in the

UNITED STATES

UNITED STATES MAP

[TOP]

LISTING OF JEWISH ORPHANAGES
by STATE, CITY and Earliest DATES Founded
HISTORIES
INFORMATION FOR ACCESSING RECORDS
ALUMNI INFORMATION (If Known)

Many cities in the United States had Jewish Orphanages. Information on many of these Orphanages are contained in ARCHIVES at universities and historical societies. An attempt is being made to locate as many as can be found and as more information is collected, it will be added to this page. Known US cities with Jewish Orphanages are listed below, with as much information that has thus been accessed.

In some City listings, names of orphanages were changed over the years.

NOTE: Other Jewish children might have been placed in Orphanages under the auspices of County and State Governments, Fraternal Organizations (i.e. Masons, Knights of Pythias, etc.) or Private and Nonsectarian Orphanages. These institutions are NOT listed here.

If anyone has anything to contribute to this page, or can make any corrections, please send to the email address at bottom of this page.

All BOOKS referenced on this page and through out this website may be ordred on the

ONLINE BOOKSTORE Page

STATE/CITY TABLE
Click on City Link to Access Information

[TOP]

CALIFORNIA

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA [1908]

JEWISH ORPHAN'S HOME OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
VISTA DEL MAR
HAMBURGER HOME FOR YOUNG WOMEN

Founded as the JEWISH ORPHAN'S HOME OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA in 1908, it served children in that capacity for many years. With the breakdown of the family unit and other changes in society, the agency modified its programs to respond to the growing demands in the community. Now called VISTA DEL MAR CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES, it provides a wide range of social services to children, many of whom have been abused, neglected or abandoned.

The following is a history time line of the institution:

1908 - VISTA DEL MAR founded as the JEWISH ORPHAN'S HOME OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA by a Chapter of B'nai B'rith Women and other interested members of the Jewish community. The first location was on Mission Road, in east Los Angeles, housing five children initially, moved to Huntington Park and then West Adams, before settling in 1928 at its current site on a former West Los Angeles ranch. Ages 0-16.
1921 - Foster Home Department was started.
1923 - Current property purchased. It was a ranch called VISTA DEL MAR and the current commonly used name was adapted.
1925 - Construction was begun on five two-story "cottages" each of which housed twenty children. This living arrangement was the first west of the Mississippi )as opposed to dormitory style " Orphanages.)" The cottages were opened in 1925. Jacoby cottage, originally for asthmatic children, was built subsequently.
1935-1945 - Many refugee children from Europe aided.
1950 - Adoption Department opened.
1970 - Girls school opened.
1971 - Country school and Handler cottages.
1973 - Taper cottage and Parvin cottage
1975 - Moss-Price Shore cottage, Honor cottage and Pre-Vocational School
1976 - Affiliation with Reiss-Davis Child Study Center
1979 - Valley Group home for as many as six boys. Home-SAFE Child Care affiliated with VISTA DEL MAR.
1980 - DaySchool/Day Treatment Program established.
1982 - Julia Ann Singer Center came on campus.
1983 - Valley Group Home opened for up to six girls. Reiss-Davis Louis B. Mayer Building dedicated. Mark and Esther Schulman Art and Dance Therapy Building completed.
1984 - Neil Konheim Recreation Center completed. After Care Services implemented.
1986 - Home Based Services implemented.
1990 - First accreditation for Vista Del Mar by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.
1995 - Family Preservation Program implemented. Non-Public School opened.
1997 - VISTA DEL MAR officially changed name to VISTA DEL MAR CHILD and FAMILY SERVICES also known as JEWISH ORPHAN'S HOME OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. Internal merger of VISTA DEL MAR, Reiss-Davis, Julia Ann Singer effective. Classroom opened serving autistic children.

(Other locations at Huntington Park and Palms)

For further information, please contact:

VISTA DEL MAR CHILD AND FAMILY SERVICES
3200 Motor Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90034
Phone: (310)836-1223
1-888-22-VISTA
Fax: (310)204-04134

**********

HAMBURGER HOME FOR YOUNG WOMEN founded in 1909, is presently known as AVIVA Center.

For further information, please contact:

AVIVA Center
1701 Camino Palmero
Los Angeles, CA 90046
Phone: (323)876-0550
Fax: (323)876-0439
Email: lamerala@spintmail.com

Their website is Aviva Center: History

Report on HAMBURGER HOME for young women plus admission policy and financial statements. 1934; 1945-1946. Small Collections

Information is archived at:

JACOB RADER MARCUS CENTER
of the
AMERICAN JEWISH ARCHIVES
Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion
3101 Clifton Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45220-2488
Email: Aja@cn.huc.edu

TABLE

[US MAP]

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA [1871]

LADIES RELIEF SOCIETY OF OAKLAND
(HOME FOR AGED WOMEN AND CHILDREN

1923 Census: HOME FOR AGED WOMEN AND CHILDREN; No address; dependent white children under auspices of the LADIES RELIEF SOCIETY OF OAKLAND.

1933 Census: Same name, no address; Private society for care of children ages 0-12.

TABLE

[US MAP]

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA [1871]

PACIFIC HEBREW ORPHAN ASYLUM AND HOME SOCIETY
NEW PACIFIC HEBREW ORPHAN ASYLUM
EUREKA BENEVOLENT SOCIETY

HOMEWOOD TERRACE

In 1871, the PACIFIC HEBREW ORPHAN ASYLUM and HOME SOCIETY, under the leadership of Rabbi Elkan Cohn, from Temple Emanu-El was founded to house "orphan Children, and to establish and support a homed for aged and infirm Israelites." Within a year, enough money, $20,000 , was raised to buy 12 acres at Mission Street and Silver Avenue. But without funds to erect a building, the agency continued to support its clients in their own homes.

Finally, in 1891, a rambling, wooden Victorian structure was built on the site for under $57,000. Twelve people took up residence. The 1905 census listed over 200 children and 40 aged persons. In 1919, the PACIFIC HEBREW ORPHAN ASYLUM and HOME SOCIETY and the HEBREW HOME for the AGED DISABLED consolidated under the latter's name and one roof. It was located at 436 O'Farrell with 190 children and 34 aged persons.

On June 17, 1921, the NEW PACIFIC HEBREW ORPHAN ASYLUM, in San Francisco's Westwood Park, was dedicated during a ceremony celebrating the newly erected building and the asylum's 50th anniversary.

The Orphan Asylum was described by one of it's residents as an "easy place to live and everything was nice."

Recently, someone was looking for information on her Grandmother and her sibling who were residents of the Pacific Hebrew Orphanage in the 1890's. Not only did she receive information on them, but was delighted when she also received a photograph of her grandmother at the age of 13.

EUREKA BENEVOLENT SOCIETY & Association (1850)

1919: Located at 4436 O'Farrell Street, EUREKA BENEVOLENT SOCIETY & Association was founded in 1850 by August Helbing and Israel Solomon. It is distinctive from the "First Hebrew Benevolent Association" founded by the same men.

1923 Census: Same Name, no address: 48 children in boarding homes, under auspices of Jewish Charities.

"EUREKA" is the motto of California and is attributed to Archimedes. It means: "I have found (it)."

**********

HOMEWOOD TERRACE

1956-1963: HOMEWOOD TERRACE was located at 11 Homewood Terrace, San Francisco, and was an Adoption Agency for Jewish children in San Francisco and the Bay Area.

1968: Address was 2255 Post St; Adoption Agency

1972: There were eight homes, two of the homes were for girls and the rest for boys.

1979: Located at 549 Arguello Blvd., San Francisco, CA 94118; Residential Care for children and Foster placement.

Records were found at Jewish Family and Childrens Services in the 80's by someone who resided there in the early 70's.

NEW INFORMATION:
Your dates are incorrect. Homewood Terrace was built and started around 1926 and my father was the Asist. Director there from 1945 to 1953. Herbert Leebhoff. The Director was Mr. Boneparte. It was a place of Peace and Love for all the Jewish Children. The Great Founders are listed in a booklet that I have. They were Jewish Business Men and Women who cared about our People.

I was 2 years old when my mother, and father and grandmother moved into the House for the Assist. Director. The address was 41 Homewood Terrace. It was 1945. So many Jewish children, so many memories. Each place where the Children lived were called: Cottages. Each had a live in "House Mother".All meals were cooked in the Cottages for the Children. The Children did the cooking with the House Mother. Just after the war ended hundreds of Jewish Children came from Europe to Homewood Terrace. I remember at age 4, I tried to speak to them and they couldn't speak english. Just Polish and Russian. My father, Herbert Leebhoff, (I had my name changed to David Lee) was on duty 24hrs a day a the Home. He passed away, in 1993. He was 87 years old. The Orphanage was the pride of San Francisco and the Jewish Community. In 1949, my father and other good due'ers thought up a plan to give Orphans homes. It was called: "Foster-Homes" Little did they know that their idea would spell the dome of Orphanages....and Homewood Terrace. The program was given a name: "Jackie". Its seems that this child was the "First" to be placed in a "Trial Foster Home". Little known fact. Lost Fact. But True. My Father, Herbert Leebhoff came up with the idea for "Foster Homes in the United States of America. Never got any credit for it. Again, I will search for the booklet and send you information. David Lee, Fire Fighter, Ret.

UPDATE:
I just thought I might make an update to your information on Homewood Terrace in San Francisco. When I was 10 years old (1966) I was placed in Homewood Terrace At that time they were in a group home setting with 8 homes in the Richmond district. I was one of only two non Jewish kids to live there at the time. I also went to their private school which at the time was on the old grounds on Ocean Ave. I look back on those days with great warmth. though we all thought it was the worst place in the world at the time. Of course we were just dumb kids what did we know. I am so thankful that I was at Homewood we were really loved. Yes even us non Jewish kids.

My thanks to all in the Jewish community of San Francisco who made Homewood Terrace a true home for so many for so long. I was so sorry to hear of it's closing after over one hundred years.

Thanks again
Dennis Lehman

I lived at Homewood Terrace on their grounds at Ocean Ave. from 1952, when I was 6 years old until 1963. In 1963, I moved into the first group home for youngsters who were in their last year of high school or who were attending San Francisco City College. That group home was in the Geneva Terrace housing development in Visitacion Valley, but we later moved to 850 32nd Ave in the Richmond District. I left that home in the Spring of 1965. I remember Mr. Herbert Leebhoff very well. He was a great man. A few years after being the Assistant Director, Herbert Leebhoff came back to Homewood Terrace to be the Religious Director. I remember him preparing me for and conducting my Bar Mitzvah. I also vaugely remember his son David, when he lived at Homewood Terrace. I did not know that it was Herbert Leebhoff who came up with the idea of foster homes. I will have some comments on foster homes later.

Homewood Terrace was managed very well during the years that Mr. Benjamin Boneparte was the Director. Unfortunately, the Board of Directors terminated Mr. Boneparte in 1958 and replaced him with Dr. Jack Regal. Before Dr. Regal's administration, more of the the youngsters at Homewood Terrace were either orphans or came from families who simply could not raise their children. Under Dr. Regal delinquents and children who had severe emotional problems were admitted into Homewood Terrace to live with the other youngsters. This was not a good mix. I recall one incident where one of those delinquents assualted a house parent. Dr. Regal ran the home almost like a juvenile hall. Parents, in order to have visits with their children on weekends, had to notify the Homewood Terrace administration by the preceding Wednesday. Some parents who really wanted to have their kids on the weekends, unfortunately forgot to make the call. My father on occasion was one of those. Those of us who attended Abraham Lincoln High School, who wanted to go out with friends whom we met at school, on a Friday evening or on the weekend, also had to notify our house parents by the preceding Wednesday. As someone who later raised a teenager, I can say that a teenager doesn't usually know what they want to do 3 or 4 days ahead of time. Often, youngsters would run away, later to be found. Dr. Regal's response was to put bars on the windows. Around 1961 or 1962, the Board of Directors made a correction and terminated Dr. Regal, and replaced him with Mr. Ralph Ross. Under Mr. Ross conditions greatly improved. The harsh rules imposed by Dr. Regal were lifted. With the exception of what I mentioned about Dr. Regal, I am grateful that I was provided a home by Homewood Terrace. We were fed excellent meals. We were taken on many outings. A few of us, like myself, who enjoyed classical music were sometimes taken to synphony and opera performances at the San Francisco Opera House. The tickets were donated by board or womens auxiliary members. One thing that I must say however, is that while I made a decent life for myself, I wasn't given enough encouragement to get better grades in high school and to go to college.

There is a strong need today for the government to re-establish homes like Homewood Terrace. We constantly see on the news stories about delinquent children getting into trouble. Many end up becoming criminals. I personally saw a home where drug dealing parents had a toddler in their home. We badly need more youth programs. Issues like poverty must be addressed. Parents must be given all of the help necessary for raising their children. However, when parents simply refuse to do a better job, then the children must be taken away and placed into decent homes. Depending on the individual children, some could be placed into group homes in the neighborhoods. Those with more serious problems would be placed into institutions. The house parents in either of those settings must be well paid and compensated, and also be well trained. I am not sure about foster home programs. While there definetely are wonderful foster parents, there are many youngsters who are moved constantly from one home to another. My brother and I were in a foster home for a few months in 1959. The couple whom we were sent to were absolutely not qualified to raise foster children. It seemed that they wanted some youngsters around to pull weeds, mow their lawn, and perform heavy tasks around their home. Needless to say, it didn't work out and we were moved back to Homewood Terrace. The group home arrangement that I mentioned, would be a better solution.

Walter Ballin
Chico, CA

Check out a new book on Homewood Terrace:

War Orphan in San Francisco: Letters Link A Family Scattered by World War II
by Phyllis Mattson

TABLE

[US MAP]

---

COLORADO

DENVER, COLORADO [1907[

DENVER SHELTERING HOME FOR JEWISH CHILDREN
NATIONAL HOME FOR JEWISH CHILDREN IN DENVER

The DENVER SHELTERING HOME FOR JEWISH CHILDREN established in 1907, eventually evolved into the NATIONAL HOME FOR JEWISH CHILDREN IN DENVER.

The DENVER SHELTERING HOME FOR JEWISH CHILDREN, was founded in response to a rather unusual set of specific local circumstances. In the late 1800s tuberculosis was one of the leading causes of death in America. Because of the lure of fresh air in the treatment of respiratory ailments, and Colorado, with its dry and sunny climate, many tuberculosis victims were drawn there like a magnet. Colorado earned a reputation as "The World's Sanatorium," as more and more people flocked to the state to "chase a cure." A large proportion of the health-seeking migrants were Jewish, drawn by two Jewish tuberculosis hospitals in Denver. As a result, Denver's Jewish population drew a large indigent, Eastern European immigrant tuberculars, whose presence placed an added strain on the charity structure of the small established local Jewish community. But most, if not all of these new Denver Jewish residents had contracted the disease outside of Colorado, most often in New York City and other large eastern urban centers.

Many Jewish children became neglected, abandoned or ultimately orphaned or half-orphaned because of their parents' illness. These incidents raised concern for the Denver Jewish community in 1907 and efforts were initiated to create an institution to provide them with temporary shelter, although many children eventually stayed for long periods of time. The DENVER SHELTERING HOME FOR JEWISH CHILDREN thus opened it's doors in 1908 in an 11-room frame house on the west side. Before this, most Jewish orphans in Denver had been sent to the CLEVELAND JEWISH ORPHAN ASYLUM, by the local chapter of B'nai B'rith. The Denver Lodge 171 were concerned that placement of the orphans in the Cleveland Asylum was considered unwise to send younger dependent children so far away. Another reason for the establishment of the Sheltering Home was that those who had remained in Denver were either sent to non-Jewish local orphanages or became permanent wards of the state.

Following a fire in 1914, the original crowded small frame house,was rebuilt into considerably larger facilities with a separate dormitory for boys and girls, and provided children with their own rooms. In 1916 a new building was erected. The Home expanded its base and became a national organization in the early 1920s, when it adopted the popular cottage plan, where children were housed in small group homes, with their own live-in matron, in an attempt to recreate a more family-like structure.

