology of the Jewish Community in Stamford, CT.

This book, authored by Samuel Koenig, Ph.D., offers a unique study documenting the Jewish community of Stamford from 1889 to 1939.