What many Jews did for the United States should be better known. That was the burden of a talk given by Stephen Birmingham, the author, at a Sabbath eve symposium at Temple Sinai here. In doing research for his books, “Our Crowd,” and “The Grandees,” Birmingham said he discovered that many important contributions by Jews to the development of this nation are unknown to most Americans. Flogging in the Navy was abolished because of the efforts of Commodore Uriah Levy, a Jew who served this country in the War of 1812. It was Levy who was responsible for the preservation of Thomas Jefferson’s home in Virginia, a fact that was not even known to the guides to Monticello, according to Mr. Birmingham. In his books, Mr. Birmingham, who is not Jewish, has chronicled the achievements of host of Jewish patriots personalities whose accomplishments are largely ignored in history textbooks.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
