Once We Were Slaves

Once We Were Slaves tells the story of a brother and sister who were born enslaved Christians in Barbados yet ended up among the wealthiest white Jews in New York. Tracing the siblings' extraordinary journey throughout the Atlantic world, Leibman examines artifacts they left behind, family heirlooms, and official documents to show how this transformation was possible. Though their affluence was exceptional, their story mirrors that of the largely forgotten population of mixed African and Jewish ancestry that constituted as much as ten percent of the Jewish communities in the New World and challenges current notions regarding Jews and race in early America.