Jewish Merchant Project
Description
For more than 300 years Jewish people have made their homes in South Carolina. Welcomed as traders and merchants, they settled first in Charleston, Georgetown, and Beaufort, but soon looked beyond the port cities for opportunities to sell goods and set up shop. Today, few of the founding families remain behind the counter, but the pioneering generations live on in the memories of their descendants.
Between 2016 and 2025, the Jewish Historical Society of South Carolina and Historic Columbia documented these stores in the Jewish Merchant Project—an initiative that features a statewide survey, an online map showing the locations of 900 stores, illustrated narratives, and a traveling exhibition. Click below to learn more.
In Partnership With
Project Deliverables
Archival Processing and Digitization
Long-form Essays
Site-based Interpretation
Project Images
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Opening of Berry’s on Main at Richland Mall, 1961. (The State Newspaper Photograph Archive, Richland Library)
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Ralph and Shirley Sarlin at their store in Liberty, SC, 1974. (Reprinted from JHSSC Magazine, Fall 2016)
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Goldberg’s Men’s Store in Charleston, SC, 1953. (Special Collections, College of Charleston Libraries)
Research Team
Eric Friendly
Reach Out to the Research Team
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