Summer Speaker Series – First Jews in Georgia

Ann Woolner, journalist and author, traces Georgia’s first Jews from the torture chambers of the Portuguese Inquisition through escape to London and then onto a forbidden voyage to Savannah. Unexpected and unwanted, 41 Jews landed in the infant colony 1733 in the midst of a deadly epidemic there — seemingly quelled by one of their own, a Portuguese-born doctor. His curative treatments brought respect and equal treatment for Jewish settlers. When the Revolution came, these families fought as patriots, ran supplies and helped finance the war.

Presented by The Breman Museum in partnership with the Savannah Jewish Federation, Savannah Jewish Educational Alliance, and the Southern Jewish Historical Society