Once We Were Slaves: The Extraordinary Journey of a Multiracial Jewish Family (Oxford University Press, 2021)

Blanche Moses, a descendent of one of this country’s most prominent Jewish families, was researching her family history when she made an astounding discovery: her grandmother and great-uncle were not Sephardic Jews but actually began their lives as poor Christian slaves in Barbados. Sarah and Isaac Brandon transformed themselves, becoming free, wealthy, Jewish, and — at times — white. Their story sheds new light on the fluidity of race, and the role of religion in racial shift, in the first half of the 19th century.

About the author
Laura Arnold Leibman is a Professor of English and Humanities at Reed College in Portland, Ore. She is the author of The Art of the Jewish Family: A History of Women in Early New York in Five Objects, and Messianism, Secrecy and Mysticism: A New Interpretation of Early American Jewish Life.