Despite the early concern of the founders about tuberculosis and other illnesses, only six of the approximately 1,000 children who passed through the Home's doors from 1908 to 1929 developed any form of tuberculosis and only three children died at the Home.

The primary purpose of the DENVER SHELTERING HOME FOR JEWISH CHILDREN was to rescue young people from a life of poverty, ill health and neglect. As years passed, the Home's service was extended to include orphans and other needy children from throughout the United States and the institutions's name was changed in 1928 to the NATIONAL HOME FOR JEWISH CHILDREN IN DENVER. Medical advances in tuberculosis treatment and increasing demand for Jewish adoptive children decreased the need for a Jewish orphanage in Denver, and in the 1950s the Home changed its mission to the challenge of childhood asthma.

The above information was taken from the following magazine article:

"For A Child's Sake: Denver Sheltering Home for Jewish Children in the Progressive Era", by Dr. Jeanne Abrams, University of Denver, AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORY, Winter 1989-90, Volume LXXIX, No. 2.

Some records are maintained at:

JACOB RADER MARCUS CENTER
of the
AMERICAN JEWISH ARCHIVES
Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion
3101 Clifton Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45220-2488
Email: Aja@cn.huc.edu

DENVER SHELTERING HOME FOR JEWISH CHILDREN can be accessed in the RECORDS of TRINIDAD, COLORADO - TRINIDAD LODGE #293 and were donated to the American Jewish Archives by Mr. Gilbert H. Sanders, the Trinidad Lodge #293, and Congregation Aaron, all of Trinidad, Colorado; and by Mr. Leon Rubin of Raton, New Mexico. The several shipments of materials were received by the Archives during the period 1957-1991.

NATIONAL HOME FOR JEWISH CHILDREN IN DENVER can be accessed in the RECORDS of the B'NAI B'RITH, DISTRICT #2, and were received as a gift from the B'nai B'rith Lodge #2 (Cincinnati, Ohio) beginning in 1962. The collection has come in numerous accessions and is considered to be an "open-ended" collection in that the Archives will continue to receive accessions on a regular basis, which reflects the on-going existence and activities of the organization. The collection is available to all users in the reading room of the American Jewish Archives.

TABLE

[US MAP]

CONNECTICUT

BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT [1915]

BRIDGEPORT HEBREW ORPHAN ASYLUM
JEWISH CHILDREN'S SOCIETY

The BRIDGEPORT HEBREW ORPHAN ASYLUM SOCIETY organized in 1915, opened its doors in 1919 as the BRIDGEPORT HEBREW ORPHAN ASYLUM at 36 Court Street in Bridgeport which is located in Fairfield County. It was a residential care facility for Jewish children.

In 1933 the JEWISH CHILDREN'S SOCIETY, no address given, was a residential care facility for 11 dependent children.

TABLE

[US MAP]

HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT [1910]

HEBREW WOMEN'S HOME FOR CHILDREN
HARTFORD ORPHAN ASYLUM (CHILDREN'S VILLAGE)

In 1910, the HEBREW WOMEN'S HOME FOR CHILDREN, a residential care for dependent children was established. The last address noted was located at 185 Westbourne, Parkway, Hartford, CT.

The HARTFORD ORPHAN ASYLUM, established in 1883 as a residential care facility was POSSIBLY under Jewish auspices. Later called CHILDREN'S VILLAGE OF HARTFORD ORPHAN ASYLUM, their last address noted in 1948 was: 1660 Albany Avenue in Hartford, CT.

TABLE

[US MAP]

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT [1905]

HEBREW LADIES ORPHAN SOCIETY
JEWISH HOME FOR CHILDREN

The home was founded in 1905 as the HEBREW LADIES ORPHAN SOCIETY. Shortly after their founding they occupied the house (which is still standing) at 441 Orange Street in New Haven.

In 1920, the name was officially changed to the JEWISH HOME FOR CHILDREN, and they built a new, larger brick building at 701 Sherman Avenue. The children remained there until 1955, when the State of Connecticut took over the functions of all orphanages.

It should be noted that many of the children at the Home were not really orphans, but came from families who could not support them properly or were single parent homes. The children who lived at the Home attended public schools and went to Hebrew school at the Jewish Community Center. Additionally, the children received some religious education at the Home which also maintained a synagogue. Many Bar Mitzvahs were held there, both for residents and for non-residents.

During the period from 1920 to 1955, the number of children at the Home ranged from 10 to 55. The building on Sherman Avenue was sold in 1955 and subsequently razed.

In 1955, they continued operations at 54 Carmel Street for a few children who were in dire need of additional support. They never had more than 10 children at this location at any one time. This continued for a few years until they ceased operations altogether.

In 1969, the remaining officers and directors of the organization began using the remaining monies for a scholarship fund for children of the greater New Haven Area. Still in existence, they are now officially called the JEWISH HOME FOR CHILDREN FOUNDATION. Their current President is Mr. Burton Slossberg, and their Vice-President is Mr. Sydney Gimple.

Correspondence can be addressed to the organization at:

JEWISH HOME FOR CHILDREN FOUNDATION
Mr. Sydney Gimple
129 Church Street
New Haven, CT 06510
Phone: (203)776-8100

ALUMNI INFORMATION:

Former residents of the Home get together about once every year for a dinner, although there does not seem to be a formal alumni organization. For further information, please contact:

Mrs. Lois Buslowitz
76 Worth Avenue
Hamden, CT 06518
(203)288-1901

RECORDS:

There are still some records extant, but it is not known how complete they are or what period of time they cover. These records are kept in CLOSED FILES in the ARCHIVES of the:

JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF GREATER NEW HAVEN
PO Box 3251
New Haven, CT 06515-0351
Phone: (203)392-6125

NOTE: The Historical Society is located on the campus of SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT STATE UNIVERSITY in New Haven BUT should not be contacted for information about these files. Any questions concerning information about records may be sent to the JEWISH HOME FOR CHILDREN FOUNDATION.....address above.

PICTURES of the TWO ORPHANAGE BUILDINGS of the JEWISH HOME FOR CHILDREN may be seen on the website of the JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF GREATER NEW HAVEN at:

http://pages.cthome.net/hirsch

The history of the JEWISH HOME FOR CHILDREN IN NEW HAVEN (CT) which appears on this website is a brief excerpt from a longer article which was published in 1988. The entire article is now posted (with photos) thanks to Werner Hirsch, Curator, JHS of Greater New Haven (CT). The page can be found at: JHS of Greater New Haven -Jewish Home for Children

TABLE

[US MAP]

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

WASHINGTON D.C. [1911]

JEWISH FOSTER HOME

The JEWISH FOSTER HOME was a residential care facility for dependent children. In 1919 it was located at 3213 O Street, NW in Washington DC with 29 inmates in residence.

TABLE

[US MAP]

GEORGIA

ATLANTA, GEORGIA [1889]

HEBREW ORPHAN ASYLUM
HEBREW ORPHAN HOME See Census Information on Federal and State Census Page

Above is a photo postcard from 1906 courtesy of Howard Margol
(Although caption on card reads The Jewish Orphans Home, it IS
the Hebrew Orphan Home of Atlanta)

(The Winter 2002 Issue of "Chai," an Atlanta Jewish Magazine, has a wonderful article about the Hebrew Orphan Home of Atlanta, including some photographs)...Information courtesy of Howard Margol.

The orphan home was established in 1889 as the HEBREW ORPHAN'S ASYLUM. Although the suggestion to establish a Jewish orphanage was first discussed at the 1870 convention of the B'nai B'rith Lodge No. 5, little was accomplished until 1886 when the communities of Atlanta, Richmond, VA and the District of Columbia organized a fund raising campaign. It was decided to locate the home in the city which raised the most money. Within two years, Atlantans collected more than half the money needed, and the Home was built in Atlanta on Washington Street between Love and Little Streets near what was then the southern border of town. The Home as of a Venetian style, built of brick and trimmed in terra cotta. The central building, clinic, dairy, servant's cottage and playground occupied an entire square block.

The children attended Fraser Street Public School and religious instruction was given at the Temple or Avhavath Achim. They were trained to be typists, stenographers, plumbers and printers. Shortly after 1900, uniforms and military discipline was abolished, and the orphans fared very well, by the standard of the day.

Officially changing its name from the HEBREW ORPHAN'S ASYLUM to the HEBREW ORPHAN'S HOME in 1901, the facility was home to hundreds of Jewish children from the Southeast between the years 1889-1930, when it closed as a resident facility and supplanted by the Jewish Children's Service. Nearly 400 children passed through the home between 1889 and 1915,with approximately two-thirds of these coming from outside Atlanta and most of East European parentage.

The 1902 Census listed 68 inmates. From 1919 to 1925, it was located at 478 Washington Street, Atlanta with 111 inmates.

In Steven Hertzberg's 1978 book, Strangers Within The Gate City: The Jews of Atlanta 1845-1915, he mentions in one of his footnotes, the following:

Hebrew Orphan's Home Records of Admission, 1889-1921, in the office of Jewish Children's Service, Atlanta. The location of the Home in Atlanta incidentally made the Gate City the logical place for the annual grand lodge conventions.

Most of the inventory collection consists of closed case files of residents. A complete set of minutes, annual reports and the records of the HEBREW ORPHAN'S HOME, a collection consisting of 33 cubic feet of material are housed at:

IDA PEARLE and JOSEPH CUBA COMMUNITY ARCHIVES and GENEALOGY CENTER
at the
WILLIAM BREMAN JEWISH HERITAGE MUSEUM
ATLANTA JEWISH FEDERATION, COMMUNITY ARCHIVES
1440 Spring Street
Atlanta, GA 30309
Phone: (404) 873-1661
Fax: (404) 874-7043

This is the largest repository of its type in the Southeast and more information about the Museum and its Archives may be accessed at the following URL:

Contributing Archives and Museums: Jewish HeritÉ

NOTE: In 1984, Brad Trevathan wrote a history honor's thesis under the direction of Professor Dan T. Carter at Emory University "The Hebrew Orphans' Home of Atlanta, 1889-1930." This thesis is available through the Woodruff Library at Emory. The bulk of his research was based on the records of the Home, which were still in a rather raw state stored away in the offices of Jewish charitible agency. .

The incorporation papers for the Alumnal Association of the Atlanta Hebrew Orphans Home, can be found at the American Jewish Historical Society.
File number: 1914-945.
Microfilm reel number: XXXVI, 443-448.
There is a fee for the service.
Information provided by Ada Greenblatt

Book about Hebrew Orphanage, Atlanta, GA

Louis D. Rubin, Jr. wrote MY FATHER'S PEOPLE about his father Louis D. Rubin, Sr. and his siblings including 2 brothers who were with him in the Hebrew Orphanage in Atlanta in the very early 1900's. Louis D. Rubin, Jr., is Distinguished Professor of English Emeritus at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, founder of Algonquin Books, and the author or editor of over fifty titles.

To order a copy of this book, please go to our Online Bookstore.

TABLE

[US MAP]

ILLINOIS

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS [1872]

DEBORAH HOME FOR JEWISH BOYS - (1872)

The DEBORAH HOME FOR JEWISH BOYS was a residential care facility for Jewish boys and founded in 1872. [Source, Adoption Agencies, Orphanages and Maternity Homes, Reg Niles, 1980 ]

The following information supplied by Rachel Baron Heimovics, author of The Chicago Jewish Source Book, 1981, Follett Publishing Co., Chicago:

According to Hyman Meites, History of the Jews of Chicago - The Deborah as an organization was founded in 1872, but its boy's club was founded in 1907. So far nothing has been found about a home for boys - only a boy's club.

Deborah Verein, formed in 1872, named after Isaac Mayer Wise's paper for the Jewish home, Die Deborah. Later became known as the Deborah. The Deborah was founded by German Jewish women (one of several such groups - also the Ruth Club, the Johannah, Miriam, etc.) that became a fund-raising, volunteering organization that assisted the work of the United Hebrew Relief Association, forerunner of the Associated Jewish Charities (f. c. 1900,) now the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago.

The Deborah Boy's Club may have been absorbed by the later, still existing, Young Men's Jewish Council.

This is from another source: The YMJC, f. 1906, incorp 1907, sponsored many clubs and camp. This source, a social service directory of 1961, states that its club, Deborah Boys' Club, at 3401 W. Ainslie St. was established in 1930. So I am not sure about the history, whether this was an entirely new club, a new location, or the year that the YMJC took over for the Deborah women. In any case it was a club - and not a home.

***************

CHICAGO HOME FOR JEWISH ORPHANS - (1893) a/k/a
CHICAGO INDUSTRIAL TRAINING SCHOOL FOR JEWISH GIRLS
CHICAGO MANUAL TRAINING SCHOOL FOR JEWISH BOYS

See Census Information on Federal and State Census Page

Courtesy of The Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago
and a special thank you to Rachel Heimovics

The above building of the Chicago Home for Jewish Orphans, was dedicated on July 24, 1898. Later known as "Woodlawn Hall" it sheltered 113 children and included three dormitories, doctor's and dentist's offices, dispensary, assembly hall, kindergarten, chapel, manual training shop, gymnasium and swimming pool. The Chicago Home for Jewish Orphans was supported by the United Hebrew Charities of Chicago. The program of the Home is now incorporated in the work of the Jewish Children's Bureau, an agency of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago. Federation, a successor agency of the United Hebrew Charities, had an even earlier predecessor, the Hebrew Relief Association, chartered in 1867. The building of the Home was later taken over by the University of Chicago as a laboratory and demolished in 1965; the site will be occupied by a YMCA building.
(Date of photo and caption unknown).

The CHICAGO HOME for JEWISH ORPHANS dates back to the year 1893. It opened its doors at 3601 Vernon Avenue on October 7, 1894 on the southside of Chicago. It was a residential care facility for dependent children ages 5 - 18. In 1924 they were located at 6208 Drexel and 63rd Street for both boys and girls and was certified as an orphanage. From 1919-1925, 200 children were in residence.

ORIGINAL building of Chicago Home for Jewish Orphans,
which was located at
3601 S. Vernon Ave., Chicago.
This photo was taken in 1909, by the Chicago Daily News.

Courtesy of Mimi Katz

Records for CHICAGO HOME FOR JEWISH ORPHANS might be available at:

Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies
618 South Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60605

Library information or reference 312 / 922-8248
Fax 312 / 922-6406
e-mail sijs@spertus.edu

and/or

Jewish Children's Bureau
Dr. Robert B. Bloom, Phd., Executive Director
1 S. Franklin St
Chicago, IL 60606

(312) 444-2090
email: director@jcbchicago.org

JCB, an agency of Jewish Federation

***************

MARKS NATHAN ORPHAN HOME (ORTHODOX)- (1906)

See Census Information on Federal and State Census Page

The MARKS NATHAN JEWISH ORPHAN HOME established in 1906 on the Northwest side of Chicago*, moved to Albany Avenue in 1912. In 1919 with 265 inmates, it was located at 1550 S Albany in Chicago. The location in 1925 was 1556 S Albany and then located at 1546-1558 S. Albany in 1926.

The above source can be found in "Adoption Agencies, Orphanages and Maternity Homes-An Historical Directory", [2 Volumes in One], by Reg Niles, published by Phileas Deigh Corp., Garden City, NY 1981.

*Note from Mimi Katz who has been researching Marks Nathan and looking for the original address. She states: In 1907, on the copy of an admissions record that I received from The Jewish Children's Bureau in Chicago, it states that Marks Nathan was at 592-598 N. Wood St. Though I've been able to find this address, I'm not able to locate this address in the 1910 Federal Census - very frustrating! The addresses on N. Wood St. seem to end at the 540's even though ED 687 should extend to 599.

Building Finally Located: (New Information from Mimi Katz, February 2004)
I'm jumping for joy! I finally found the original "Marks Nathan Jewish Orphan Home",
in Chicago (actual name from the inscription over the doors).The building still exists on the corner of Wood St. and Potomac St. (formerly Blucher St.), but it is a sculpture gallery today. However, the building looks very much the same as it did in its heyday.

