seasoned criminals. The rabbi was instrumental in organizing and leading community institutions: he was a member of the "advisory board of Hebrew Union College and the Jewish Publication Society, president of the Texas Historical Society of Galveston, advisory chairman of the Lasker Home for Homeless Children, president of Seamen's Bethel, member of the Executive Council of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, founder and president of the Galveston Open Forum, deputy member of the Council of the Jewish Agency, twenty-year director of the Galveston Community Chest, and one of seven charter members of the Galveston Equal Suffrage Association." Cohen retired in September 1949 but served his congregation as rabbi emeritus until his death. He died on June 12, 1952. Historian of Texas Jewry The Handbook of Texas states that, The formal preservation of the history of Texas Jewry goes back to Rabbi Henry Cohen of Galveston and David Lefkowitz of Dallas, who set out to interview as many early settlers and their families as possible. They produced a historical account for the Texas Centennial in 1936. Written works In the 1890s Cohen contributed articles for the Texas Journal of Education, along with translations and poems. Books included the following: Talmudic Sayings (1894) Monographs included: - Settlement of the Jews in Texas (1894), - Henry Castro, Pioneer and Colonist (1896), - The Galveston Immigration Movement, 1907–1910 (1910) with David Lefkowitz, he coauthored One Hundred Years of Jewry in Texas (1936?) Legacy and honors In 1928 Congregation B'nai Israel named its new center as the Henry Cohen Community House in his honor. His papers and library are housed at the Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin. A state historical marker in Galveston commemorates the synagogue and Henry Cohen. See also History of the Jews in Galveston, Texas References Further reading A. Stanley Dreyfus, Henry Cohen: Messenger of the Lord (New York: Bloch, 1963). "Obituary, Henry Cohen," Houston Post, June 13, 1952. David G. McComb, Galveston: A History (Austin: University of Texas Press, 1986). Anne Nathan and Harry I. Cohen, The Man Who Stayed in Texas (New York: Whittlesey, 1941). *"Obituary: Henry Cohen", New York Times, June 13, 1952. Ruthe Winegarten and Cathy Schechter, Deep in the Heart: The Lives and Legends of Texas Jews (Austin: Eakin Press, 1990). External links Temple B'nai Israel Archie McDonald, "Rabbi Cohen", Texas Escapes Review of Kindler of Souls: Rabbi Henry Cohen of Texas,