John L. Loeb Jr. and Eli N. Evins

Denise Rich and Richard Turley

John L. Loeb Jr. and Menachem Z. Rosensaft

AN AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
Loeb Book Celebrates
Historical American Dynasty

Story and Photos by Tim Boxer

J

OHN L. LOEB JR., former U.S. Ambassador to Denmark, is one of the descendants of the Loeb financial dynasty who contributed fascinating stories in An American Experience, Adeline Moses Loeb and Her Early American Jewish Ancestors.

Historian Eli N. Evans, who wrote the introduction, said that historians have been enthused, "stunned with the sweep of the book, with the scholarship and the wonder of it."

At a book reception at the Metropolitan Club, Evans said it seems like another family book "but the wonder soon takes hold of you. It’s full of extraordinary stories."

The ambassador is a grandson of Adeline Moses Loeb and Carl M. Loeb. In addition to the book, he has established a database, www.loebjewishportraits.com, featuring 200 portraits of American Jews painted before 1865. He expects to double the number of images and biographies before the end of the year.

The book is structured in three parts. The first part recounts Adeline’s early life in the South, and later life in New York married to Carl M. Loeb, founder of Wall Street’s legendary Loeb, Rhoades. Second part covers early American Jewish life. The third part depicts eight generations of the Moses family, with full-color portraits and family trees. (Syracuse University Press, 350 pages, $49.95)