Isaac Mayer Wise Cabinet Card, Cincinnati: [James] Landy, ca. 1880

1 cabinet card (6 1/2 x 4 1/4 in.; 165 x 107 mm). Albumen print; minor creasing near upper right corner; small tear at right margin. Mounted on heavy card stock with Landy backstamp; mounting residue, light staining, on verso. Plastic sleeve.

Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise (1819-1900) was the leading organizational genius behind the rise of American Reform Judaism in the late 19th century. He played a central role in the founding of three major Reform Jewish institutions that still exist today: The Union of American Hebrew Congregations in 1873 (now the Union for Reform Judaism, the parent body of Reform synagogues); the Hebrew Union College in 1875 (the Reform movement's rabbinical seminary); and the Central Conference of American Rabbis in 1889 (the Reform rabbinical association.)

One of the preeminent photographers of his day, James Landy (1838-1897) was a New York native who built up a flourishing portrait business in downtown Cincinnati during and after the Civil War. A similar image of Wise, also by Landy, is contained in the collection of the American Jewish Archives.