Georgie Cohen was born into one of Baltimore’s preeminent Jewish families. She was the great-granddaughter of Judith Solomon Cohen, who had settled in the city in 1808, following the death of her husband, Israel, and whose children—including David, Mendes, and Georgie’s grandfather, Benjamin—whose children would be recognized for their accomplishments in business and finance as well as in Jewish and civic life of Baltimore.

Israel I. Cohen, Georgie’s father, ran a successful brokerage firm and was a founder of the second Baltimore Stock Exchange. In 1850, he married Cecilia Eliza Levy, and among their children, Benjamin, Joshua, Eleanor Septima, and Anna Maria.

Pictured here as five year old, sullen and clutching a doll, Georgie would tragically die a mere decade later.