This building was the original site of Marks Nathan. In 1907, the address was 592-598 Wood St. In the 1910 census, the address was 1741 Blucher St. Today, the address is 1243 N. Wood St. The system of numbering homes and businesses in Chicago changed between 1909-1911.

I believe the orphanange moved to it's more well-known address on South Albany Ave. about 1915. That building
is about twice the size of this one.

Photographs below, courtesy of Mimi Katz

MARKS NATHANN ORPHAN HOME

Inscription over door of Marks Nathan Orphan Home============ Marks Nathan Corner Stone

Wood Street Corner Stone====================== Blucher Street Corner Stone

Photographs below, courtesy of Bill Neuendorf

The above are photographs of the second location of Marks Nathan Orphanage in Chicago. The buildings are still in use as a nursing home. The N. Lawndale neighborhood still has many vacant properties, but several groups have recently come together to revitalize the neighborhood. The block-long building was built in 1906 and allowed the orphanage to meet the increasing demand of the rapidly growing Jewish immigrant population in the North Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago. This site is directly across the street from Douglas Park, one of the jewels of Chicago's park system. This location also featured a large synagogue building for the residents.

Bibliography Sources:

H. L. Meites, "History of the Jews of Chicago", facsimile of the original 1924 edition with a new introduction by James R. Grosman, published by the Chicago Jewish Historical Society and Wellington Publishers, Inc. Chicago 1990. (Chicago Home for Jewish Orphans)

Irv Cutler, "Jews of Chicago" (Marks Nathan Orphan Home)

In Mr. Cutler's book, information can be found on Pages 220-221 and includes a photograph of the home. The home closed in 1948. Cutler attributes his material to the Annual Report of 1920 of the Marks Nathan Home. If the 1920 Annual Report exists, then there is an excellent chance other information exists. There is a conflict on addresses on Albany Ave., between Mr. Cutler and Mr. Niles information.

ED MAZUR’S PAGES FROM THE PAST from the Chicago Jewish History Winter 2008

THOUSANDS OF JEWS PARTICIPATE IN DEDICATION OF MARKS NATHAN ORPHAN ASYLUM

The dedication of the Marks Nathan Orphan Asylum began officially at 2 p.m. yesterday. The
chairman of the Floor Committee ordered the doors closed due to lack of space, while hundreds
remained standing outside.

At 3 o’clock Nicolas J. Pritzker, chairman of the Dedication Committee, openedthe meeting and
introduced Rabbi Pinchas Saul Katkoff who invoked a prayer in Hebrew. Jacob Levi, president of the
Home, then read a message to the Chicago Jewish public.

Rabbi Saul Silber of the Ahave Sholom Congregation, delivered the keynote speech in Yiddish and
Dr. Tobias Schoenfarber spoke in English.

H.M. Barnett was urged to make an appeal for the Home, and J. Deneals was the first to purchase
a room for $325.00; Rabbi Schoenfarber bought another room for $125.00; Mr. Jacobs bought the
third room for$120.00.

Mr. Barnett distinguished himself as a good auctioneer. He sold the key to the Home to H.R. Tish.
A grand sum of $13,000.00 was donated.

The great crowd was then entertained by Cantor Alexandrovitz and a delicious dinner was served.
—Daily Jewish Courier, November 18, 1912

(Above Article, Courtesy of Mimi Katz)

Records for MARKS NATHAN JEWISH ORPHAN HOME might be available at:

Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies
618 South Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60605

Library information or reference 312 / 922-8248
Fax 312 / 922-6406
e-mail sijs@spertus.edu

and/or

Jewish Children's Bureau
Dr. Robert B. Bloom, Phd., Executive Director
1 S. Franklin St
Chicago, IL 60606

(312) 444-2090
email: director@jcbchicago.org

JCB, an agency of Jewish Federation\

***********

Updated Information for MARKS NATHAN and the
CHICAGO HOME FOR JEWISH ORPHANS
as of August 31, 2001

courtesy of

Joy Kingsolver, C.A.
Director
Chicago Jewish Archives
Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies
618 South Michigan Ave.
Chicago IL 60605

312/322-1741
archives@spertus.edu

There are actual case files from Marks Nathan and the Chicago Home for Jewish Orphans. They are held here in the Chicago Jewish Archives, which is part of Spertus. But permission to see them must come from the Jewish Children's Bureau, so people shouldcheck there first. Even if we have a file, I can do nothing until I receive a request from the JCB, so it would save people a step if they knew to contact them first.

People are welcome to contact Joy Kingsolver, for more general information on these homes or with other questions. The archives can be reached at 312/322-1741, or archives@spertus.edu

There is also information on the Jewish Training School, the Daughters of Zion Nursery and other organizations, but we have no files on students or residents.

***************

JEWISH HOME FINDING SOCIETY - (1907)

IN 1907 the JEWISH HOME FINDING SOCIETY was established as a residential care facility for dependent children. In 1923, they had 318 children in its care, mostly in boarding homes. Located at 1800 Selden St., Chicago in 1926, it was also certified as an orphanage.

***************

HOME FOR JEWISH FRIENDLESS AND WORKING GIRLS - (1909)

There was a Home for Jewish Friendless and Working Girls, the main building dedicated and opened in 1909. In 1905, the Helen Day Nursery, a child care center in the Maxwell Street neighborhood. Helen was the daughter of HannahGreenebaum Salomon, founder of the National Council of Jewish Women - and part of a strongly philanthropic German Jewish family in Chicago.

In the 1910 Federal Census, the Home for Jewish Friendless was located at 5226 Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL and also now included boys. The 1910 Federal Census is included on the Federal Census Page of this web site.

***************

DAUGHTERS OF ZION - (1917)

The DAUGHTERS OF ZION was a Jewish Day Nursery and Infants' Home, certified as an orphanage. The 1926 address was at 1441 Wicker Park Avenue, Chicago.

TABLE

[US MAP]

INDIANA

FORT WAYNE, INDIANA [1865]

CONGREGATION ACHDUTH VESHOLOM

Records consisting of Israel Aaron resolution, Apr 10, 1887;
-cashbooks, 1900-1937;
-dues books, 1905-1915, 1919;
-membership books, 1892-1918;
-minute books, 1848-1883 and 1914-1918;
-orphan asylum fund book, 1865-1881;
-treasurer's account book, 1892-1895;
-cash account book, 1915-1918;
-temple fund book, 1916-1918;
and records of the Ladies Hebrew Benevolent Society, including:
-minute book, 1861-1894;
-ledger, 1874-1892;
-cashbooks, 1881-1916;
-membership book, 1917-1919

All above are archived at:

JACOB RADER MARCUS CENTER
of the
AMERICAN JEWISH ARCHIVES
Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion
3101 Clifton Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45220-2488
Email: Aja@cn.huc.edu

**********

FORT WAYNE JEWISH FEDERATION {1919)

1919: Federation of Jewish Charities organized i 1919

1955: Jewish Federation; no address, licensed for adoption

1979: Located at 227 E. Washington Blvd; Adoptions

TABLE

[US MAP]

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA [1900]

In 1900, a Jewish Shelter house was established in Indianapolis, for all ages and the Nathan Morris House provided social services to Jewish people.

( MORE INFORMATION COMING)

TABLE

[US MAP]

KENTUCKY

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY [1908]

JEWISH CHILDREN'S HOME OF LOUISVILLE

The JEWISH CHILDREN'S HOME of LOUISVILLE was founded in 1908 and was located at 223 E. Jacob, moved to the1100 block of Garvin Place and after 1921 moved to its last location at 1135 S. First Street. In 1933, needs having changed, the home became the JEWISH HOME for CONVALESCENT CHILDREN, managed by Jewish Family Service (now Jewish Family and Vocational Service). Other facilities in the city having become adequate, the home was closed in 1975.

Federal census data should be available with names of the children in the 1910 and 1920 census. To help locate census tracts refer to the addresses of the home's location and dates up above.

There are no other records of the home available as the records have been destroyed.

(The above information, is from Herman Landau, author of "Adath Louisville: the Story of a Jewish Community." )

TABLE

[US MAP]

LOUISIANA

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA [1855]

Photo Courtesy of Joel Levy

JEWISH CHILDREN'S HOME

The Tulane Manuscript Department is one of the world's larger archives of the American Southern Jewish experience. They have a particular emphasis on preserving the contributions of Jewish institutions and individuals to the cultural development of New Orleans.

--------------------------------
(A Special Thank You to Ellen Barnett Cleary for the following:)

A Brief History of the Jewish Childrens Home of New Orleans by Ellen Barnett Cleary

On January 8, 1856, the first Jewish Orphans Home in the United States was dedicated in New Orleans. The Asylum for the relief of Hebrew Widows and Orphans opened in a three story stuccoed brick building at the corner of Jackson and Chippewa Streets, capable of accomodating about 150 inmates. It was built to address the need created by the yellow fever epidemics in New Orleans.

According to the Report of the State Board of Health that appeared in the New Orleans Picayune on September 15, 1897, there were 283 deaths from the yellow fever epidemic reported on August 22, 1853. From June 1-October 7, 1853 there were 849 interments in all New Orleans cemeteries.

The Hebrew Benevolent Society of New Orleans, created in 1844 to provide medical care and medicine for the sick, help the immigrants who were without a means of earning a living, take care of the fatherless and motherless, and relieve the distressed and the widow, found themselves by the end of the 1853 yellow fever epidemic caring for seven widows and about twenty orphans Joseph Simon, president of the Hebrew Benevolent Society, called a mass meeting of the Jewish community of New Orleans at the old Masonic Hall on November 25, 1854 to address the need to create a home for them.

On March 14, 1855 the Association for the Relief of Jewish Widows and Orphans was chartered and on August 7, 1855, the cornerstone of the Jewish Widows and Orphans Home was laid at the corner of Jackson and Chippewa Streets. On February 1, 1856 the building opened its doors to one widow and her five children and seven other children who had neither father nor mother.

In 1869 and again in 1876, it was necessary to enlarge the Home. By 1885, the needs of the Jewish population had increased to the point that the building on Jackson and Chippewa was no longer sufficient to serve them. To meet the increased need, a new site on St. Charles Avenue at the corner of Peters Avenue (now Jefferson Avenue) was secured and a new building for the Jewish Orphans Home was erected. On September 1, 1887, the 150 orphans in its care moved into the new structure at 5342 St. Charles Avenue. By 1894, the widows were being cared for at Touro Infirmary, where they remained until The Julius Weis Home for the Aged and Infirm, which served both men and women, was opened in 1899. In 1896, the Jewish Orphans' Asylum was caring for 126 children. In 1902, the Home served 135 children from seven Southern states who had lost at least one of their parents. By 1930, The Jewish Widows and Orphans Home was serving 151 children.

There was no rule for how long the children could stay in the home. Some were adopted into good families; others remained until they reached adulthood and were able to provide for themselves. Dowries were provided for the girls when they married. Isidore Newman provided the money to build a school to provide the children with a good education and manual training so they would be equipped to provide for themselves and their families when they matured. It was built at the corner of Peters Avenue (now Jefferson Avenue) and S. Rampart Street, within easy walking distance of the Home.

The Jewish Children's Home closed after the death of its last superintendent, Harry Ginsburg, who died June 25, 1946.

SOURCES:

Heller, Max. Jubilee Souvenir of Temple Sinai 1872-1922. [New Orleans]: Congregation Temple Sinai, 1922.
Magner, Joseph. The Story of the Jewish Orphans Home of New Orleans. New Orleans: J. G. Hauser, 1906.
Myers, W. E. The Israelites of Louisiana: Their Religious, Civic, Charitable and Patriotic Life. New Orleans, W. E. Myers, 1902.
New Orleans Daily Picayune, January 8, 1856, pg. 2, col. 1.
New Orleans Daily Crescent, November 24, 1854, pg. 2, col. 3.
New Orleans Daily Picayune, September 5, 1887, pg. 2, col. 3-5.
New Orleans Daily Item, August 26, 1894, pg. 4, col. 5-6.
New Orleans States, January 12, 1896, pg. 6, col. 4-5.
New Orleans Daily Picayune, September 23, 1899, pg. 7, col. 1-7.
New Orleans Times Picayune, June 26, 1946, pg. 3, col. 6.
Correspondence with Ned Goldberg, Jewish Regional Children's Service.

------------------------------------

The JEWISH CHILDREN'S HOME, Collection: (1870-1967)

Institution established on Chippewah Street in 1855 by the HEBREW BENEVOLENT SOCIETY to provide for widows and children made destitute by The yellow fever epidemics and then by the casualties of the Civil War. Facility relocated in 1877 to:
5342 St. Charles Avenue, the future site of the Jewish Community Center.

NOTE: In Howard Simons, "Jewish Times: Voices of the American Jewish Experience," Houghton Mifflin, 1988, on pages 172-175 there is an oral history of a lady named Freda Hyde Lowenthal. It tells of her experiences, mostly quite pleasant, in the Jewish Orphan's Home in New Orleans, at 5342 St Charles Avenue. It was run by the Jewish Federation.

(A special thank you to Naomi Fatouros for this information).

Archives and collections found at:

Special Collections Division
HOWARD-TILTON LIBRARY
TULANE UNIVERSITY
6823 St. Charles Avenue
New Orleans, LA 70118
Phone: (504)865-5685
Fax: (504)865-6773

NEWMAN SCHOOL: Originally established in 1903 as the Isidore Newman Manual Training School, to educate the residents of the Jewish Children's Home, located at St. Charles and Jefferson Avenues (1877-1948). The Home became the site of the Jewish Community Center. (See New Orleans Art Schools Records, Collection #522, and the Jewish Children's Home Records, Collection #180).

***AND***

ASSOCIATION FOR THE RELIEF OF JEWISH WIDOWS AND ORPHANS OF NEW ORLEANS

Records, 1854-1938. The Association was founded in 1854 to establish and maintain an asylum for underprivileged widows and orphans of the Jewish faith. The records consist of Board of Officer minute books (1855-1938), minutes of annual meetings (1854-1913), and microfilm copy of anniversary addresses and annual reports (1855-1861) and may be found at the following location:

JACOB RADER MARCUS CENTER
of the
AMERICAN JEWISH ARCHIVES
Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion
3101 Clifton Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45220-2488
Email: Aja@cn.huc.edu

1915 Band Photograph of Moses "Mosie" Lew (center)
at the Jewish Children's Home, New Orleans, LA
from a book found at theTulane Archives
Courtesy of Bernie Hirsch, his cousin

*****The 1930 Federal Census for the Jewish Widows & Orphans Home may be accessed on the Federal and State Census Page of this web site. Courtesy of Ellen Barnett Cleary

*****The 1900 Federal Census for the Jewish Widows & Orphans Home in New Orleans, Louisiana may be accessed at: Jewish Widows and Orphans Home, Orleans County

Courtesy of Cindy Kanny-The Orphans' Home Website

CHECK OUT ONLINE BOOKSTORE for Volume 8 of Southern Jewish History
(Includes Story of Jewish Children's Home of New Orleans: "The 'Typical Home Kid Overachievers' Instilling a Success Ethic in the Jewish Children's Home of New Orleans" by Wendy Besmann covers the home since its inception in 1855 through its closing in 1946. Included among sixteen archival photos is the first Jewish orphanage in the United States.)

TABLE

[US MAP]

MARYLAND

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND [1873]

HEBREW ORPHAN ASYLUM - (1873-1921)
HEBREW CHILDREN SHELTERING and PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION
(BETSY LEVY MEMORIAL HOME) - (1900-1921)
DAUGHTERS OF HANNAH - (1913)

Photo Rayner Sreet...taken June 2002 by Linda Kern

RECORDS for the HEBREW ORPHAN ASYLUM are housed at the JEWISH MUSEUM. Call or write to Diane Feldman.

Some information about the HEBREW CHILDREN SHELTERING and PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION (BETSY LEVY MEMORIAL HOME) can also be found at the JEWISH MUSEUM, but there are NO RECORDS available.

JEWISH MUSEUM
15 Lloyd Street
Baltimore, Maryland 21202

There is no information about any Alumni Association for either organization.

