On November 21, 1861, Judah P. Benjamin became the Confederate Secretary of War. As the History Channel’s website explains, “A Jew who was born in the West Indies in 1811, Judah Benjamin was an exception to the rule in the Protestant South.” The JTA Archive blog points out Benjamin’s nickname as “the Confederate Kissinger.”
The American Jewish Historical Society here at the Center is home to the Collection of Judah P. Benjamin. You can click here to explore it.
Descriptive summary of the collection: Judah P. Benjamin, called the “brains of the Confederacy”, was a statesman and jurist in the United States, the Confederate States, and Great Britain who achieved high-ranking titles wherever he served, and especially left an indelible mark in the South where he held more official positions than any other man during the Civil War. After the fall of the Confederacy, Benjamin fled to England, where he was admitted to the English bar, and later assumed a judgeship. In 1872, he was appointed the highest ranking of Queen’s counselor. Containing correspondence, letters, newspaper clippings, Confederate bank notes and bonds, Civil War memorabilia, pamphlets, and a bound copy of Benjamin’s diary from 1862-1864, the collection is valuable to researchers studying the activities and experiences of Jews in the antebellum South and under the brief reign of the Confederate States of America. Additionally, through the material relating to memorials and preservation endeavors for Benjamin, the collection also provides a look at the continued glorification of Confederate heroes in the South long into the twentieth century.