The Early Years: Zionism and Jewish Studies

Photograph of the Johns Hopkins Zionist society, ca. 1921

Hymen Saye (MA '31) on his Hopkins experience, JMM OH 183.

During the first fifty years of the University, Johns Hopkins was a center of both Judaic studies and Zionism.  In 1883, the University brought the first German Semitic philologist, Paul Haupt, to America, who revolutionized American Semitics.⁴  Haupt was joined by other renowned scholars, such as Cyrus Adler, William Rosenau, and Maurice Bloomfield.⁵  Additionally, the early University was active in Zionist activities: the Johns Hopkins Zionist society was one of the first members of the Intercollegiate Zionist Association, and its professors and students were represented on the Association's national board.^{6, 7}