The Early Years: Jews during Johns Hopkins' first half-century

Abel Wolman ('13) was an active member of the University Menorah Society, along with Drs. Alan and Manfred Guttmacher ('19).

Manuel Schenker ('34) on his Hopkins experience, JMM OH 423

From the start, Johns Hopkins welcomed scholars of all faiths.  Jews were represented in early student bodies.  One of the University's first professors, J. J. Sylvester, came to Hopkins because his Jewish faith created difficulties with Cambridge and University of Virginia.¹ At Hopkins, he was "the first avowedly Jewish professor in the history of the United States, not appointed to teach 'Semitic' subjects²."  Additionally, the University was one of the early campuses to found a chapter of the Menorah Society, and by the twenties had a few Jewish fraternities, notably Phi Alpha and Phi Epsilon Pi.³