Admission card to the 21st anniversary ball of the San Francisco Ladies United Hebrew Benevolent Society, January 25, 1877.

Support for those in Need

The Ladies' United Hebrew Benevolent Society of San Francisco was established in 1855. The group met in the synagogue and filled the duties of assisting the poor and needy, attending to the dying, and burying the female dead. Judaism requires a ritual washing of the body before burial. For modesty reasons, a group of women is therefore preferred for preparing a woman for burial. This ball was a benefit in order to raise money for the group to continue to perform their important work for the Jewish community of San Francisco.