Ketubbah, written by Isaac Mayer Wise, Cincinnati: October 21, 1872

1 leaf (9 x 7 ¼ in.; 229 x 184 mm). Ink on paper. Creased at folds with single small hole; lightly soiled. Glazed and framed.

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 which 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.)

Wise was also the rabbi of Cincinnati's Congregation B’nai Yeshurun synagogue, in which capacity he performed the marriage of Cecilia Hollstein to David Ullman on October 21, 1872. Ullman, a liquor wholesaler from Peoria, Illinois, was at one time Vice President of that city’s Congregation Anshei Emeth. Jacob Shroder, one of the witnesses who signed the ketubbah, was a Judge in the Court of Common Pleas and a Director of the University of Cincinnati.