See Federal and State Census Page for information on 1900 Federal Census

"The Making of An AmericanJewish Community" by Isaac Fine....P.155 The Jews of Baltimore.

**********

The DAUGHTERS OF HANNAH was an orphanage and day nursery founded in 1913. In 1929 it was located at 1734 E. Baltimore St., with 50 children in residence, ages 2-11. In the 1933 census, 10 children were listed. Also know as DAUGHTERS OF HANNAH HOME FOR ORPHANS.

The names of the children that appear in the 1930 census are listed at
http://www.lordbalto.com/Franklin/8.htm

New names and photos were added to http://www.lordbalto.com/daughtershannah.htm

Photograph Courtesy of Steve Franklin

[From a photograph taken by his uncle, Harry Abraham Franklin (or Abraham Hersh Franklin) who was the assistant to his wife Rose (the superintendent, standing in back row) at the Daughters of Hannah Orphanage in Baltimore in the 1920s and 1930s.]
Photograph dated Oct. 16, 1928

TABLE

[US MAP]

MASSACHUSETTS

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS [1822]

HEBREW ORPHAN ASYLUM - 1822*
BOSTON JEWISH ORPHANAGE - 1890 ? (No information)

HECHT NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE -
(Founded 1889 as HEBREW INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL)

JEWISH CHILDRENS BUREAU OF BOSTON
JEWISH CHILDRENS WELFARE ASSOCIATION

HEBREW HOME FOR DESTITUTE CHILDREN - Roxbury & Dorchester
Website: Dorchester Atheneum: Home for Destitute Jewish Children
See Census Information on Federal and State Census Page

HOME FOR JEWISH CHILDREN

*HEBREW ORPHAN ASYLUM (founded 1822) as HEBREW BENEVOLENT SOCIETY, various name changes until 1906. Merged 1940 into Jewish Child Care Center.

ARCHIVES consisting of an incomplete set of annual reports 1863-1926;
-copies of the charter and by-laws of 1867 and 1924;
-correspondence, 1884-1934, dealing with general matters, the Ladies Sewing Circle, the Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society and the Federation for support of Jewish Philanthropies;
-includes files on bequests to the Asylum arranged alphabetically;
-a collection of unidentified photographs; a memorial to Emanuel Lehman;
-testimonials from the Brooklyn Hebrew Orphan Asylum Society and United Hebrew Benevolent Association of Boston;
-applications for admission, 1864-1915;
-discharges, 1899-1940;
-admitting physician's reports, 1895-1903;
-list of children, 1874, 1876;
-medical records, 1935-1940;
-daily records of admissions and discharges, 1900-1927;
-school record, 1884-1892;
-conduct books, 1862-1884;
-statistical data for the years, 1862-1884;
-a register of visitors to children, 1902-1906;
-minutes of the Boards:
-membership books, 1881-1929;
-relief books, 1905-1907;
-a memorial book;
-a listing of orphans' estates and life insurance, 1874-1904;
-records relating to Edenwald and Friendly Home, 1916-1941;
-records for the Emanuel Lehman Provident and Industrial Trust Fund;
-membership lists of the Ladies Sewing Circle, 1876-1882;
-donations;
-student savings accounts.

**********

The HECHT NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE was founded in 1889 as the HEBREW INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL; it changed its name in 1922; merged with YMHA of Boston in 1958/59 to become YMHA-HECHT HOUSE.

Archives consist of 27 boxes of information:

Constitution, Minutes of Board of Trustees, Budgets, Financial Reports, Materials on Membership, and Numerous Activities, Extensive Material on Camping, Clubs, The Nursery School.
Includes Publications and Memorabilia and Similar Materials for the YMHA (1933-1958), and for the merged organization from 1959-1970. Contains some material of the HEBREW INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL.

ALL of the above Archives are held by:

AMERICAN JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY
BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY
2 Thornton Road
Waltham, MA 02154

The JEWISH CHILDRENS BUREAU OF BOSTON, established in 1918 was involved in placing children in boarding homes. In 1923, placed 105 children.

The JEWISH CHILD WELFARE ASSOCIATION was a residential care facility for dependent children.

**********

HEBREW HOME FOR DESTITUTE CHILDREN (No other information is know as this time, except for Census Information on Federal and State Census Page)

**********

In the 1933 and 1923 Censuses, the HOME FOR JEWISH CHILDREN was a residential care facility for white dependent children, under the auspices of Jewish Charities, established in 1900, no address given.
In 1925, it was located at 160 Canterbury St.in Dorcester with 160 beds and this location was established in 1897. With the same name and located on Canterbury and Austin Sts., the facility contained 225 inmates.
It was organized in 1909.

TABLE

[US MAP]

BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS [1977?]

LEDGEWOOD HOME FOR JEWISH CHILDREN
In 1979, it was located at 316 Harvard St., 02146
In 1977, it was located at 1000 Harvard St., Dorcester, MA 02122 and was a facility for emotionally
disturbed boys.
(No further information is known at this time)

TABLE

[US MAP]

WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS [1916]

JEWISH HOME FOR AGED AND ORPHANS

The JEWISH HOME FOR AGED AND ORPHANS open in 1916 with residential care for 17 children. There is no address given. Perhaps akin to Jewish Service Center for older Adults, whose last known address was 270 Park Avenue, Worcester, MA 01609.

TABLE

[US MAP]

MICHIGAN

DETROIT, MICHIGAN [1918]

DETROIT HEBREW ORPHAN HOME
DETROIT HEBREW INFANTS ORPHANS HOME
JEWISH CHILDREN'S HOME

In its 25 years of existence, the JEWISH CHILDREN'S HOME or its predecessors, the DETROIT HEBREW ORPHAN HOME and the DETROIT HEBREW INFANT ORPHAN HOME, served hundreds of Jewish Children.

The following history was taken from "THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS," courtesy of :

JEWISH FEDERATION of METROPOLITAN DETROIT
6735 Telegraph, Suite 30
P O Box 2030
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48303-2030

"History Recalls 25 Years of Service to Jewish Children" ,by Jill Davidson Sklar, Staff Writer, The Detroit Jewish News. This is a side bar from her article "A Long Way From Home", an article recalling memories of people who once lived in the Jewish Children's Home, March 10, 1995.

From a disagreement about boarding Jewish children in Christian homes to an abandoned field in a deteriorating neighborhood, the Jewish orphanages of Detroit took a long time to become operational and a short time to dismantle.

It all started in turn-of-the-century Detroit, when there was no facility in the area to care for Jewish children. Jewish orphans, children without either parent alive, were sent by United Jewish Charities (UJC) to a regional orphanage in Cleveland. The children were then adopted by Jewish families or raised by caretakers.

Detroit's UJC also acted as a social placement agency for children who had only one parent to care for them because of divorce, death or illness. To make it easier to reunite the families when the situations improved, those children were placed in boarding homes or foster care until the family could find better accommodations.

But boarding homes would not take in a child under the age of 5, who required special care. Jewish adoptive and foster homes were few.

Because no formal Jewish child-care facility was located in Detroit until 1918, UJC placed the children in any available home, Jewish or gentile. This angered community members who felt the children should be in a Jewish environment.

"The late Fred Butzel told the author that prior to the formation of the Infants' Home, Jewish infants were boarded out to non-Jewish families, where boys were not circumcised according to the halachically prescribed time," wrote Allen Warsen in a 1985 publication of the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan.

The alarm prompted action. A group of Jewish citizens formed the DETROIT HEBREW ORPHAN HOME in 1918. A fund-raising plan was formulated and bylaws passed.

The group decided that the purpose of the home was "to bring up and educate orphans of Jewish parentage who have remained alone, friendless and helpless. All children shall be trained and educated in the Orthodox belief and faith and according to Jewish National traditions, Jewish, Hebrew and English languages shall be taught."

Members of the founding group recruited friends and family to join the roster of supporters. Eight hundred people contributed $3 each and many more attended social functions that served as fund-raisers.

In 1920, the group secured the first home, located near the corner of Rowena and Woodward. It was an area once lined with grand homes built at the turn of the century that has since become a run-down stretch of Mack Avenue.

The group also organized the DETROIT HEBREW INFANT'S ORPHAN HOME for children under age 5. The home was first located at Canfield and Woodward, but later moved to 262 Rowena, two blocks from the home for the older children.

DETROIT'S JEWISH CHILDREN'S HOME was born when the two local homes were combined in 1930 at the recommendation of the Jewish Child Care Council, a Jewish Welfare Federation committee comprising members of the boards of both homes. Under the council's direction, a new facility was built at Petoskey and Burlingame and the two other buildings were vacated.

In 1931, a year after the home opened, the Jewish Welfare Federation commissioned a study of child-care institutions. Jacob Kepecs, an expert in such matters, informed the Federation that placing infants and young children in the home was "contrary to the best thought and practice in the field."

Mr. Kepecs said that young children and infants should be placed in private foster homes instead of institutional settings.

The advice was ignored.

The population of the home steadily climbed through the 1930's until it peaked in 1937 at 57 children. Then it fell to 24 in 1940.

The reason for the decline, wrote the late Jewish community historian Anne Chapin in her comprehensive History of Jewish Welfare Federation of Detroit 1926-1949 , was the improved ability to keep families together through the Jewish Social Services Bureau, and the greater availability of public assistance.

A survey conducted in mid-1940 at the request of home president Herman Cohen recommended that no more children be placed in institutional care. By late 1940, the rest of the children were reunited with their parents and the smaller children were placed in foster care.

During World War II, the home was converted to a day-care center for children of parents involved in the war effort.

When the war ended in 1945, the board of the Jewish Children's Bureau voted to deed the property to the adjacent Jewish Home for the Aged.

The building was demolished by the city in 1987.

ARCHIVE INFORMATION:

The remainder of the physical evidence lies in a lonely file in the basement of the Detroit Public Library. A part of the Jewish Welfare Federation archives in the Burton Historical Collection, the manila folder contains thin onion-skin paper copies of correspondence about the building or the children: a report on an epidemic of chickenpox that swept through the home, a 1938 census of the inhabitants, a slim report on the home's demise.

{The following reference information is gathered from "HARMONY & DISSONANCE: Voices of Jewish Identity in Detroit, 1914-1967", by Sidney M. Bolkosky, Pub. Wayne State University Press, Detroit, MI, 1991}

In July 1931 the two orphan institutions (HEBREW ORPHANS HOME and INFANTS ORPHANS HOME) had merged to form the JEWISH CHILDREN'S HOME, which assumed new lodgings in the United Jewish Charities Building on Petoskey and Burlingame in December 1932. the new institution served children from infancy to sixteen years of age. By 1935 it house thirty-eight children and by 1936, fifty-three. Its funding came from the Detroit Community Fund, personal donations, membership dues, and allocations from the Jewish Welfare Federation.

There are some records archived for the HEBREW ORPHANS HOME at:

YIVO INSTITUTE FOR JEWISH RESEARCH
555 West 57th Street
New York, NY 10019
(212)246-6080
Fax: (212)292-1892

TABLE

[US MAP]

MINNESOTA

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA [1918]

JEWISH FAMILY WELFARE ASSOCIATION
SHELTERING HOME FOR HOMELESS JEWISH CHILDREN
JEWISH SHELTER HOME FOR CHILDREN

In 1918, the JEWISH FAMILY WELFARE ASSOCIATION, was a residence care facility for 30 dependent children. In 1979, there address was listed as 811 La Salle Ct., Minneapolis, MN.

The SHELTERING HOME FOR HOMELESS JEWISH CHILDREN was established in 1919 and located at 1704 10th Avenue North. In 1933 name was JEWISH SHELTER HOME FOR CHILDREN with 15 dependent children.

TABLE

[US MAP]

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA [1911]

JEWISH WELFARE ASSOCIATION

The JEWISH WELFARE ASSOCIATION, was a residential care facility for about 6 dependent children and was established in 1911. Possible records are held at the Jewish Family Services, whose 1978 address was 1546 Saint Clair Ave, Saint Paul, MN 55105.

TABLE

[US MAP]

MISSOURI

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI [1919]

SISTERS' AID SOCIETY AND ORPHANS' HOME
SISTERS' AID JEWISH ORPHANS' HOME
GUARDIAN SOCIETY FOR JEWISH CHILDREN
JEWISH CHILDREN'S HOME

One of the last of the Orthodox-sponsored charities to be organized in Kansas City, was the SISTERS' AID SOCIETY and ORPHANS' HOME. The society originated in 1917 when Mrs. Ethel Katz called together a group of ten women who elected officers and began to meet regularly with the purpose of establishing an orphanage in Kansas City. Till then, all Jewish orphans had been sent to the CLEVELAND orphanage or were placed in non-Jewish homes in Kansas City. But a strong sentiment arose to provide a Jewish framework for the local care of both orphaned children or those from broken homes.

In 1919 as the question of purchasing the David Travis home was discussed, the latter decided to donate his home and promised $1,000 a year to maintain it. With such auspicious beginnings, the organization adopted a new charter, elected officers, and called for a census to determine the number of Jewish children needing a home. Through donations and dues (fifty cents a month), the society by 1921 h ad $5,000 in its treasury, and its membership had grown to over 900. Apparently, the Travis home did not prove adequate, and the SISTERS' AID SOCIETY purchased the former estate of Mr. Hathaway for $11,000 at 3224 East 9th Street. The home was remodeled and then dedicated as the SISTERS' AID JEWISH ORPHANS' HOME on July 3-4, 1921 with Mrs. Ida Netia Brenner appointed as superintendent and close to 25 children in her charge. By the fall of that year, with 33 children, the United Synagogues (Orthodox group) engaged a Hebrew teacher for the Home to give daily instructions for two hours a day following the full program of the Orthodox Hebrew schools.

Financial aid for the Home was provided not only by the women of the Sisters' Aid Society, but also by the men who were involved from the society's reorganization in 1919 when their separate board of directors seems to have combined with the ladies' group. In 1927, the expenses were estimated at about $500 per year per child, with forty children ranging in age from three to sixteen years. The children attended the local public school or high school, the synagogue and the synagogue Sunday school to become better integrated with the community. Though many of the children had one parent, by the accepted standard of that day, the Home was felt to offer better opportunities for individual growth and citizenship training than one parent could provide. The Home prided itself on its homelike atmosphere and its observance of Jewish traditions.

In 1931, the society decided to change its name to the GUARDIAN SOCIETY FOR JEWISH CHILDREN. The name of the Home was changed to JEWISH CHILDREN'S HOME, an obvious indication of the change of sentiment associated with the word orphan, although the official justification was that the Home served not only orphans but cared for all dependent children whether orphans, or children from broken homes, or problem children.

In 1941, as the need for a home gradually diminished, a community study of 1939 urged its closing. By the end of 1941 it was depopulated.

Throughout these years and continuing to the present day, the Society has generously used the interest income from a $40,000 trust fund originally intended to be used for the purchase of a new building, to grant scholarships to deserving young people, chiefly for Jewish camps, the annual Israel pilgrimage and for pursuing a Jewish studies program at college.

(The above are excerpts are from a book entitled: "Mid-America's Promise", edited by Dr. Joseph Schultz and published in conjunction with the American Jewish Historical Society in 1982)

TABLE

[US MAP]

ST LOUIS, MISSOURI [1909]

JEWISH ORPHAN'S HOME - (1909)
JEWISH SHELTER HOME - (1910)
JEWISH CHILDREN'S HOME - (1920's)

The JEWISH ORPHAN'S HOME, established in 1909, a/k/a JEWISH ORPHAN'S HOME OF ST LOUIS, was located at 6630 Oakland in 1937. In residence were 72 children ages 6 plus. (No connection to the JEWISH SHELTER HOME)

The JEWISH SHELTER HOME, founded in 1910 was a resident care facility for dependent children under the auspices of Jewish Charities. Between 1910 and 1919, it served over 100 children. In 1919, it was located at 2236 Tower Grove Avenue in St. Louis.

