13 Facts About Rebecca Gratz

Rebecca Gratz was a member of the Gratz family, who settled in the United States before the Revolutionary War.

Rebecca Gratz was a Jewish American educator and philanthropist in 19th-century America.

Rebecca Gratz was the seventh of twelve children born to Miriam Simon and Michael Gratz.

Rebecca Gratz's mother was the daughter of Joseph Simon, a preeminent Jewish merchant of Lancaster, while her father, whose surname originally was Gratz, immigrated to America in 1752 from Langendorf, in German-speaking Silesia.

In 1801, at the age of 20, Rebecca Gratz helped establish the Female Association for the Relief of Women and Children in Reduced Circumstances, which helped women whose families were suffering after the American Revolutionary War.

Rebecca Gratz continued to hold this office for forty years.

Rebecca Gratz became both its superintendent and president and assisted in developing its curriculum, resigning in 1864.

Rebecca Gratz was one of the founding members of the Female Hebrew Benevolent Society in 1819.

Rebecca Gratz held the secretary position in the group for close to 40 years.

Rebecca Gratz's advocacy was largely instrumental in the establishment of such a home in 1855.

Scott's attention had been drawn to Rebecca Gratz's character by Washington Irving, who was a close friend of the Rebecca Gratz family.

Rebecca Gratz's portrait was painted twice by the noted American artist Thomas Sully.

Rebecca Gratz died on August 27,1869, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and was buried at Mikveh Israel Cemetery.