HIAS was founded in 1881 in response to the late 19th- and early 20th-century exodus of Jewish emigrants from Imperial Russia. It merged with the Hebrew Sheltering House Association, founded in New York the same year. Lawrence J. Epstein writes that the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society was founded in 1904;y several other sources give a date of 1902. "The Baltimore Sun" mentioned the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society in an article published in 1882. HIAS reported its date of formation as 1881 on its annual return with the Internal Revenue Service.