Known as the JEWISH CHILDREN'S HOME for most of its existence, it was founded in the 1920's and disbanded in 1963. Before the establishment of this orphanage many of the children from St. Louis were sent to the Cleveland Jewish Orphan Asylum. In 1910, there was a movement to establish an Orthodox orphanage in St. Louis, as CJOA in Cleveland housed 70 children from St. Louis. The JEWISH CHILDREN'S HOME was located on Forest Park Boulevard adjacent to Highway 40.

Their records are archived at:

THE JEWISH FAMILY AND CHILDREN'S SERVICE
Attn: Rochelle Novak
9385 Olive Boulevard
St. Louis, Missouri 63132

There is no alumni association, although they did have a successful reunion several years ago.

TABLE

[US MAP]

---

NEBRASKA

OMAHA, NEBRASKA [1919]

JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER AND WELFARE FEDERATION

Established in 1919 the JEWISH COMMUNITY CENTER AND WELFARE FEDERATION was a residential care facility for 19 dependent children. There is no known address. In 1903, the Jewish Welfare Federation of Omaha was founded and located at 748 Brandeis Building, Omaha, NE.
No other information known.

TABLE

[US MAP]

NEW JERSEY

CLIFTON, NEW JERSEY [1921]
(PATTERSON, NEW JERSEY)

DAUGHTERS OF MIRIAM HOME for the AGED and ORPHANS

The DAUGHTERS OF MIRIAM HOME for the AGED and ORPHANS was founded in 1921 in a building at 469 River Street, Paterson, New Jersey. In 1921, Nathan Barnert, a prominent Jewish citizen and Mayor of Paterson, purchased the property know as Ashley Homestead on River Street and started this organization, which was name after his late wife Miriam. They moved to 155 Hazel Street, Clifton, New Jersey in 1927.

The orphanage was phased out around in 1948. It sill operates its Home for the Aged at the Clifton Address. There is no alumni association and information on where records are archived is unknown at this time.

For further information:

DAUGHTERS OF MIRIAM HOME FOR THE AGED
155 Hazel Street
Clifton, New Jersy 07015
(973)772-3700

TABLE

[US MAP]

JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY [1915]

HEBREW ORPHANS ASYLUM
HEBREW ORPHANS HOME
HEBREW ORPHANS HOME OF HUDSON COUNTY
HEBREW HOME FOR ORPHANS AND AGED OF HUDSON COUNTY

The HEBREW ORPHANS ASYLUM opened in 1915 and in 1917 changed its name to the HEBREW ORPHANS HOME. In 1919, it was called the HEBREW ORPHANS HOME OF HUDSON COUNTY and was located on Herns Ave, Jersey City, NJ. In 1933 was called the HEBREW HOME FOR ORPHANS AND AGED OF HUDSON COUNTY and was located on Boulevard and Van Nostrand Ave in Jersey City. In residence were 58 Hebrew dependent and orhaned children ages 5-16.

TABLE

[US MAP]

NEWARK, NEW JERSEY [1861]

HEBREW BENEVOLENT AND ORPHAN ASYLUM SOCIETY
BET YETOMIN
HEBREW ORPHAN ASYLUM* [With./1905 NJ State Census List of Names]
HEBREW ORPHANAGE AND SHELTERING HOME

January 1861 - 14 Newark Jews created an orphanage named in German, later changed to the HEBREW BENEVOLENT SOCIETY. Orphans were boarded with private families.

1886 - BET YETOMIN, a three story orphan's home was purchased at 232 Mulberry St., Newark, and was non-observant in traditions.

1887 - The HEBREW ORPHAN ASYLUM is opened at 232 Mulberry Street

1905 - They moved to 534 Clinton Avenue, Newark.

1911 - There were 67 children at the Home.

1948 - Children's Home merged with other child care organizations into one agency _ JEWISH CHILD CARE ASSOCIATION. Serviced troubled as well as parentless children.

*NOTE: 1905 New Jersey State Census Information for the
HEBREW ORPHAN ASYLUM, NEWARK, NJ
may be accessed on the FEDERAL and STATE CENSUS Page on this site.

******

1923 - Orthodox women established the very observant HEBREW ORPHANAGE AND SHELTERING HOME. It was first located at Homestead Park, and later moved to 141 Lincoln Avenue, Newark.

Neither home currently exists. JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE absorbed JEWISH CHILD CARE ASSOCIATION and is a deficit financed agency of the UNITED JEWISH FEDERATION OF METROWEST.

The JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF METROWEST does have an anniversary pamphlet in its archives, which gives the history of the non-orthodox home in greater detail, entitled:

"One Hundred Years of Service" by Jane Wallerstein

Whatever records exist are in the JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY Archives, but there would not be much. For additional information:

JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF METROWEST
Joseph Settanni, Archivist
901 Route 10 E
Whippany, New Jersey 07981
(973)884-4800 Ext. 565

Photocopying can be provided at a nominal charge per page. There is no charge for research done at the JHS Headquarters, but suggest making an appointment in advance.

There is no known Orphan's Alumni Association.

TABLE

[US MAP]

NEW YORK

BRONX, NEW YORK [1903]

HEBREW CHILDREN'S HOME (Bronx and Rockaway Beach, NY)

In 1900, an institution called HEBREW CHILDREN'S HOME was located on Fulton Corner -Eastern Ave, Oceanus (Rockaway Beach) Queens. It possibly opened before 1900, but was incorporated in 1903.

In 1935, it was located at 201 Mount Eden Avenue in the Bronx as a temporary shelter for 26 children, ages 2 - 12. Between 1940 and 1946, at the same address it was still a shelter for 50/100 children, ages 3-10. It was still a shelter and became an Emergency Reception Center in 1954 for 50 boys and girls; location was, 1683 Monroe.

Same name and address in 1954, it was now an interracial temporary shelter for 50 normal children, ages 3-11, from all the 5 Boroughs of New York. In 1977, it closed its doors.

SHIELD OF DAVID HOME FOR ORPHAN GIRLS

The SHIELD OF DAVID HOME FOR ORPHAN GIRLS first opened as a school and services for retarded Jewish Children. In 1933, it operated as a resident home for 65 orphaned and dependent girls. From 1935 through 1946 it was located at 718 Bryant Avenue and later moved to Andrews Avenue.

There were two affiliated organizations, known as the Mother's Organization and the Men's Organization that engaged in fund raising activities. Rose and Ellis P. Levy were benefactors of the Shield. The director's name from the late 1920's to at least 1937 was Isadore Rees.

Last known address in 1977 was The Shield Institute, 1800 Andrews Ave., Bronx, NY 10453.

TABLE

[US MAP]

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK [1878]

BROOKLYN HEBREW ORPHAN ASYLUM
COUNCIL HOME FOR JEWISH GIRLS
INDEPENDENT DAUGHTERS OF ISRAEL ORPHAN ASYLUM OF BROOKLYN
INFANTS HOME OF BROOKLYN
OHEL CHILDREN'S HOME
PRIDE OF JUDEA
----ISRAEL ORPHAN ASYLUM OF BROWNSVILLE and EAST NEW YORK

BROOKLYN HEBREW ORPHAN ASYLUM

For Information on BHOA's Alumni Association and History........1906 Post Card
(Please go to: JCCA PAGE)

COUNCIL HOME FOR JEWISH GIRLS (Brooklyn and Jamaica, NY)

Established in 1914, the COUNCIL HOME FOR JEWISH GIRLS, was located at Rockaway Blvd and Dains Avenue, Jamaica, Queens. In 1921, it was located at 8220 12th Avenue in Brooklyn. The 1933 State Census, listed it as an institution for delinquent and problem Jewish girls, ages 12-16. Under the auspices of the National Council of Jewish Women, Brooklyn Section, only 2 dependent girls were reported.

INDEPENDENT DAUGHTERS OF ISRAEL ORPHAN ASYLUM OF BROOKLYN

A listing found for 1917-1919, of the INDEPENDENT DAUGHTER OF ISRAEL ORPHAN ASYLUM OF BROOKLYN, gave an address location at 617 Willoughby Avenue. No further information was given.

INFANTS HOME OF BROOKLYN

For Information on INFANTS HOME OF BROOKLYN (Please go to: JCCA PAGE)

OHEL CHILDREN'S HOME

The OHEL CHILDREN'S HOME, office location in 1977 at 407 16th Avenue, Brooklyn, places Jewish children in Orthodox Jewish adoptive and foster homes in the NYC area. It operated the OHEL residence at 1523 58th St., Brooklyn for 20 dependent and disturbed Orthodox Jewish boys and girls, ages 6-15. Also operated 2 small group homes. The address of the office location in 1979 was at 4423 16th Avenue, Brooklyn. Note: "OHEL" is Hebrew for "TENT".

PRIDE OF JUDEA
ISRAEL ORPHAN ASYLUM OF BROWNSVILLE and EAST NEW YORK

In 1919, the building at 992 Dumont Avenue, was under construction for the ISRAEL ORPHAN ASYLUM OF BROWNSVILLE and EAST NEW YORK. It was organized in 1916.

Established in 1923, PRIDE OF JUDEA was a small Jewish Orphanage with at one time an average population of 250 boys and girls. It was located at 992 Dumont Avenue in the East New York section of Brooklyn, NY in the former building of the Israel Orphan Asylum.

The 1933 State Census showed a residential care facility under religious auspices for 176 dependent white children. The PRIDE OF JUDEA in 1935, showed it to be a home and congregate care facility for 210 Orthodox Jewish children, ages 5-18. The same name and address posted for 1946, for Orthodox Jewish Children, ages 6-16.

In 1954, PRIDE OF JUDEA was located at 1000 Dumont Ave., and listed as a congregate care facility for 175 dependent Jewish children, referred by the Dept. of Welfare, children's court, etc.

In 1959, PRIDE OF JUDEA became the Pride of Judea - Mental Health Center and in 1972 moved to Douglaston, NY in Queens County. It is now regarded as one of the finest mental health centers in the State of New York.

At the same address in 1965, it became Pride of Judea Children's Services and in 1979 was listed as Pride of Judea Treatment Center, at 243-02 Northern Blvd., Douglaston, Queens, NY, with non-sectarian psychiatric services.

The Pride of Judea MentalHealth Center recently joined with, and is now a part of, the the JEWISH BOARD FOR FAMILY and CHILDREN'S SERVICES.

PRIDE OF JUDEA - MENTAL HEALTH CENTER
243-02 Northern Boulevard
Douglaston, NY 11362-1199

There is still an active Alumni Association and an Alumni Newsletter. For any information for joining or subscribing to the newsletter, please write:

ROSE NADLER SCHEFER ALUMNI CHAPTER of the
PRIDE OF JUDEA CHILDREN'S HOME
Stan Friedland
10 Circle Drive
Syosset, NY 11791

The Pride of Judea was regarded quite highly by their Alumni as they look back at it. Thus two of its alumni have authored a wonderful book about the Pride of Judea, called:

"AN ORPHAN HAS MANY PARENTS"
by Phil Craft and Stan Friedland
Published in 1998 by KTAV Publishers, Hoboken, NJ.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE PR IDE OF JUDEA CHILDRENS' HOME,
please access the

PRIDE OF JUDEA CHILDRENS' HOME Page on this web site.

There you will find more history, alumni information, book reviews for "An Orhan Has Many Parents' as well as a Photo Album.

TABLE

[US MAP]

BUFFALO, NEW YORK [1879]

JEWISH ORPHANS ASYLUM SOCIETY
JEWISH ORPHANS ASYLUM OF WESTERN NEW YORK
JEWISH MOTHERS' CLUB NURSERY AND TEMPORARY HOME
JEWISH MOTHERS' CLUB
JEWISH WELFARE SERVICE

Organized in 1879, the JEWISH ORPHANS ASYLUM SOCIETY was affiliated with the JEWISH ORPHANS ASYLUM OF WESTERN NEW YORK at Rochester.

In 1920, The JEWISH MOTHERS' CLUB NURSERY AND TEMPORARY HOME was established. In 1927, called the JEWISH MOTHER'S CLUB, residential care for 26 dependent children, ages 1-13 and was located at 252 Adams St. From 1934 through 1942 it was located at 56 Johnson St in Buffalo with 36 beds for temporary overnight care.

The JEWISH WELFARE SERVICE located at 398 Jefferson St, Buffalo, was established in 1934 as a residential care home for 69 dependent children.

TABLE

[US MAP]

FAR ROCKAWAY, NEW YORK [1914]

CHILDREN'S HAVEN

Established in 1914, the CHILDREN'S HAVEN was under the auspices of Jewish Charities. In 1919, it was located on Hollywood Avenue, Far Rockaway, Queens. The 1923 State Census shows 29 white children, whose Mother's were ill.

In 1933 State Census, the address was listed as 234 Broadway, Far Rockaway, as a residential care facility for 75 dependent Jewish children, ages 3-14.

TABLE

[US MAP]

HAWTHORNE, NEW YORK [1906]

HAWTHORNE-CEDAR KNOLLS SCHOOL

HAWTHORNE-CEDAR KNOLLS SCHOOL in Westchester County was a residence school for delinquent Jewish Boys and Girls, committed by Juvenile Court, under the auspices of the Jewish Protectory and Aid Society. HAWTHORNE for boys opened in 1906 and CEDAR KNOLLS for girls opened in 1912. The children came from New York City, Nassau and Westchester Counties.

Last known address in 1980 was 226 Linda Ave, Hawthorne, NY 10532.

For more Information on this institution......
(Please go to: JCCA PAGE)

TABLE

[US MAP]

LAWRENCE, NEW YORK [1919]

FRIENDLY HOME FOR GIRLS

Established in 1919, the FRIENDLY HOME FOR GIRLS, was an auxiliary of the HEBREW ORPHANS ASYLUM of NEW YORK (HOA). See HOA on JCCA Page for more information.

For more Information on this institution.......
(Please go to: JCCA PAGE)

TABLE

[US MAP]

NEW YORK, NEW YORK [1822]

JCCA is Successor to the following orphanages, societies and others in the New York area:

BROOKLYN HEBREW ORPHAN ASYLUM (BHOA)
CENTRAL COMMITTEE FOR FRIENDLY AID TO JEWISH GIRLS
CHILDRENS SERVICE BUREAU
CHILDREN'S DAY & NIGHT SHELTER
CHILDVILLE
CORNER HOUSE
DAUGHTERS OF ZION, HEBREW DAY & NIGHT NURSERY (DZHD&NN)
EDENWALD SCHOOL (auxiliary of HOA)
***EDENWALD SCHOOL FOR BOYS
***EDENWALD SCHOOL FOR GIRLS 
FELLOWSHIP HOUSE FOR BOYS
FREE SYNAGOGUE CHILD ADOPTION COMMITTEE 
FRIENDLY HOME FOR GIRLS (auxiliary of HOA) [see LAWRENCE, NY]
GELLER HOUSE
GIRLS CLUB OF BROOKLYN
GUSTAVE HARTMAN HOME FOR CHILDREN
HARTMAN-HOMECREST
HARTMAN HOME FOR CHILDREN
HAWTHORNE-CEDAR KNOLLS SCHOOL [also see HAWTHORNE, NY] 
HEBREW BENEVOLENT & ORPHAN ASYLUM
HEBREW BENEVOLENT & ORPHAN SOCIETY of the City of New York
HEBREW HOME FOR INFANTS (HHI)
HEBREW INFANT'S ASYLUM (HIA)
HEBREW INFANT'S HOME (HIH)
HEBREW KINDERGARTEN & INFANT'S HOME (HKIH)
HEBREW NATIONAL ORPHAN HOME (HNOH) (a/k/a Homecrest) [see YONKERS, NY]
HEBREW ORPHAN ASYLUM of the City of New York (HOA) (Guide to the Records of the HOA, undated 1855-1985, 2004-?)
HOA Searchable database: The collection contains correspondence, meeting minutes, student ledgers, admission and discharge records, and applications for admission to the Hebrew Orphan Asylum of the City of New York, as well as souvenir journals of the Seligman Solomon Society. This database indexes names recorded in a ledger titled "Index of Children, 1860-1900." The ledger is located in Box 73. The page numbers shown in the database table are listed in the ledger, however; they may or may not correspond to other ledgers located in the collection. http://www.cjh.org/collections/genealogy/HOA.php
HEBREW SHELTERING GUARDIAN SOCIETY OF NY
HOMECREST (a/k/a Hebrew National Orphan Home)
HOME FOR BOYS OF THE JUNIOR LEAGUE OF HOA
HOME FOR HEBREW INFANTS
INFANTS HOME OF BROOKLYN
ISRAEL ORPHAN ASYLUM (IOA)
JEWISH BIG BROTHERS ASSOCIATION
JEWISH BOARD OF FAMILY & CHILDRENS SERVICES
JEWISH BOARD OF GUARDIANS
JEWISH CHILD CARE ASSOCIATION of NEW YORK
JEWISH CHILDREN'S CLEARING BUREAU
JEWISH GIRLS SERVICES
JEWISH PLANNING SERVICE FOR JEWISH YOUNG WOMEN
JEWISH PROTECTORY AND AID SOCIETY
JEWISH UNMARRIED MOTHER'S SERVICES
JEWISH YOUTH SERVICES OF BROOKLYN
LAKE VIEW HOME
MANHATTAN RESIDENCE (Wise Services) 
PLEASANTVILLE COTTAGE SCHOOL [also see PLEASANTVILLE, NY ]
WAYSIDE DAY NURSERY
WISE (LOUISE) SERVICES

ALL INFORMATION ON THE ABOVE NEW YORK AREA LISTINGS
MAY BE FOUND ON THE JCCA PAGE OF THIS SITE
Including Current Information on Alumni Associations and Their Newsletters.

