As the founder and secretary of Philadelphia's earliest women's philanthropic
organizations, Rebecca Gratz helped define a new identity for American women.
Like other women of her era, Gratz believed that benevolent work was an
appropriate extension of women's roles so long as it was done quietly. She
devoted her adult life to providing relief for Philadelphia's underprivileged
women and children and securing religious, moral and material sustenance for
all of Philadelphia's Jews. An observant Jew living in a predominantly
Christian nineteenth century culture, Gratz integrated her American experience
and Jewish identity to establish the first American Jewish institutions run by
women, including the first Hebrew Sunday School and Jewish Orphanage. She
believed that women were uniquely responsible for ensuring the preservation of
Jewish life in America and worked to create an environment in which women
could be fully Jewish and fully American.
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