Jean Soman
Jean Soman began her career as an author and historian researching and writing about her distinguished great great grandfather, Colonel Marcus Spiegel. This
German-Jewish colonel was one of the highest-ranking Jewish officers in the Union Army during the civil War. Jean Soman spent many years transcribing his civil war letters, and continuing to do more research on his life. In 1985, the book, Your True Marcus: The Civil War Letters of a Jewish Colonel, which she co-edited with Dr. Frank L. Byrne was published by Kent State University Press. A decade later, the book was republished under the title, A Jewish Colonel in the Civil War: Marcus M. Spiegel of the Ohio Volunteers by the University of Nebraska Press. It is currently available.
Continuing her investigations into her family and American history, Jean Soman is in the process of completing research on Samuel G. Alschuler, her great-grandfather. A German-Jewish immigrant residing in Illinois during the middle of the 19th century, Alschuler captured two iconic photographs of President Abraham Lincoln, both of which were taken in Alschuler’s studios. One depicts Lincoln in the photographer's velvet collared coat, while the other is the first image of the President growing his famous beard. In addition to compiling enthralling accounts of her relatives, Jean Powers Soman works tirelessly to preserve history.
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