---

OTHER NEW YORK,NY ORPHANAGES
Not Associated with JCCA, INCLUDE:

BRISKER'S ORPHAN HOME
BUSKER ORPHAN ASYLUM FOUNDATION
EDUCATIONAL ALLIANCE, INC. a/k/a HEBREW INSTITUTE
HARLEM HEBREW DAY AND NIGHT NURSERYand/or HARLEM HEBREW DAY NURSERY
HEBREW MUTUAL BENEFIT SOCIETY and JUDAH TOURAH WIDOW AND ORPHAN FUND
ISACHAR WIDOWS AND ORPHANS BENEVOLENT SOCIETY
LADY DEBORAH NURSERY AND CHILD'S PROTECTORYa/k/a
----LADY DEBORAH NURSERY
----DEBORAH NURSERY AND CHILD'S PROTECTORY
----THE LADIES' DEBORAH NURSERY
----LADY DEB NURSERY
NINTH STREET DAY NURSERY AND ORPHAN'S HOME a/k/a
----ASSOCIATED HEBREW DAY NURSERY
----HEBREW DAY NURSERY
ZION WIDOW AND ORPHAN SOCIETY

WIDOW AND ORPHAN SOCIETIES (OTHER)

Plus these Refugee Organizations:

EUROPEAN-JEWISH CHILDREN'S AID, INC. (Also see HIAS)
HIAS (Also see EUROPEAN-JEWISH CHILDREN'S AID, INC.)
UNITED STATES COMMITTEE for the CARE of EUROPEAN CHILDREN.

---

Records archived at:

YIVO INSTITUTE FOR JEWISH RESEARCH has changed its address to the new CENTER FOR JEWISH HISTORY.

YIVO INSTITUTE FOR JEWISH RESEARCH
15 West 16th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues)
New York, NY 10011
(212)246-6080
Fax: (212)292-1892

Include the following:

BRISKER'S ORPHAN HOME

BRISKER'S ORPHAN HOME records from United Brisker Relief, New York, NY are archived with other information from the organization, dating from 1916-1978.

Landsmanshaft established in 1915 by a group of societies of Jewish immigrants from Brest (Brisk in Yiddish), Belorussia. It undertook relief work abroad following World War I and World War II, and was active until 1978.

BUSKER ORPHAN ASYLUM FOUNDATION

Busko B'nai B'rith Sick and Benevolent Association, New York, NY, has records archived from 1947-1967. Landsmanshaft founded in 1911 by Jewish immigrants from Busk, Poland (now Busk, Ukraine). Its activities included establishment of a shtibi (Hasidic synagogue), anniversary journals, 1952, 1967, including those of the New York-Boston Busker Relief Association and the BUSKER ORPHAN ASYLUM FOUNDATION, plus other miscellaneous holdings.

*********************************

OTHER NEW YORK CITY INSTITUTIONS INCLUDE:

EDUCATIONAL ALLIANCE, INC. a/k/a
HEBREW INSTITUTE
[1889]

Established in 1889, as the HEBREW INSTITUTE, the title changed 4 years later to the EDUCATIONAL ALLIANCE, INC., to emphasize its non-sectarian program. In 1979, it address was 197 E Broadway, and was listed as a residential care facility under private auspices for 34 children. It also had foster placing and unwed mothers service. this agency has not been active in child care in the past.

---

HARLEM HEBREW DAY AND NIGHT NURSERY
HARLEM HEBREW DAY NURSERY
[1914]

Incorporated in 1914, the HARLEM HEBREW DAY AND NIGHT NURSERY was perhaps akin to the HARLEM HEBREW DAY NURSERY, located at 38 W 115th St., NYC, in 1921.

In the 1933 State Census,it was listed as a residential care facility for 94 dependent children, ages 2-12.
From 1935 to 1940, it's address was listed as 51 W 113th St, NYC as Shelter care for 25 children ages 2-12 and handled day care also.

---

LADY DEBORAH NURSERY AND CHILD'S PROTECTORY a/k/a
LADY DEBORAH NURSERY
DEBORAH NURSERY AND CHILD'S PROTECTORY
THE LADIES' DEBORAH NURSERY
LADY DEB NURSERY
[1878]

Information on this orphanage can now be found on its own page:

LADY DEB WAS NO LADY!:
The Saga of the Ladies Deborah Nursery and Child's Protectory

NINTH STREET DAY NURSERY AND ORPHAN'S HOME a/k/a
ASSOCIATED HEBREW DAY NURSERY
HEBREW DAY NURSERY
[1923]

Incorporated in 1923, a 1935 listing shows the ASSOCIATED HEBREW DAY NURSERY located at 723 E Ninth St., NYC, also known as the NINTH STREET DAY NURSERY AND ORPHAN'S HOME. From 1940 to 1946, same name and address, it was listed as a Day Care and Kindergarten and cross-referenced from the Associated Hebrew Day Nursery. In 1954, the address changed to 393 E 8th St., NYC, and was a Day Care facility for children.

---

WIDOW AND ORHAN SOCIETIES

The following Widow and Orphan Societies were taken from the book by Nathan M. Kaganoff, "Organized Jewish Welfare Activity in New York City (1848-1860)" in American Jewish Historical Quarterly (Sept. 1966): Special Thank you to Steve Siegel.

1851,1854 Hebron Society for the Support of Widows and Orphans,
of Hebron Lodge #5, B'nai B'rith.
1848 The Montefiore Widow and Orphan and Benefit Society of the City of New York, later known as the Montefiore Society [not specifically for widow and orphan benefits].
1849 Widow & Orphans Society B'nai B'rith
1850 New York Hebrew Sick Burial Widow and Orphans Society
1851 Lebanon Widow and Orphan Society (incorp. ), of Lebanon Lodge #9, B'nai B'rith.
1851 Zions Widow and Orphan Society, of Zion Lodge #2, B'nai B'rith.
1852 Ber Sheba Widow and Orphan Society, of B'er Sheba Lodge #11,B'nai B'rith.
1857 Manhattan Widow & Orphan Assurance Society. [known to be a Jewish organization]
1857 Ruben's Widow and Orphans Benevolent Society of New York, of Reuben Lodge #3, Free Sons of Israel.
1857 Widow and Orphan Fund of Jordan Lodge No. 15, I.O.B.B. [B'nai B'rith].
1858 Levy Widow and Orphan Society, of Levy Lodge #5, Free Sons of Israel.
1858 Noah Widow and Orphan Assurance Society, of Noah Lodge #1,Free Sons of Israel.
1858 Phoenix Widows and Orphans Aid Society
1858 Washington Widow and Orphans Benevolent Society of New York, of Washington Lodge #19, B'nai B'rith.
1859 Jew's Asylum for Widows and Orphans (not from above book)
1860 Aryeh Widow and Orphan Association, of Aryeh Lodge #6, Free Sons of Israel.

Additional New York, New York Orphan Society information archived at:

JACOB RADER MARCUS CENTER
of the
AMERICAN JEWISH ARCHIVES
Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion
3101 Clifton Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45220-2488
Email: Aja@cn.huc.edu

Include the following:

HEBREW MUTUAL BENEFIT SOCIETY
JUDAH TOURAH WIDOW AND ORPHAN FUND

Constitution and bylaws of the Hebrew Mutual Benefit Society and the Judah Tourah Widow and Orphan Fund, plus a brief history including Board of Trustees list financial statement and memorial list. 1896 and 1949 (Small Collections)

---

ISACHAR WIDOWS AND ORPHANS BENEVOLENT SOCIETY

Constitution and bylaws of the Isachar Widows and Orphans Society, Apr 9, 1900. (Small Collections)

---

ZION WIDOW AND ORPHAN SOCIETY

Declaration Book. Dec 1904 - Apr 1912 (Small Collections)

---

REFUGEE ORGANIZATIONS:

EUROPEAN-JEWISH CHILDREN'S AID, INC. (Also see HIAS)

1940: The German Jewish Children's Aid, Inc., 165 W. 46th St., Manhattan; Incorporated 1934 for the assistance of German-Jewish children who immigrate to the U.S.

1946: European-Jewish Children's Aid, 105 Nassau St.; formerly German-Jewish Children's Aid, Inc.; operated by the National Refugee Service.

1947: EUROPEAN-JEWISH CHILDREN'S AID, INC. , 15 Park Row., Manhattan

1954: EUROPEAN-JEWISH CHILDREN'S AID, INC. , 15 Park Row.,Manhattan; a national agency incorporated in 1934 to supervise the immigration into the United States of unaccompanied alien Jewish minors admitted on corporate affidavits; cooperates with Welfare services throughout the U.S. to place the children; operated by the United Service for New Americans, Inc. (which has been part of HIAS since 1954.)

1935-1954: Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), National HQ, 425 Lafayette St; assists Jewish Immigration to the U.S. (in the 1910 census, the society reported its home at 229 E. Broadway, but its function is not necessarily related to the care of children.)

1957: United Hias Service, 425 Lafayette St., Manhattan service for refugees; assists Jewish families who wish to adopt orphans from overseas.

1965: United Hias Service, 425 Lafayette St., Manhattan; migration assistance.

1972: United Hias Service (The United Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society); established in 1909 by the merger of the Hebrew Sheltering House Assn. (Established 1884) and the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (Established 1902), during the period of 1927-1945, it was affiliated with the Jewish Colonization Assoc., and European Emigdirect to operate "HICEM" for the purpose of assisting refugees from Nazi Germany. In 1954 HIAS merged with the United Service for new Americans and with the Migration Services of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee to form United Hias Service.

1980: HIAS, INC., 200 Park Ave. South, Manhattan, 10003; an international Jewish migration agency incorporated in 1954; HIAS is an acronym for " Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society," formerly the United Hias Service, Inc.

The HIAS Archives for 1903-1961 have been deposited with the YIVO INSTITUTE FOR JEWISH RESEARCH.

YIVO INSTITUTE FOR JEWISH RESEARCH has changed its address to the new CENTER FOR JEWISH HISTORY.

YIVO INSTITUTE FOR JEWISH RESEARCH
15 West 16th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues)
New York, NY 10011
(212)246-6080
Fax: (212)292-1892

UNITED STATES COMMITTEE for the CARE of EUROPEAN CHILDREN

1946: Located at 215 4th Ave., Manhattan; assists unaccompanied refugee children who immigrate under its auspices. During World War II, its program in this city was administered by the Children's Aid Society. The committee was founded in 1940 by Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, et al., it absorbed the National Non-Sectarian Committee for German Jewish Refugee children. In1945, it set up European HQ in Frankfurt, Germany. It's last European office (in Munich) closed in 1952 and the committee was dissolved in 1953 after helping nearly 3,000 children find homes in the U.S.

TABLE

[US MAP]

PLEASANTVILLE, NEW YORK [1912]

PLEASANTVILLE COTTAGE SCHOOL

The PLEASANTVILLE COTTAGE SCHOOL opened its doors on July 1, 1912 as a brand new concept in institutional living. On this day, these children, both boys and girls, formerly living at the HEBREW SHELTERING GUARDIAN SOCIETY's Home on 150th Street and Broadway, paraded from the Home, 480 strong, waving small American flags. They marched down Broadway, accompanied by two bands and headed to 125th Street and Park Avenue, where they boarded a train to their new home of cottage style living in Pleasantville, NY.

Said by many as "the best of its kind in the world", its dozen or so cottages were organized like college fraternities or sororities. Each cottage was home to about twenty-five boys or girls who ate, slept, and studied there. Within each cottage, all ages were mixed, so that some siblings could live with each other. Cottage residents did their own housekeeping and helped their cottage mother prepare the meals. A system of cottage councils was introduced to reinforce the republics.

Besides the cottage plan and the self-government, the new home boasted a third remarkable feature, which accounted for the fact that it had been named the PLEASANTVILLE COTTAGE SCHOOL. It initiated one of the most innovative educational programs ever attempted in America. Three different kinds of education---academic, religious, and vocational---were combined into one interrelated curriculum. With first rate teachers, the children were able to finish twelve years of school in nine, by stretching the school day from five hours to seven and a half hours and reducing the summer vacation to a few weeks. Every child was expected to finish high school before discharge. Demanding as this intensive, unorthodox program was, the children appeared to thrive on it, and finishing school three years earlier, had enormous appeal.

Unfortunately, raising money became harder during the war. To reduce expenses, the school accepted more children and made a number of economies. Some board members felt that the school's lavish educational program was a luxury and should be dropped. In 1918 the situation worsened when a polio epidemic forced the school to cancel all admissions and discharge some children. The school was ordered to abolish its expensive private educational program and allow the city to educate the children. With its most remarkable feature gone, the school lost a good deal of its reputation and luster after only just six short years.

Over the years the PLEASANTVILLE COTTAGE SCHOOL took in children from other New York Jewish Orphanages upon their closings, such as those from the Hebrew Orphan Asylum in 1940.

(The above information is from "The Luckiest Orphans", by Hyman Bogen....see Bibliography List below).

For more Information on this institution.......
(Please go to: JCCA PAGE)

TABLE

[US MAP]

ROCHESTER, NEW YORK [1877]

JEWISH ORPHAN ASYLUM OF WESTERN NEW YORK
JEWISH SHELTERING HOME
JEWISH CHILDREN'S HOME
JEWISH CHILDREN'S BUREAU

As early as 1877, the JEWISH ORPHAN ASYLUM OF WESTERN NEW YORK, located in Rochester on North St. Paul Street, provided shelter and upbringing for the orphans of Jewish parents. But the growing numbers of the Orthodox community in the city and their increasing independence from the German-Jewish Reform community made it desirable to provide an Orthodox setting for the raising of orphans. It was first organized and represented the concerns of German-Jewish residents of Syracuse, Buffalo and Rochester. Because of the insufficient number of dependent children in these towns, it did not justify to have local orphanages, and in the fall of 1879, six children were accepted for care and boarded in a private home in Rochester.

In 1882, The Jewish Orphan Asylum Association decided to establish an orphanage in Rochester, at midpoint between Buffalo and Syracuse. A large house was purchased 2 years later with ample grounds along the Genesee River Gorge, just a mile or so north of where the future JEWISH CHILDREN'S HOME would be built 30 years later. The JEWISH ORPHAN ASYLUM OF WESTERN NEW YORK, closed in 1928 due to decrease in population and because of the absorption of the many of the children into the JEWISH CHILDREN'S HOME.

