Penina Moïse

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penina_Moise

Penina Moise (born in Charleston, South Carolina, 23 April 1797; died there, 13 September 1880) was a United States poet.

She was one of nine children born to French parents of the Jewish faith, Abraham and Sarah Moise, who came to Charleston from the island of St. Eustatius in 1791. Her siblings were: Cherie, Aaron, Hyman, Benjamin (born in the islands), Rachel, Jacob, Abraham and Isaac, (born in the United States). She went to work at 12 to support her family when her father died. She studied on the side, developing her literacy and scholarship, and began her prolific writing career in 1830. She was the author of hymns used in Jewish religious services, contributed verses to the Home Journal, the Washington Union, and other publications, and published Fancy's Sketch-Book (Charleston, 1833), a book of poems, and Hymns Written for the Use of Hebrew Congregations (1856), a compilation for her synagogue, Beth Elohim.

She died in Charleston, South Carolina on September 13, 1880 at the age of 83. She is buried in Coming Street Cemetery, along with her mother and father and several of her siblings

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https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/moise-penina/

Poet, hymn writer, educator, activist. Moïse was born on April 23, 1797, in Charleston, South Carolina, the youngest daughter of Abraham and Sarah Moïse. Her father was a trader who came to South Carolina after fleeing the Santo Domingo slave insurrection in 1791. He died when Penina was twelve, forcing her to leave school to take care of her ailing mother.

Despite ending her formal education at the age of twelve, Moïse continued to engage in intellectual efforts. From a young age she found solace in writing poetry. In 1819 Moïse published her first poem. Thereafter the prolific poet submitted her verse to the Charleston Courier, the Boston Daily Times, the New Orleans Commercial Times, the Washington Union, Godey’s Ladies Book, the Home Journal of New York Occident, and the American Jewish Advocate. In 1833 Moïse published a volume of secular poems titled Fancy’s Sketch Book. Demonstrating a cosmopolitan worldview, Moïse addressed the issues of anti-Semitism, politics, and history and also included personal insights on society. Her poems contained romantic, sentimental, and classical themes, as well as emotional and nondenominational religious topics.

An observant Jew, Moïse was an active member of Charleston’s Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim synagogue. In 1841 her brother Abraham and another prominent Jewish Charlestonian, Isaac Harby, spearheaded the effort to alter the synagogue service to a reformed service. Her brother and Harby commissioned Moïse to write the new hymnal. Consequently, Moïse composed the vast majority of the hymns included in the first American Reform Jewish hymnal. Dedicated to the celebration of Judaism and desiring to encourage communal and individual fidelity to Judaism, the poet divided the hymnal into nine sections. Separately and collectively the hymns were designed to promote a continued faith in and a tolerance for Judaism in the midst of a highly evangelical Protestant South. Moïse was also a superintendent of Charleston’s first Jewish school.

During the Civil War, Moïse avidly supported the South in her writing and educational efforts. Seeking refuge in Sumter during the war, Moïse, now blind and ill, returned to Charleston when hostilities ceased. She was cared for by her sister and her niece; all three established a Sunday school in their home for Charleston’s younger students. Curricula included classical and religious education. Moïse never married. She died on September 13, 1880, and is buried in the Coming Street Cemetery in Charleston. Penina Moïse was posthumously inducted into the South Carolina Academy of Authors in 1999.