Moses Bloom: Iowa’s Dominant Jewish Politician in the 19th Century

Moses Bloom was born Moise Blum in Westhoffen, Alsace, France in 1832 and headed to America at seventeen.

Bloom immigrated to New York City in 1849, where he briefly worked as a clerk.

He then travelled to Hagerstown, Maryland in 1850 for work.

In 1854, Bloom relocated to Lafayette, Indiana, before settling in Iowa City, Iowa in 1857.

Moses Bloom worked in Isaac Kahn’s clothing store in Iowa City before taking ownership in 1860. Within one year, he had doubled sales.

In 1860, Bloom won his first election to the Iowa City council. He unsuccessfully ran for mayor as a Democrat in 1871 and 1872—but won in 1874, on his third try.

He next sought a seat in the Iowa house but narrowly lost.

In 1877, he won a house seat and was re-elected in 1879.

In 1883, Bloom won a term in the Iowa senate. His public stature had become so high that the

Republican-controlled senate appointed Democrat Bloom as a committee chairman, a vanishingly rare honor for a minority legislator.

Bloom was the first Jew elected to each of the state’s legislative chambers and the first Jewish mayor of an Iowa city.

He was Iowa’s only Jewish representative and state senator during his twenty-eight year political career.

Family

Moses Bloom married Rosa Wise of Cincinnati, Ohio and they had  5 children.

After His wife Rosa’s death in 1870, he married her sister Sarah Wise in 1871. Sarah and Moses had 6 children.

Moses Bloom died at 61.