The JEWISH CHILDREN'S HOME in Rochester, New York, was founded in 1912 to serve as an orphanage for children of Orthodox Jewish faith so that they could be raised in a setting appropriate to their religious beliefs.It was originally called the JEWISH SHELTERING HOME The founding president of the JEWISH CHILDREN'S HOME, Alfred Hart, argued that Orthodox orphans should have the opportunity to be raised "as their parents would have done if they lived with all the sacred customs that were so dear to them." The JEWISH CHILDREN'S HOME opened its doors at 27 Gorham Street in 1914, and continued in operation until 1948.

The papers of the JEWISH CHILDREN'S HOME consist mostly of budgets, record and account books kept for the institution and its charges in the 1940s. There is a large bound volume which records all 341 admissions to the home between 1914 and 1947. It contains background information on each child admitted, their progress at the home, and the circumstances of their discharge. Most of the records were kept by the institution's superintendent, Jacob S. Hollander, who served in that capacity from 1919 to 1948. Box 4 of the collection contains correspondence, budgets, and printed material he kept from involvement with Rochester chapters of the Jewish National Fund and the Mizrachi Zionist organization during the late 1930s and 1940s.

Archives of the JEWISH CHILDREN'S HOME consist of 4 boxes (D.67):

Box 1:

Record book of savings accounts, 1931-1938
Record book of saving accounts, 1940-1946
Folder of miscellaneous accounts, 1940-1947

Box 2:

Record book of donations received, 1945-1949
Record book of operating, building, scholarship, and endowment funds, 1943-1948

Box 3:

Admissions book, 1914-1947
Record book of insurance, 1944-1947
Black binder of lists and addresses of board of directors, alumni; contributions' scholarship funds; minutes of alumni meetings, 1935-1942
Card files of donations received, 1920s-1940s; admissions, 1914-1947

Box 4:

Record book of Mizrachi Zionist organization budgets, 1950-1956
Record book of Mizrachi Zionist organization donations received, 1950-1957
Folder of Jewish National Fund Papers
Folder of Mizrachi Zionist organization papers
Folder of newspaper clippings in Hebrew
Folder of newspaper clippings and printed ephemera

The above may be accessed at:

UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER
RUSH RHEES LIBRARY
Department of Rare Books and Special Collections
Rochester, New York 14627-0055

For additional information about the JEWISH CHILDREN'S HOME in the Rochester Jewish community, see the following works:

Ida Klein Richardson, "A Study in Institutional and Foster Home Care for Dependent Children," MA thesis, University of Rochester, 1938

Stuart E. Rosenberg, " The Jewish Community in Rochester 1843-1925", Columbia University Press, 1954

Howard Goldstein,"THE HOME ON GORHAM STREET and The Voices of its Children", Imprint Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1966

******

The JEWISH CHILDREN'S BUREAU is an out growth of the JEWISH ORPHAN ASYLUM ASSOCIATION of Western New York.

For additional information on about the JEWISH CHILDREN'S BUREAU and the JEWISH CHILDREN'S HOME, see the following report:

HANDBOOK OF SOCIAL AGENCIES, 1936 Edition, Rochester, Monroe County, New York, from the Department of Sociology, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY....Ref # 342473

For more information: The Jewish Children's Home Papers, 1914-19

TABLE

[US MAP]

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK [1919]

JEWISH ORPHAN ASYLUM
JEWISH COMMUNAL HOME

The JEWISH ORPHAN ASYLUM opened in 1919 using the JEWISH COMMUNAL HOME as its address.(No address given). At this time, the JEWISH ORPHAN ASYLIUM SOCIETY was affilitated with the JEWISH ORPHANS ASYLUM OF WESTERN NEW YORK in Rochester.

TABLE

[US MAP]

YONKERS, NEW YORK [1920]

HEBREW NATIONAL ORPHAN HOME
HARTMAN-HOMECREST

See TABLE OF CONTENTS on our HNOH WELCOME Page, for all types of INFORMATION on these Orphanages and especially the JCCA PAGE .

TABLE

[US MAP]

OHIO

CINCINNATI, OHIO [1892]

THE JEWISH FOSTER HOME See Census Information on Federal and State Census Page
ORTHODOX JEWISH ORPHAN HOME

THE JEWISH FOSTER HOME was established in 1892 by Mrs. Julius Freiberg who served as its first president. Originally conceived as a day nursery for children of working parents, it soon expanded to provide full time care---as Mrs. Freiberg explained in 1893:

-----It will seem incredible to every one , as it was to us, when they know that we admitted poor innocent children who never before knew the luxury of a bed. Before coming to us they slept on floors covered with rugs; such a thing as a regular meal was unknown to them. Our original object was to have a day nursery only, but we had numerous applications for the admission of children who were bereft of one or both parents, and not eligible for admission to the Orphan Asylum, and others whose parent or parents were so ill, that admission to the Hospital was necessary; so we were compelled to provide quarters where we could shelter and care for them night and day. As a rule the children are brought to the Home before seven o'clock in the morning and a good breakfast is given them. After breakfast, those who are six years old and over, go to school. The younger children are well cared for in the nursery provided for them; at noon the children have a good, nutritious meal served them; after school they come home to us, where we have a study room arranged for them in which they prepare their lessons for the next day. After taking their supper, those who have parents are called for by them, and the less fortunate ones are put to bed. I feel that I can not close this our first report without tendering our most heartfelt thanks to our matron, Mrs. Auerbach. The children under her care, love and respect her, and the officers of our Home have learned to appreciate her many exceptional good traits of character.

(The above article,"Jews of Cincinnati", published by HUC in Cincinnati, was provided by the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati)

This orphanage had a combination of orphans who lived there and some day-care children. All of them were bornin Ohio and all had parents born in Russia.

*****

ORTHODOX JEWISH ORPHAN HOME

Minutes. 1922 - 1924, Typescript, 299 pages;

Manuscript Collection NO. 67
1. Children
2. Ohio
3. Orphan Asylum

The above Archive Information located at:

JACOB RADER MARCUS CENTER
of the
AMERICAN JEWISH ARCHIVES
Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion
3101 Clifton Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45220-2488
Email: Aja@cn.huc.edu

TABLE

[US MAP]

CLEVELAND, OHIO [1868]

CLEVELAND JEWISH ORPHAN ASYLUM
JEWISH ORPHAN HOME
BELLEFAIRE
ORTHODOX JEWISH ORPHAN ASYLUM
ORTHODOX JEWISH CHILDREN'S ASSOCIATION
JEWISH INFANT ORPHAN HOME
JEWISH CHILDREN'S BUREAU

See Census Information on Federal and State Census Page for the above

The CLEVELAND JEWISH ORPHAN ASYLUM during its first fifty years (1868-1918) was the home for 3,581 mostly immigrant eastern European boys and girls. Established originally to serve orphaned and destitute Jewish youngsters from 15 midwestern and southern states, it was first proposed to care for Jewish Civil War orphans. It was located on over seven acres of land near Fifty-fifth Street and Woodland Avenue.The name of the institution was changed to JEWISH ORPHAN HOME in 1919, by Simon Peiser, Superintendent, to transform the asylum into a more humane place for children to live. In 1929 the orphanage was relocated to a thirty-acre site in University Heights, an eastern suburb of Cleveland, where it was built as a cottage-type orphanage and renamed BELLEFAIRE. Bellefaire continued as an orphanage for Jewish children until 1943, when it became a residential treatment center for emotionally disturbed children. [From "Inside Looking Out" by Gary Polster]

They still maintain the admittance and departure file cards and may be accessed at:

BELLEFAIRE JEWISH CHILDREN'S BUREAU
22001 Fairmont Boulevard
Shaker Heights, OH 44118
Phone: (216)932-2800 - Fax: (216) 932-6704

The remainder of the JOA and Bellefaire records maintained in this collection, includes: all papers, group and individual photos, published pieces, etc and are stored at:

ARCHIVES/LIBRARY
WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
10825 East Boulevard
Cleveland, Ohio 44106
Library Phone: (216)721-5722 Ext.224

Indexing of Annual Reports of the JEWISH ORPHAN ASYLUM and ones with information about the children beginning in 1872, (even though other records exist from 1868), will start to be available by the Summer of 1998. They will contain lists of inmates, the dates of arrival and discharge, place from which they came and/or were discharged to, possibly birthplace, possibly name of natural or adoptive parents, siblings, or other relatives, a wards, reasons for acceptance or rejections, occupations, etc.

Plans to have the first installment of a series of books will be available this summer (1998). Plans are also being made to index the alumni magazines. All of these records are AVAILABLE and UNRESTRICTED at the Archives/Library of the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland, OH. Address and phone number listed above.

Address for the Jewish Orphans Home Alumni Association:

J.O.H. ALUMNI ASSOCIATION
T ed Reiff, President
PO Box 24779
Cleveland, OH 44124

A number of books have been written on Bellefaire, the most recent:

"INSIDE LOOKING OUT , The Cleveland Jewish Orphan Asylum, 1868-1924",
by Gary Edward Polster, published 1990, by The Kent State University Press.
Congress Catalog Card #89-24414, ISBN 406-7

"Growing Up Jewish in America : An Oral History" by Miyrna Katz Frommer and Harvey Frommer, University of Nebraska Press, 1999, ISBN 0-80332-6900-5 (paperback).

[----Detailed account (pp.14-17) of the Cleveland Orphanage on Woodlawn Avenue is Mary Klein, now a retired social worker, who with her two older sisters was orphaned during the 1918 flu epidemic. She also speaks of their move in 1929 to "Bellefaire,"on Belvoir and Fairmont Boulevards, which had a "pristine" well-equipped and landscaped campus in an affluent neighborhood and was therefore less "institutional" than the orphanage. But she misssed the old orphanage and its warmth during her stay at Bellefaire.

On page 6 there is a small charming photograph of a circle of romantically costumed girls, dancing with each other. These girls were at Bellefaire, and one can see some of the campus' buildings in the background.

Page 104(? the page is unnumbered) there are four photographs of interest. One is of the Jewish Orphanage Building, the second shows one of its dormitories with rows of beds, the third is a group portrait of boys holding various sports paraphernalia (bats, a little dumbell, etc.), and the fourth is a view of Bellefaire, showing some cottages and other buildings. On the facing page there is a group photograph of the cast of a JOH production.]

Thank you to Naomi Fatouros for supplying this book review.
**********

Photo Courtesy of Eileen Price

Link to a web site about BELLEFAIRE

**********

The ORTHODOX JEWISH CHILDREN'S HOME was chartered in May 1919 and opened in Aug. 1920 as the Orthodox Jewish Orphan Asylum, following 2 years of discussion and fundraising. It was created as an alternative to the Jewish Orphan Home, directed by a Reform rabbi and a predominantly Reform Board of Trustees. The Orthodox home purported to raise children in an "Orthodox Jewish spirit," to teach "Jewish trades and culture," and to place orphans with Orthodox families.

The first facility at 2264 E. 55th St. accommodated 11 orphans, but was too small for the 28 residents within 3 years. In 1923 a larger building was purchased at 879 Parkwood Dr. in GLENVILLE. By the end of the decade, the home cared for 50 orphans. Although a mid-1920s report on community institutions criticized the existence of 2 Jewish orphanages, the Federation of Jewish Charities chose to fund this home. Federation affiliation (1926) and Community Fund support allowed the home to hire a superintendent (1928), begin casework, and erect a new wing. The home's license was revoked 21 Nov. 1932 because of disorganization and poor care; it was reinstated 28 Sept. 1933. A social service department was organized in 1934.

In the late 1930s, the home began to include troubled children whose parents could not care for them; it changed its name to the Orthodox Jewish Children's Home in 1945. Selling its Parkwood property to the Chebath Jerusalem congregation, the home moved to the grounds of BELLEFAIRE in 1946 and arranged for the JEWISH CHILDREN'S BUREAU to provide psychiatric and social-work services. The home closed as an independent entity in Sept. 1957 and became the Orthodox Jewish Children's Assn., a Jewish Children's Bureau affiliate. It then purchased 5 houses for Orthodox group foster homes.

Above information taken from the Cleveland Public Library "The Encyclopedia of Cleveland History".

**********

ORTHODOX JEWISH CHILDREN'S ASSOCIATION
1978 Address: 21811 Fairmount Blvd., 44418; Foster Placements.

Same address as he Jewish Children's Bureau

1937: The Orthodox Children's Orphan Home, 879 Parkwood Dr.

1933 Census: Same name, no address; 55 white children, age 6-16.

1923 Census: Orthodox Jewish Orphan Asylum, no address; 20 white children; established in 1919 by Orthodox Jews (probably immigrants from eastern Europe).

**********

JEWISH INFANT ORPHAN HOME was located at East 40th Street, Cleveland, Ohio
1919 Address: 2200 E. 45th St; 199 inmaes: esablished in 1899.

Distinct from the Jewish Orphan's Home and the Cleveland Jewish Orphan Asylum

**********

JEWISH CHILDREN'S BUREAU
1978 Address: 21811 Fairmount Blvd., 44118; Adoptions, same address as Orthodox Jewish Children's Assn.

1955 to 1956: Jewish Children's Bureau of Cleveland, 2060 So Taylor Rd., Cleveland Heighs; it's branch -Bellefaire

1948: The Jewish Children's Bureau, 1001 Huron Rd., Cleveland; licensed for adoption,; same address as Children's Services and oher agencies

1937: Jewish Social Service Bureau, 507 Huron-sixth bldg.

TABLE

[US MAP]

COLUMBUS, OHIO [1919]

JEWISH INFANT'S HOME OF OHIO
JEWISH WELFARE FEDERATION

The JEWISH INFANT'S HOME OF OHIO established in 1919, was a residential care facility for 25 dependent children and was located at 571 E Rich St in Columbus. They received financial support from Jewish organizations in 5 cities of Ohio.

In 1942 the JEWISH WELFARE FEDERATION, placed dependent children in boarding homes. Possibly the Jewish Family Services, 1175 College Ave., Columbus, OH 43209 might have more information. This last known address is from 1976.

TABLE
[US MAP]

OREGON

PORTLAND, OREGON [1919]

JEWISH SHELTERING HOME
JEWISH SHELTER HOME
JEWISH ORPHAN'S HOME ASSOCIATION

The JEWISH SHELTERING HOME opened in 1919. Incorporated as the JEWISH SHELTER HOME in 1920, 12 dependent children were in their care in 1923. As a residential care facility, 9 dependent children ages 2-16 resided there in 1933.

The JEWISH ORPHAN'S HOME ASSOCIATION, was located at 935 Corbett in 1919.

For possible information the last known address for Jewish Family and Child Services is:

Mayer Building, 1130 SW Morrison Street, Portland, OR 97205.

TABLE

[US MAP]

PENNSYLVANIA

ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA [1912]

B'NAI B'RITH ORPHANAGE AND HOME FOR FRIENDLESS CHILDREN
B'NAI B'RITH HOME FOR CHILDREN

The B'NAI B'RITH HOME FOR ORPHANS AND FRIENDLESS CHILDREN at Ridge Road (Fairview Township, Erie County), Erie, Pennsylvania was established July 4, 1912 and formally dedicated and open in August, 1914. In 1927, the name was changed to B'NAI B'RITH HOME FOR CHILDREN. The HOME closed in 1949.

"The Home" as it was also known, was founded by Isador Sobel, an Erie lawyer and member of the Independent Order of B'nai B'rith which was also its sponsoring agency. Jewish children from all over the state were accepted. The first children admitted were Harry Davidson (age 9) from Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County and Lilly (age 6) and Polly (age 5) Eisenberger from Farrell, Mercer County. Children were generally released at the age of 16.

Location of the Records at this time are UNKNOWN. The source of the above information was compiled by the staff of:

PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT
of the
CARNEGIE LIBRARY OF PITTSBURGH
4400 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, Pa 15213
(412)622-3154

More information follows, from the archives of:

B'NAI B'RITH INTERNATIONAL
1640 Rhode Island Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20036

In the archives of B'nai B'rith International there is one copy of a 24 page brochure, entitled Eighteen Years - An interesting Story in Prose and Pictures. It contains descriptive material and pictures, but no statistics as to the number of children in the home: nor is the brochure dated, but they surmise it was printed around 1932 or thereabouts.

