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Collection Number: 02639

Collection Title: Miriam Gratz Moses Cohen Papers, 1824-1864

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.


This collection was processed with support from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.

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Size 1.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 340 items)
Abstract Rebecca Gratz (1781-1869) was a philanthropist of Philadelphia, Pa. Her niece, whom she raised, was Miriam Gratz Moses Cohen (Mrs. Solomon Cohen) of Charleston, S.C., and Savannah, Ga. The collection includes letters of a close-knit Jewish family, including letters, 1837- 1862, from Rebecca Gratz to her niece Miriam Gratz Moses Cohen concerning southern Jews, social and cultural events in Philadelphia and Charleston, and family members; letters, 1842- 1853, from Grace Aguilar (d. 1847), British Jewish author, discussing religious beliefs, literature, and personal news, and from her mother, Sarah Aguilar, after Grace's death; letters, 1860-1864, to Miriam from her son, Gratz, in Confederate army camps, at Georgia Military Institute, and at the University of Virginia about school activities, religion and philosophy, Jewish-Gentile relations, the sadness of family separations caused by the war, and other family- and war-related matters; and miscellaneous family papers. Volumes, 1824-1829 and undated, include Miriam's commonplace and poetry books.
Creator Cohen, Mariam Gratz Moses.
Curatorial Unit University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Language English
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Restrictions to Access
No restrictions. Open for research.
Copyright Notice
Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], in the Miriam Gratz Moses Cohen Papers #2639, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Alternate Form of Material
Microfilm copy available.
  • Reel 1: 195 selected letters of Rebecca Gratz
  • Reel 2: Grace Aguilar correspondence
Acquisitions Information
Received from Miriam and Ophelia Dent of Brunswick, Ga., in 1943.
Sensitive Materials Statement
Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.
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Processed by: Suzanne Ruffing, February 1996

Encoded by: Lynn Holdzkom, April 2006

Updated by: Laura Hart, January 2021

This collection was processed with support from the Randleigh Foundation Trust.

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The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Biographical Information

Rebecca Gratz (1781-1869) was a philanthropist of Philadelphia, Pa. Her niece, whom she raised, was Miriam Gratz Moses Cohen (Mrs. Solomon Cohen) of Charleston, S.C., and Savannah, Ga.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Scope and Content

Letters of a close-knit Jewish family, including letters, 1837-1862, from Rebecca Gratz to her niece Miriam Gratz Moses Cohen concerning southern Jews, social and cultural events in Philadelphia, Pa., and Charleston, S.C., and family members; letters, 1842- 1853, from Grace Aguilar (d. 1847), British Jewish author, discussing religious beliefs, literature, and personal news, and from her mother, Sarah Aguilar, after Grace's death; letters, 1860-1864, to Miriam from her son, Gratz Cohen, in Confederate army camps, at Georgia Military Institute, and at the University of Virginia about school activities, religion and philosophy, Jewish-Gentile relations, the sadness of family separationscaused by the war, and other family- and war-related matters; and miscellaneous family papers. Volumes, 1824-1829 and undated, include Miriam's commonplace book and poetry books.

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Contents list

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 1. Letters and Related Material, 1837-1864.

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expand/collapse Expand/collapse Series 2. Volumes, 1824-1828.

5 items.

Arrangement: chronological.

Folder 12

Volume 1, 1824-1828

Book of poems, Miriam Gratz Moses, 100 pages.

Folder 13

Volume 2, 1828

Commonplace and recipe book of Miriam Gratz Moses, 40 pages.

Folder 14

Volume 3, 1829

"The Album," poetry, Miriam Gratz Moses, 95 pages.

Folder 15

Volume 4, undated

"The Fate Book," thirty-three poetic prophecies, 33 pages.

Folder 16

Volume 5, undated

"The Spanish Fury," a manuscript story of 16th century Europe, 24 pages.

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