The pages of Penina Moise's poems rustled as she carefully gathered them in her hands and prepared them for delivery to a publisher. "Fancy's Sketch Book." read the title page of the manuscript, "by Miss Penina Moise."

As she gazed at the page, Penina's heartbeat quickened. Should she scratch out her name and add a pseudonym, as most women authors did? After all, her poems spoke of serious political themes, such as Southern secession and states' rights. Women, she knew, were not supposed to talk about politics. And no Jew had ever before published a book of poetry in the United States. Would a publisher actually risk printing such a controversial book, authored by an American Jewish woman?

Trying to calm her nerves, she remembered a poem she had written entitled "To Persecuted Foreigners."

If thou art one of that oppressed race,
Whose pilgrimage from Palestine we trace,
Brave the Atlantic-Hope's broad anchor weigh,
A Western Sun will gild your future days.

The poem gave her courage to place the manuscript in an envelope, seal it, and send it that day. "Anything is possible in America," she thought, as a smile softly brightened her face.

Penina Moise was the first Jew to publish a book of poetry in the United States. Her songs of praise to God are still sung in synagogues today.