Bidspirit auction | (AMERICAN-JUDAICA). Hebrew Union Veterans Association.

(AMERICAN-JUDAICA). Hebrew Union Veterans Association. Honorary Member Medal. Bronze, with pin intact. Eagle-topped obelisk within laurel, with 1861 / 1865 at base. Minted by Dieges and Clust, NY. MANY TIMES RARER THAN THE VETERAN MEMBERS BADGES. One medal was awarded annually to highly distinguished recipients, this included President Theodore Roosevelt and Simon Wolf. Minutes of the organization state that only 25 such medals were struck. On March 15th 1896, 63 Civil War Union veterans of the Jewish faith answered a call to meet at the Lexington Avenue Opera House in New York whereupon they formed the Hebrew Union Veterans Association. For their minutes, see https://nmajmh.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/HUvA-for-web.pdf. See also Adam D. Mendelsohn, Jewish Soldiers in the Civil War: The Union Army (2022) pp. 252-56.