Louis Baker papers

Louis Baker (1909-1955) was born to Rebecca Logan (1888-1958) and Morris Baker (1879-1952). In 1914, he immigrated to the United States with his mother and siblings to join his father, who had arrived in the United States in 1909. The family settled in Charleston, South Carolina, where Morris Baker began buying and selling livestock, eventually establishing his own meat packing plant, M. Baker and Sons. The Bakers became members of Beth Israel, a congregation established in 1911 largely by immigrants from eastern Europe.

Louis Baker joined his father at M. Baker and Sons in the late 1930s. A pioneer in Charleston County's beef cattle industry, Louis became a founding member of the Charleston County Livestock Growers Association and served as president of the South Carolina Meat Packers Association. He bought a large farm on Johns Island to raise cattle, which he sold wholesale from a packing plant in North Charleston. In 1940, he married Pearl Cohen (1912-2014) and the couple had four children, Barry Baker, Stanley Baker, Sharon Baker, and Sandra Baker. By 1944, the Bakers had opened a butcher shop at 556 King Street in Charleston. The store sold non-kosher meats from a counter up front and kosher meat from behind a partition, later becoming an exclusively kosher market.

In 1947, Louis and his wife, Pearl Cohen Baker, were among the founders of Charleston's new Conservative congregation, Emanu-El, though they continued to be active in Beth Israel as well. Additionally, Louis was a member of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (today known as Shriners International), and was a 32nd degree Mason. He died in 1955 at the age of forty-five from a damaged heart valve caused by having rheumatic fever as a child. Shortly after his death, M. Baker and Sons suffered significant fire damage and closed in 1957.