In 1950, at its annual convention, B'nai B'rith District No. 3 decided to transfer the assets of the property to the B'nai B'rith Henry Monsky Foundation which assets "shall be utilized at all times in the future for the service of youth, including the establishment and maintenance of a B'nai B'rith Youth Encampment." This was done because there no longer was a need for a Jewish orphanage. The B'nai B'rith Henry Monsky Foundation applied these funds for the establishment of Camp B'nai B'rith (now known as Camp B'nai B'rith-Pearlman) in Starlight, Pennsylvania.

(Above information from a letter that was written in 1987 by an archival consultant in B'nai B'rith International)

---"Twenty-six orphaned or friendless children were admitted to the Home, according to my last advices, and a number of applications are pending."

---"The health of the children is uniformly good, the morals excellent, the school facilities unexceptionable and the Jewish environment all that could be desired. The cottage plan of the work, the attractive and practical style of architecture and the able and zealous work of the officials of the Home have won unstinted praise from the Press and the Public familiar with its operation."

(Above excerpt taken from a report to the 1915 General Convention of B'nai B'rith from District No. 3, March 31st, 1915, Philadelphia, PA)

All information for Erie, PA courtesy of:

JACOB RADER MARCUS CENTER
of the
AMERICAN JEWISH ARCHIVES
Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion
3101 Clifton Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45220-2488
Email: Aja@cn.huc.edu

Other Reference Info:

Freeman, Sabina Shields, "The Home Kids Find A Place Of Their Own,""Pennsylvania Heritage, Quarterly of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission and the Pennsylvania Heritage Society, Volume XXIII, Number 1, Winter 1997.

ALUMNI INFORMATION: The HOME KIDS held their first reunion in 1989, sponsored by one of three brothers, a 1943 graduate who resides in Fairview. Every two years the local high school graduates of fifty years and more return for reunions. Each class always has representatives from the Home.

TABLE

[US MAP]

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA [1855]

PHILADELPHIA JEWISH ARCHIVES CENTER
Located at the BALCH INSTITUTE
18 South Seventh Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106-2314
(215)925-8090 ext. 228 & 229

The following information may be accessed from the above archives.

JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE (1822-1966)

Minutes, financial records, reports, case files, and subject files, of the Philadelphia Jewish community family work agency. Included are records of predecessor and related organizations:

UNITED HEBREW BENEFICENT SOCIETY
UNITED HEBREW RELIEF ASSOCIATION
HEBREW MUTUAL AID ASSOCIATION
ORPHANS' GUARDIAN SOCIETY
SOCIETY OF THE UNITED HEBREW CHARITIES
JEWISH WELFARE SOCIETY
MASTBAUM LOAN ASSOCIATION

ASSOCIATION for JEWISH CHILDREN (1855-1971)

Correspondence, minutes, reports, case files, register, roll books, and publicity material of the Philadelphia Jewish community child care agency, the Association for Jewish children (ARC), and its predecessors. The earlier organizations, for which there are materials, were the following:

JEWISH FOSTER HOME and ORPHAN ASYLUM
HOME for HEBREW ORPHANS
FOSTER HOME for HEBREW ORPHANS
NORTHEASTERN ORPHAN HOME
THE HOMEWOOD SCHOOL

***************

THE JEWISH HOME ON CHURCH STREET a/k/a
THE JEWISH HOME FOR CHILDREN

Records for the above institution are held at the Philadelphia Jewish Archives Center (PJAC).
Their website is http://www.jewisharchives.net
or you can email the archivist, Donald Davis, at ddavis@jewisharchives.net

BUREAU for JEWISH CHILDREN
JUVENILE AID SOCIETY

This collection also included records of the German-Jewish Children's Aid Committee, later European Jewish Children's Aid Committee, which helped bring European refugees to this country from 1934 until after World War II. A large number of photographs are contained in this collections.

Researchers are welcome to visit the Jewish Archives Center to use its collections free of charge. If requested to do so, the staff will do the research for a prepaid fee of $10.00 per name for the first year searched and $5.00 for each ensuing year. This fee schedule applies to each collection searched by the staff.

The above INFORMATION plus more may also be found at the following web site: PICA RECORDS http://www.libertynet.org/~exponent/agencies/pjac/RECORDS.HTM

***AND***

Also records of the JEWISH FOSTER HOME AND ORPHAN ASYLUM of PHILADELPHIA containing Records from (1874-1938) and consisting of minute books (1874-1899), Bureau for Jewish Children minutes (1900-1932), correspondence, registers and a scrapbook, (1876-1938) may be found at the following location:

JACOB RADER MARCUS CENTER
of the
AMERICAN JEWISH ARCHIVES
Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion
3101 Clifton Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45220-2488
Email: Aja@cn.huc.edu

[Reference: "Deeds of Love: A History of the Jewish Foster Home and Orphan Asylum of Philadelphia - America's first Jewish Orphanage" by Jules Doneson, Hardcover, Published by Vantage Press, August 1996. IBSN: 0533116392]

HOME FOR HEBREW ORPHANS/HEBREW ORPHANS HOME

HEBREW ORPHANS HOME ALUMNI ASSOCIATION Records from 1916-1975 which consist of Correspondence, newsletters, dues collection book, and other printed materials, relating to the HEBREW ORPHANS HOME and former residents are archived at:

PHILADELPHIA JEWISH ARCHIVES CENTER
(See Address at top of Philadelphia Section)

HEBREW ORPHANS HOME ALUMNI ASSOCIATION ceased to function in 1975.

1900 FEDERAL CENSUS for the HOME FOR HEBREW ORPHANS may be found at the following website:

Home for Hebrew Orphans, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Home for Hebrew Orphans, 2nd Ward, Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, A.D. 1900
Address given in this census: 1006 Third Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The census above was enumerated on the 12th day of June, 1900 by Thomas M. Weler.

Courtesy of The Orphans' Home Website

TABLE

[US MAP]

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA [1891]

J. M. GUSKY HEBREW ORPHANAGE AND HOME
JEWISH HOME FOR BABIES AND CHILDREN

The J. M. GUSKY HEBREW ORPHANAGE and HOME of Western Pennsylvania was established in 1891 and closed in 1943-1947? It was located at 3605 Perrysville Avenue.

The following information is an historical account of the above orphanage taken from "The Jewish Criterion" in their 50th Anniversary and New Year Edition, September 11th, 1942, Pittsburgh, PA, (Leading National JewishWeekly):

In 1891, Mrs. Esther De Wolf Gusky founded the J. M. GUSKY HEBREW ORPHANAGE and HOME of Western Pennsylvania in memory of her husband, Jacob J. Gusky, Pittsburgh merchant. The Home building was erected at Perrysville and Riverview Avenues. Seven years after its organization, Mr. Aaron Cohen built a large annex in memory of his wife Bertha Rauh Cohen. In 1911, Mr. Philip Hamburger opened the Fannie H. Hamburger Dormitory in memory of his wife. Later, children of Joseph and Lydia DeRoy presented to the home a vast stretch of land and two large buildings adjoining the Orphanage. Stanley J. Kann is President of the Home; Arnold Deutelbaum is Superintendent.

The Gusky Orphanage serves as a home where Jewish orphans and deserted children between the ages of five to sixteen are accorded proper facilities or their health, recreation, education and religious training.

All records of the J.M. Gusky Hebrew Orphanage and Home are now in the custody of:

JEWISH FAMILY AND CHILDREN'S SERVICE OF PITTSBURGH
5743 Bartlett Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15217
(412)422-7200
Fax: (412)422-1162

Sources:

PA Department Vertical Files (Orphanages)
Pittsburgh Photographic Library (Allegheny - 1)
1895 Greater Pittsburg Handbook **(r917.4886 K17)**
Directory of Institutions in Pennsylvania, 1916 **(r361 P3993)**
1933 Directory of Service Agencies
1943 Directory of Social Resources

The JEWISH HOME FOR BABIES AND CHILDREN was established in 1913. There were two locations, the first site at 2508 Breckenridge Avenue and the second site was at 5635 Stanton Avenue (c.1943). The sponsoring agency was the Pittsburgh Bureau for Jewish Children.

The following information is an historical account of the above orphanage taken from "The Jewish Criterion" in their 50th Anniversary and New Year Edition, September 11th, 1942, Pittsburgh, PA, (Leading National JewishWeekly):

The JEWISH HOME FOR BABIES AND CHILDREN was organized in 1914 and has fulfilled a definite need in Pittsburgh Jewry. Originally located on Breckenridge Avenue, it now occupies a spacious home on Stanton Avenue. Its object is to maintain and support homeless and friendless babies and children up to sixteen years of age. The Baby Home is self supporting and is not affiliated with the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of Pittsburgh. Sallie Mazer is president of the Home and Mrs. Anna Rosen is Superintendent.

Selected records from this collection are closed until the year 2040. Access prior to this date is limited to those who have obtained special permission from the JEWISH HOME FOR BABIES AND CHILDREN FUND. For further information, contact the History Center Library and Archives at:

SENATOR JOHN HEINZ PITTSBURGH REGIONAL HISTORY CENTER,
LIBRARY and ARCHIVES DIVISION
1212 Smallman Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
(412)454-6364

(The Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania as well as the Western Pennsylvania Jewish Archives are also located at the above address. Their phone number is (412)454-6000.

Sources:

PA Department Vertical Files (Orphanages)
Pittsburgh Photographic Library (Social Settlements - 1)
1933 Directory of Social Agencies
1943 Directory of Social Resources
1968 Directory of Health and Welfare Services

TABLE

[US MAP]

SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA [1921]

JEWISH HOME FOR THE FRIENDLESS

Established in 1921, the JEWISH HOME FOR THE FRIENDLESS, no address given, was a residential care facility for 26 dependent children, ages 0-19. Perhaps akin to the JEWISH HOME OF EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA, a home for the aged, whose last known address was 1101 Vine St., Scranton, PA 18510.

TABLE

[US MAP]

RHODE ISLAND

PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND [1908]

JEWISH ORPHANAGE OF RHODE ISLAND

The JEWISH ORPHANAGE OF RHODE ISLAND was established in 1908. From 1919 to 1922, it was located at 1213-1215 N Main St., Providence, RI with 33 dependent children, ages 5-18 in residence. Last known address in 1937 was 164 Summit Ave.

A Special Thankyou for the additional information submitted below by George M. Goodwin, Ph.D.

The JEWISH ORPHANAGE OF RHODE ISLAND was closed in 1942, but its building on Summit Avenue in Providence was acquired by the Miriam Hospital and reopened in 1952. The building still stands but has been extensively transformed.  The orphanage's summer camp at Point Judith, near Narragansett, known as "JORI," opened in 1937.  It still exists, but moved to a new location about four years ago.  Perhaps thinking that it is an Indian name, most parents and children have no idea what "JORI" means.

The Rhode Island Jewish Historical Association, which I have served as president, has photos of the orphanage and some children.  It also has records of former residents, but these are accessible only by special permission to protect the children's confidentiality.  Since 1954, my Association has published an annual journal.  There is a fine, autobiographical article by a boy who lived there from about 1926 to 1936.

TABLE

[US MAP]

SOUTH CAROLINA

CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA [1801]

HEBREW ORPHAN SOCIETY of CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA

The HEBREW ORPHAN SOCIETY, was established in 1801. In 1919 it was located at 88 Broad Street, Charleston.

Records, 1850 - 1947 Records consist of minute books of the oldest incorporated Jewish charitable organization in continuous existence in the United States and are archived at:

JACOB RADER MARCUS CENTER
of the
AMERICAN JEWISH ARCHIVES
Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion
3101 Clifton Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45220-2488
Email: Aja@cn.huc.edu

TABLE

[US MAP]

TEXAS

HOUSTON, TEXAS [1933]

WOLFF MEMORIAL HOME

The WOLFF MEMORIAL HOME was a residential care facility for 16 dependent children, ages 0-16, and was opened in 1933. Named for Pauline Sterne Wolff, she left a charitable foundation that helped support many Jewish institutions. Last know address in 1976, was the Pauline Sterne Wolff Memorial Foundation, 909 Franklin St., Houston, TX 77002.

TABLE

[US MAP]

WISCONSIN

MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN [1919]

SOCIETY FOR THE CARE OF DEPENDENT JEWISH CHILDREN
JEWISH CHILDREN'S HOME (a/k/a MILWAUKEE JEWISH CHILDREN'S HOME)

SOCIETY for the CARE of DEPENDENT JEWISH CHILDREN was founded in 1919. Before that Milwaukee cases were sent to the CLEVELAND HEBREW ORPHAN ASYLUM (see CLEVELAND listing above).

The JEWISH CHILDREN'S HOME opened at 403 21st Street. The Home was a charity of immigrant origin, which was gradually taken over and supported by native Jewish. The Home acquired a building of its own in 1923 and expanded it in 1928, notwithstanding misgivings of the wisdom of settling dependent children in institutions. The Home maintained itself until 1948 when it merged with the JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICE ASSOCIATION and formed the JEWISH FAMILY and CHILDREN'S SERVICE.

The 1933 Census lists 28 children, ages 3-16.

JEWISH FAMILY and CHILDREN'S SERVICE of Milwaukee also have records from 1867 through 1973 and information may be accessed at their website: http://www.wwm.edu/Library/arch/findaids/mss087.htm

For further information contact:

JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE
1360 North Prospect Avenue
Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202-3093
Phone: (414)390-5800 Fax: (414)390-5808

Some of the above information was taken from a book entitled "THE HISTORY OF THE JEWS OF MILWAUKEE', by Rabbi Louis Swichkow.

TABLE

[US MAP]

STATES WITH JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICES ONLY

THE FOLLOWING STATES HAD JEWISH SOCIAL SERVICE AGENCIES THAT HANDLED ADOPTIONS AND FOSTER CARE FOR JEWISH CHILDREN.
THE AGENCIES WILL BE LISTED WITH THEIR RESPECTIVE CITY AS
NO ORPHANAGES HAVE BEEN FOUND THUS FAR.

[Note: Many cities in states with orphanages, also had Jewish Social Service Agencies, but there are too many to list. Some of these agencies also handled adoptions a well. There are and were other agencies in the cities below, listing is of the earliest found agency.]

STATE	CITY	NAME OF AGENCY	Earliest Date Established
ALABAMA	BIRMINGHAM	Jewish Federation	1940s
ARIZONA	PHOENIX	Jewish Family & Child. Svcs.	1950s
	TUCSON	Jewish Family Service	1956
DELAWARE	WILMINGTON	Hebrew Charity Association	1918
FLORIDA	MIAMI BEACH	Jewish Family & Child. Svcs.	1978
	W PALM BEACH	Jewish Family & Child.Cntr.	1978
IOWA	DES MOINES	Jewish Social Services	1955
	SIOUX CITY	United Hebrew Charity Assn.	1919
OKLAHOMA	OKLAHOMA CITY	OKC Jewish Comm.Council	1941
TENNESSEE	CHATTANOOGA	Jewish Welfare Federation	1978
	MEMPHIS	Fed. of Jewish Charities	1906
	NASHVILLE	Hebrew Relief Society	1891
VIRGINIA	NORFOLK	Jewish Family Service	1977
	RICHMOND	Jewish Family Service	1849
WASHINGTON	SEATTLE	Jewish Family & Child. Svcs.	1979

ANYONE HAVING ANY INFORMATION ABOUT ANY ORPHANAGE IN THE ABOVE CITIES OR ANY OTHERS, PLEASE EMAIL: HNOHAlumni@aol.com

[US MAP]

[TOP]

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

AND to:

Kevin Proffitt of the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives in Cincinnati, OH for the following city information: Cincinnati, OH; Erie, PA; Fort Wayne, IN; Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY

Abbreviation Key:
JHS - JEWISH HISTORICAL SOCIETY
JGS - JEWISH GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY
RA - Research Assistant

[TOP]

EMAIL: HNOHalumni@aol.com

FOR INFORMATION, CORRECTIONS AND/OR SUGGESTIONS!