Adolphus Simeon Solomons, 1826-1910

Adolphus S. Solomons, an American communal worker and leader in U.S. social welfare programs, was born on October 26, 1826 in New York City to John Solomons (a native of London) and Julia, daughter of Simeon Levy. The Solomons were members of a long-established Sephardic family. In 1851, Adolphus married Rachel Seixas Phillips, a descendant of colonial patriot families and together they had eight daughters and a son.

Solomons attended the University of the City of New York. Upon graduation, he began working at a firm of wholesale importers of stationery and fancy goods. Within two years, he became its head book-keeper.

At 14 years of age, Solomons enlisted in the Third Regiment Washington Greys of the New York State Militia and was discharged on May 11, 1847. In 1851, he was appointed the "Special Bearer of Dispatches to Berlin" by secretary of state Daniel Webster. While traveling through Germany, he visited a Jewish hospital ward located in Frankfort-on-the-Main and decided to found a similar institution in New York. On his trip home, he joined a committee of young men who had arranged a charity at Niblo's Garden in New York City. The group raised the sum of $1,034 and donated the money to help establish Jew's Hospital, now Mt. Sinai Hospital.

In 1859, Solomons set up the publishing-house of Philp & Solomons in Washington, D.C. His company held the U.S. government's printing contracts for several years and he also managed a bookstore and maintained a photographic gallery. The book department became the literary headquarters of General Ulysses E. Grant, Supreme Court Justice Salmon Portland Chase and other dignitaries. His photographic gallery featured prominent individuals, including the last photograph of Abraham Lincoln. As a publisher, Solomons was held in such high esteem, that when Vice President Schuyler Colfax could not appear at the dedication of the Young Men's Christian Association building in the capital, Solomons was asked to substitute for him.

Solomons was very active in helping people. He assembled the first training school for nurses in Washington and the Washington Night Lodging-House Association, which provided homeless men with lodging. He was an officer of the Provident Aid Society, the Emergency Hospital of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and many other worthwhile causes. In 1871, Solomons was elected to Washington, D.C.'s House of Delegates and served as chairman of the committee on ways and means.

Solomons was a member of the central committee of the Alliance Israélite Universelle. As a representative of the central committee of the Alliance Israélite Universelle, Solomons advocated for the creation of the Montefiore Home for Chronic Invalids (now the Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx) in order to mark the 100 th anniversary of the birth of England's great Jewish philanthropist, Sir Moses Montefiore. Solomons was founder of the Jewish Protectory and Aid Society, and of the Russian Jews Immigration Aid Society.

Solomons, a religious Jew, was influential in initiating a successful restructuring of finances for the Jewish Theological Seminary Association of New York. In 1891, Solomons became general agent and director of the international philanthropic organization, the Baron de Hirsch Fund in America. He championed new immigrants from Eastern Europe, particularly as famine swept the Russian empire in 1892.

Solomons helped Clara Barton establish the American Red Cross in 1881. When Barton was absent from Washington in 1883, he conducted the young organization's affairs from its Washington headquarters. Solomons held many meetings in his home planning and preparing for the American Red Cross to join the International Red Cross. During this planning stage, the Association of the American Red Cross was incorporated. Along with Clara Barton, Solomons was appointed to be a representative of the U.S. government in the International Congress of the Red Cross, held at Geneva, Switzerland in 1884. Solomons was eventually elected vice-president of the International Congress. For seventeen years, Solomons was a member of the National Association of the Red Cross, as well as one of its two vice-presidents. Solomons was one of the five original members of the New York executive board of the Red Cross Relief Committee; its board was in session during the Spanish-American War and was comprised of twenty-five members presided over by Bishop Potter. During the Spanish-American War, he was still a member of the executive board of the American Red Cross, which provided important services to U.S. troops in combat.

A schism developed between Solomons and Clara Barton because of his experience with Russia's treatment of its impoverished Jews. Solomons advised against American Red Cross efforts toward overall Russian relief. He was concerned that the Russian Red Cross would be in charge of distributing the relief funds. Solomons feared that the czarist regime would divert humanitarian aid away from those who needed it, especially impoverished Jews. Barton insisted that American aid pass through official Russian channels. Solomons publicly questioned her judgment. In 1903, he was relieved of active work and was named honorary general agent.

Solomons was treasurer of the Columbia Hospital and Living-in Asylum in Washington D.C. as well as its director for twenty years and was associated with nearly all the prominent charities in Washington. Solomons played an active part in inauguration ceremonies from Lincoln's to McKinley's. In 1892, Solomons helped found the American Jewish Historical Society.

Adolphus Simeon Solomons died in 1910, leaving behind a legacy of charity, helping the sick and needy, and working with and organizing Jewish organizations that helped people. He was best known for helping to establish hospitals, public health programs and agencies for relief of the poor. His greatest accomplishment was his contribution in helping to create the American Red Cross.

References: Solomons, Adolphus Simeon. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=956&letter=S&search=solomons Solomons, Adolphus Simeon. Encyclopaedia Judaica, Second Edition, Volume 18 "Adolphus Simeon Solomons: Helped Organize Tbe Red Cross." http://www.fau.edu/library/brody37.htm "The Red Cross's Jewish Star" http://www.ajhs.org/publications/chapters/chapter.cfm?documentID=238

From the guide to the Adolphus Simeon Solomons, papers, undated, 1841-1966, (American Jewish Historical Society)