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Lazarus and Hirsch families papers

 Collection
Identifier: Mss 1018

Collection Overview

This collection contains photographs, autograph albums, clippings, certificates, letters, programs, education materials, Bibles, legal documents, pins, a textile, and ephemera related to the Lazarus and Hirsch families of Charleston, South Carolina. The families are connected through the marriage of Willard Hirsch and Mordenai Lazarus Raisin.

Dates

  • Creation: 1776, 1818-2005

Creator

Language of Material

Materials in English and Hebrew

Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research.

Copyright Notice

The nature of the College of Charleston's archival holdings means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. Special Collections claims only physical ownership of most archival materials.

The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.

Biographical Note

This collection contains documents, photographs, and other items relating to the Lazarus and Hirsch families of Charleston, South Carolina. The families were linked together in 1949 with the marriage of Willard Newman Hirsch and Mordenai Lazarus Raisin. Items in the collection pertain primarily to the relatives of Willard's grandfather, Isaac Willard Hirsch, and Mordenai's mother, Jane Lazarus Raisin.

John M. Hirsch (1804-1874) and Miriam R. Woolf (1814-1857) had two sons: Isaac and Melvin. Isaac Hirsch served in the Confederate army, was released in 1865 from Charlotte, North Carolina, and returned to Charleston. In 1873, he married Elizabeth Harris. Four of their children were: George, Alexander, Marion, and Miriam. Alexander married Miriam Newman, of New York, and they had four children: Willard, Marion, Roslyn, and Elizabeth. Isaac Hirsch died in 1925 in Charleston.

Jane Lazarus was born in Charleston in 1887 to Marks Hubert Lazarus (1846-1914) and Mordenai Levy (1850-1897). In 1917 Jane Lazarus married Jacob Raisin, rabbi of Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim (KKBE) from 1915 to 1944. They had three children: Mordenai, Rachel, and Aaron. Jane Lazarus Raisin died in 1965.

This collection contains materials relating to the Lazarus and Hirsch families, and their relations, mostly on the Lazarus side, including the Levys, Harts, Cohens, Harbys, De Lyons, De La Mottas, Mordecais, and Raisins.

Extent

5.0 linear feet (7 document boxes, 2 flat boxes, 2 paper folders)

Abstract

This collection contains photographs, correspondence, clippings, pins, a textile, legal documents, albums, and other items relating to Jane Lazarus Raisin and the Lazarus and Hirsch families of Charleston, as well as the related Hart, Levy, Cohen, Mordecai, Harby, De Lyon, De La Motta, and Raisin families. Collection includes numerous early photographs. Materials also pertain to Charleston's Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim (KKBE) synagogue and Jewish life in Charleston and South Carolina in the 19th and 20th centuries. Numerous items belonging to Isaac Hirsch relate to his involvement with masonic organizations in Charleston and to his service in the Confederate army.

Collection Arrangement

  1. Lazarus family, 1776, 1818-2005
  2. Hirsch family, 1855-1998
  3. Jewish community materials, 1849-2004

Acquisitions Information

Materials donated in 2002, 2005, 2008, 2012, and 2013 by Mordenai Lazarus Raisin Hirsch and Rachel Marla Raisin.

Accruals

2 linear feet added in April 2015

Related Material

Related materials in Special Collections include the Rabbi Jacob S. Raisin papers (Mss 1075), the Willard N. Hirsch papers (Mss 1074), the Thomas J. Tobias papers (Mss 1029), the Asher D. Cohen papers (Mss 1034-054), the Isabel Cohen Doud collection (Mss 1034-090), the Lee Cohen Harby papers (Mss 1019), and an oral history interview with Mordenai Raisin Hirsch and Rachel Marla Raisin (Mss 1035-083).

Separated Material

Southern Table Book (1856) removed from collection and cataloged separately (call number QA103 .S68 1856).

Processing Information

Processed by Jessica Epstein, August 2012.

Title
Inventory of the Lazarus and Hirsch Families Papers, 1776, 1818-2005
Status
Completed
Author
Processed by: Jessica Epstein; machine-readable finding aid created by: Jessica Epstein
Date
2012
Description rules
Dacs
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Sponsor
Funding from the Council on Library and Information Resources supported the processing of this collection and encoding of the finding aid.

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Special Collections
College of Charleston Libraries
66 George Street
Charleston South Carolina 29424
(843) 953-8016
(843) 953-6319 (Fax)