Haym Salomon (1740–1785)

Paul Vincze (Hungary 1904-France 1994)
USA, 1973
Bronze, h. 1 ¾ x w. 1 ¾ in.
Cincinnati Skirball Museum, Jewish-American Hall of Fame Collection, gift of Mel and Esther Wacks, Debra Wacks, and Shari Wacks, 2019.7.9 & 2019.7.10

Born in Lesno, Poland to refugees from Portugal escaping religious persecution, Haym Salomon spent a decade traveling through Europe in his early twenties. He returned to Poland to join in that country’s war with Russia, then immigrated to America where he arrived in New York City in 1772. Salomon soon learned that the colonies were in political turmoil over the issue of taxation without representation. He started a brokerage company which became very successful, brokering many large financial transactions that kept American soldiers clothed and armed during the Revolutionary War. He made numerous personal loans to members of the United States’ fledgling government and raised money to bail out the debt-ridden government. Salomon was actively involved in Jewish community affairs. He was a member of Mikveh Israel Congregation in Philadelphia and made the largest single contribution to the erection of its first building in 1782. The following year, Salomon joined with other prominent Jews in an address to the Pennsylvania Council of Censors urging them to remove the religious test oath required for office-holding under the state constitution. In 1975 the United States Post Office issued a commemorative stamp honoring Salomon as a Revolutionary War hero. A message appeared on the back of the stamp, in pale green ink, reading: “Businessman and broker Haym Salomon was responsible for raising most of the money needed to finance the American Revolution and later to save the new nation from collapse.”