| Sat NOV 10 at 7:30: Film & Talk in Concord on Haym Salomon 2 | <– Date –> <– Thread –> |
From: JGSGB Announcements List (jgsgb-announce jgsgb.org)
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| Date: Wed, 7 Nov 2012 14:02:21 -0800 (PST) | |
659 Elm Street Concord, MA
Saturday, November 10, 2012 7:30 pm
FILM: Sons of Liberty, Academy-award winning short, starring Claude Rains
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TALK by Dr. Joel Andrews: George Washington’s Money Man, Haym Salomon
My Ancestor: Myth vs. Reality
Following the movie Joseph L. “Joel” Andrews, M.D. of Concord, a direct descendant of Salomon give a talk titled “George Washington’s Money Man, Haym Salomon, My Ancestor: Myth vs. Reality….What Do We Really Know?”
Haym Salomon is perhaps the best known American Jewish patriot, one of two major financiers of the American Revolution. He raised money and donated his own money to support the troops of George Washington’s Continental Army and to help support prominent delegates to the financially strapped Continental Congress at the sacrifice of his own health and wealth. Born in Poland, he came to America in 1772. In New York City he became a merchant. After the British occupied New York, he supported the Sons of Liberty in their resistance to British occupation, actions which resulted in his being jailed and sentenced to hang.
Salomon escaped to Philadelphia in 1778, where he set up business from scratch once again as a broker. He volunteered to work also as a broker to the destitute Dept. of Finance for the thirteen colonies, for which he negotiated loans from France, Holland and Spain. This money helped the Continental Congress support Washington’s army and enabled Washington’s victory over General Cornwallis at the conclusive battle at Yorktown, Virginia in 1781.
>From his own pockets Salomon also gave generous loans (which were never repaid) to James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and to other destitute delegates to the Continental Congress, without which they would have been forced to return home. Madison acknowledged “the kindness of our little friend on Front Street, whose assistance will preserve me from extremities, but I never resort to it without great mortification, as he obstinately rejects all recompense.” After Salomon’s death in 1785 at age 45 the Philadelphia Packet wrote, “He was remarkable for his skill and integrity in his profession and for his generous and humane deportment.”
Salomon died penniless, leaving his family destitute. Although his son appeared before six Senate and House Revolutionary Claims Committees between the 1840’s and 1860’s and all six committees recommended compensation to Salomon’s family, not one penny of compensation has ever actually been awarded to the family. During America’s Bicentennial in 1976 the New York Times reported that the estimated $ 300,000- 600,000 of Salomon’s gifts, would, with interest, now be worth well over two billion dollars. (Not surprisingly, many lawyers scurried in to offer their services… on a contingency basis!)
However, historians argued, and still disagree vehemently, whether Salomon’s donations to the Continental treasury were mostly personal gifts or were mostly loans negotiated from foreign governments. Because of this and similar political controversies, it is ironic that today statues honoring Salomon stand in Chicago and Los Angeles, cities that did not even exist when Salomon lived, because their proposed placements in New York and Washington were blocked in the 1930’s by scholarly, political and intrareligious ethnic bickering.
Dr. Joseph “Joel” Andrews, a semi-retired internist and author of American and American Jewish history topics, including a forthcoming book about Salomon, is Haym Salomon’s great-great-great grandson. He will discuss the controversy involving the extent of Salomon’s contributions to the American victory against the British in the American Revolution. Were Salomon’s donations personal gifts or foreign loans? What other contributions did he make to his adopted nation? Does Salomon deserve more recognition than he has received? If so, why hasn’t he actually received it?
The movie “Sons of Liberty” was produced by Michael Curtiz in 1939, just as Hitler’s troops were smashing Poland, overwhelming Europe and massacring Jews. . It features key contributions to the birth of America by Haym Salomon, the courageous immigrant, who just happens to be a Polish American Jew. He is portrayed here by popular and versatile actor, Claude Rains. The movie is fast paced and full of dramatic moments. It won the Academy Award for short films in 1940. However, how many of the events pictured in the movie are real (historically documented) episodes in Salomon’s tumultuous life? Or are they, as some scholars claim, myths; dramatic and apocryphal events, but nonetheless, myths? Dr. Andrews will discuss the historical evidence and will welcome reactions and discussion from the audience.
Although admission to the movie and talk are free, a $10 contribution to
Social Action projects of Kerem Shalom will be welcomed. Further
information and directions to Kerem Shalom are found at www.keremshalom.org or 978-369-1223
The 33rd IAJGS International Conference on Jewish Genealogy
will be held in Boston next summer: August 4 - 9, 2013.
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