Of Calamity Jane. Mount Rushmore and 5 Other Things Facts About Jewish South Dakota
1) 345 Jews live in South Dakota, the smallest Jewish population in any state of the union.
2) South Dakota is the only state without a Chabad presence.
3) Mt. Zion, founded in 1903 in Sioux Falls, is the state’s oldest congregation.
4) Blanche Colman was the first female lawyer to practice in the state.
5) Michael Steinberg, director of “The Waterdance” and “Bodies, Rest and Motion” was born in Rapid City.
6) In the Mt. Moriah cemetery, Jews who arrived in the state for the gold rush are buried along with Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok.
7) B’rith Sholom, South Dakota State University’s branch of Hillel, is the state’s only Jewish cultural club.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30