Haym Salomon

Immigration, Jewish-American Hall of Fame, Special Collections
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 [...]

Jonas Salk

Jewish-American Hall of Fame, Special Collections
Jonas Salk (1914–1995) Hal Reed (Oklahoma 1921-California 2003) USA, 1980 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, 2019.7.23 & 2019.7.24   Virologist Jonas Salk was born in New York City to Russian-Jewish immigrants. After [...]

Levi Strauss

Immigration, Jewish-American Hall of Fame, Special Collections
Levi Strauss (1829–1902) Hal Reed (Oklahoma 1921-California 2003) USA, 1979 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, 2019.7.21 & 2019.7.22   Levi Strauss was born Löb Strauss in Buttenheim, Bavaria, and immigrated to the [...]

Golda Meir

Immigration, Israel, Jewish-American Hall of Fame, Special Collections
Golda Meir (1898–1978) Gerta Ries Wiener (Germany 1907-New York, 2000) USA, 1978 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, 2019.7.19 & 2019.7.20   Born in Kiev, Russia, Golda Mabovitch (later Meir) emigrated with her [...]

Touro Synagogue

Jewish-American Hall of Fame, Special Collections
Touro Synagogue (1763) Victor Ries (Germany 1907-California, USA 2013) USA, 1977 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, 2019.7.17 & 2019.7.18   The oldest synagogue building still standing in the United States, the Touro [...]

George Gershwin

Jewish-American Hall of Fame, Special Collections
George Gershwin (1898-1937) Robert Russin (New York, NY 1914-Los Angeles, CA 2007) USA, 1972 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, 2019.7.7-8   Growing up on the Lower East Side of New York, young [...]

Judah Magnes

Israel, Jewish Cincinnati, Jewish-American Hall of Fame, Special Collections
Judah Magnes (1877–1948) Victor Ries (Germany 1907-2013 California) USA, 1969 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, 2019.7.1   Born in San Francisco, Magnes grew up in Oakland and was the first native Californian [...]

Harry Houdini

Immigration, Jewish-American Hall of Fame, Special Collections
Harry Houdini (1874–1926) Hal Reed (Oklahoma 1921-California 2003) USA, 1996 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, 2019.7.55   The famed magician Harry Houdini was born Erik Weisz (later Ehrich Weiss) in Budapest, Hungary. [...]

Elie Wiesel

Holocaust, Jewish-American Hall of Fame, Special Collections
Elie Wiesel (1928-2016) Alex Shagin (b. Russia, 1947) USA, 1995 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, 2019.7.53   Elie Wiesel was born in the town of Sighet, now part of Romania. In 1944, [...]

Spanish Expulsion and Luis Torres

Jewish-American Hall of Fame, Special Collections
Spanish Expulsion (1492) and Luis Torres (d. 1492) Paul Vincze (Hungary 1907-1994 France) London, England, 1986 Bronze, dia. 2 ¼ in. Cincinnati Skirball Museum, Jewish-American Hall of Fame Collection, gift of Mel and Esther Wacks, Debra Wacks, and Shari Wacks, 2019.7.47 This medal commemorates the 500th anniversary of the voyage of Christopher Columbus across the [...]