Henry Cohen (rabbi)

Henry Cohen (April 7, 1863 – June 12, 1952) was a British-American rabbi, scholar, community activist and writer who served most of his career at Congregation B'nai Israel in Galveston, Texas, from 1888 to 1949.

He came to the United States in 1885, during a period of rapid and massive growth related to early 20th-century immigration from eastern and southern Europe.

Together with rabbi David Lefkowitz of Dallas, Cohen interviewed many Jewish Texans to collect their histories for the Texas Centennial in 1936.

[1] He was educated in local schools, worked with the Board of Guardians, a Jewish relief agency, and studied at Jews' College.

Before graduating, in 1880 he traveled to Cape Town Colony, South Africa, where he worked as an interpreter for the British government.

The early twentieth century was a period of rapid growth in Galveston, as the port city was developed for shipping and entertainment.

[4] Ten thousand Jewish immigrants passed through Galveston during this era, approximately one-third the number who migrated to Palestine during the same period.

[5] Cohen personally petitioned President William Howard Taft on behalf of one immigrant to enable him to stay in the country.

[7] Cohen served all the people, working to have the age of sexual consent raised from ten to eighteen for girls.