Virtual Lecture – Elias Pollock and the Forgotten Jews of Early Maryland

One of Maryland few Jewish Revolutionary War veterans, Elias Pollock was a successful businessman in Baltimore during the early 1800s until his son-in-law bankrupted him. Over the course of his life, Pollock took great pains to identify himself as a Jew at a time when doing so was a political act.

The story of Jewish settlement in Baltimore in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries is typically told through the lives of the city’s most prominent residents. This talk explores Pollock’s military career and the history of Jewish settlement in Maryland, examining new understandings of the composition of Baltimore’s small but influential Jewish community.

The Historic Annapolis 2025 Virtual Lecture Series is offered free of charge thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor. If you enjoy this program, we hope you will consider becoming a member or making a donation today to support Historic Annapolis and our mission to connect all people with our shared history.

Cost: FREE

About the Speaker:

Owen Lourie is a historian at the Maryland State Archives specializing in Maryland government and military history during the colonial era and early republic. He holds an M.A. in history from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and a B.A. from Kenyon College in American Studies. Owen is the director of Finding the Maryland 400, a research project studying the First Maryland Regiment. He is the author of “Maryland’s Jews, Military Service, and the American Revolutionary Era: The Case of Elias Pollock,” an article which appeared in The Journal of Southern Jewish History, and is currently at work on a social history of the Maryland Line, chronicling the soldiers of the Maryland 400 during the Revolutionary War.

This lecture will be offered virtually by Zoom. Upon registration, you will be sent the link for the video conference to join on the evening of the lecture. If you do not receive your confirmation email after you register, please check your Spam folder, or email Cara Garside at cara.garside@annapolis.org. To learn more about Zoom and to download the app to your computer, visit the Zoom website.

Can’t watch live? All lectures will be recorded. Please register and you’ll receive the link to watch the recording after the event.

Time: 7:30 pm (ET) (pre-registration required; registration closes at 7:00 pm)