Early American Jewish Portrait Index
Introduction by Ellen Shindelman Kowitt

This index to over 800 names directs researchers to images of Jews living in America during the British Colonial and Antebellum periods through 1862. There are portraits, miniatures, silhouettes, and daguerreotypes. 

The original artwork is found in a variety of repositories including museums, archives, and held in private collections, but many images have been published. The foundation of this collection is the John L. Loeb, Jr. Database of Early American Jewish Portraits. We are grateful and honored to have received permission to share links to this digitized material.

Where an image can be viewed online through the Loeb Database or in a digitized book found on Internet Archive, a hyperlink is provided by clicking on the image format in the search results. Otherwise, page numbers for offline books containing images or additional information is provided. These books are catalogued on WorldCat and can be borrowed through a local library or via. interlibrary loan. See the acronym grid below for guidance.

Note that links to Internet Archive land on the cover of a digitized book and require browsing to the correct page number.

Additionally, there is significant biographical information connected to portraits found in the Loeb Database where an additional link to view the biography will be provided on each image page. These biographies include names of relatives, occupation, residency, and other genealogical information.

If you are aware of other sources where images are published that are not included in this database, please contact ekowitt@JewishGen.org to add them. We would like to be as thorough as possible in documenting this unique resource for early American Jewish families.

Searching the Database

This database is searchable via the JewishGen USA Database and the JewishGen Unified Search.