With the 250th anniversary of American Independence coming up in 2026, the Jewish-American Hall of Fame would like to remind everyone of the critical contributions made by Polish American patriot Haym Salomon. Salomon was arrested by the British twice as a spy; he was sentenced to death but managed to escape. Afterwards he began working with Robert Morris, the newly appointed Superintendent for Finance, to raise money for the Thirteen Colonies. When Salomon died at the age of 44, his family was left penniless. An 1864 Congressional report recommended that the government appropriate Salomon’s son the amount of Government obligations held by his father at the time of his death — $353,729.43 (approximately 10 million dollars in 2023 dollars). But this did not happen.
In 1893, a bill was presented before the 52nd United States Congress ordering a gold medal be struck in recognition of Salomon’s contributions to the United States. But it was not approved.
The United States issued a stamp in honor of Haym Salomon in 1975. On the glue side this is printed: “Financial Hero – Businessman and broker, Haym Salomon was responsible for raising most of the money needed to finance the American Revolution and later to save the new nation from collapse.”
Haym Salomon was the fifth person inducted into the Jewish-American Hall of Fame, in 1973. His plaque, sculpted by Paul Vincze, is displayed along with over 50 other honorees at the Virginia Holocaust Museum in Richmond. The Jewish-American Hall of Fame is a division of the American Jewish Historical Society. For additional information contact Mel Wacks, Director of the Jewish-American Hall of Fame at [email protected].