EXHIBITS
100 Years of Congregation Brith Sholem: Honoring the Jewish Community in Ogden, Utah: The History of Jews in the West
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The History of Jews in the West
Large numbers of Jewish immigrants came to the United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as many families fled anti-Semitic pogroms and czarist Russia.[1] Hoping to find peace in America, most Jewish families landed on Ellis Island and created a new home and friendly community on the East Coast. Other Jewish immigrants headed West with many disembarking at the port of Galveston, Texas. Between 1907 to 1914, The Galveston Movement, also known as the Galveston Plan, helped over 10,000 Jews immigrate into the United States through this port. Henry Cohen, a prominent Jewish leader in Galveston; Jacob Schiff, a financier from New York; and several other Jewish organizations aided these families fleeing Russia and Eastern Europe. Because the East Coast had a large Jewish community, the program sought to divert the new arrivals to the West to prevent a rise in anti-Semitism. Unfortunately, religious hatred against Jews increased in Galveston, and by 1914, Jewish immigration into Texas halted.[2] In 1921 alone, over 100,000 European Jews emigrated to the United States.[3]
