In
her 70s, Gratz had come to be seen as a visionary and
indispensable community leader. By the 1850's, the Hebrew
Sunday School was an established institution, but a
growing number of poor Jewish children were still being
sent to live in non-Jewish orphanages. Gratz's
experience at the POA made her aware that even
non-sectarian institutions had a Christian focus that
could undermine a child's Jewish convictions. By 1844,
Gratz had begun to lobby the Female Hebrew Benevolent
Society to create a Jewish orphanage. Her friend and
teacher Isaac Leeser recommended that she write an
article to rally support in the Occident, a
magazine widely read in the Jewish community. Leeser
hoped to link the Gratz name to the institution and was
upset when Gratz declined because she believed that
“the more quietly [people]
go about doing good the better.”
Eventually the two compromised; Gratz agreed to write
the letter, but the article rallying support for the
Home was published anonymously under the pseudonym
“a daughter in Israel.” In 1855, the
Home, which received children from all over the United
States and Canada, finally opened. The Jewish Foster
Home was the first Jewish orphanage in the U.S. and was
made possible by donations from across North America.
At the age of 74, Gratz was elected secretary of the
Jewish Foster Home. Nevertheless, she continued to sit on the boards
of the Female Hebrew Benevolent Society, the Philadelphia Orphan Asylum, and remained the superintendent of
the Hebrew Sunday School for several more years.
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source | full image
source | full image
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