"In the year 1800, South Carolina was home to more Jews than any other place in North America. As old as the province of Carolina itself, the Jewish presence has been a vital but little-examined element in the growth of South Carolina's cities and towns, in the economy of slavery and post-slavery society and in the creation of American Jewish religious identity.".

"The record of a landmark exhibition that will change the way people think about Jewish history and American history, A Portion of the People: Three Hundred Years of Southern Jewish Life presents a remarkable group of objects and a provocative investigation of the people and circumstances that produced them. The book and exhibition culminate a seven-year collaboration by the Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina, McKissick Museum of the University of South Carolina, and the College of Charleston.

A Portion of the People is an important addition to southern arts and letters."--BOOK JACKET.