Pollitzer Family

This impressive brick house, the late-nineteenth century residence of Israel Ottolengui and his wife, Rosalie Cecile Moïse, was the home of the Pollitzer family for many decades of the twentieth century, an era that was deeply affected locally and nationally by the individuals who lived here. The children of Gustave Pollitzer (1853–1909), a commission merchant, school board member, and trustee of Congregation Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim, and his wife, Clara Guinzberg (1854–1942), achieved successes in a variety of progressive fields.

Richard M. Pollitzer was one of the two Jewish physicians in Charleston in the early twentieth century. His sister Carrie (1881–1974) advocated for free kindergartens, raised funds for them, and led the petition drive that opened the all-male College of Charleston to women in 1918. Mabel Pollitzer (1885–1979) taught for decades at nearby Memminger School. A charter member of the Charleston Equal Suffrage League and state chairwoman of the National Women’s Party, she helped found the Charleston County Free Library in 1930. The youngest sister, Anita (1894–1975), attended Columbia University in New York City, where she met Alfred Stieglitz. Anita Pollitzer helped advance the artistic career of her friend Georgia O’Keeffe by introducing her to Stieglitz. A member of the radical wing of the women’s movement, Anita held a number of offices in the National Women’s Party, serving as its chair from 1945 to 1949.

For more information on the Pollitzers, see the Lowcountry Digital History Initiative exhibit, The Pollitzer Family of South Carolina.

Pollitzer House marker

5 Pitt Street, 2016