Columbia Religious and Industrial School for Jewish Girls

Last updated
Columbia Religious and Industrial School for Jewish Girls
Location
New York City
Information
Religious affiliation(s)Jewish
Established1888
ClosedCirca 1944
GenderFemale

Columbia Religious and Industrial School for Jewish Girls was a Jewish school for girls located in the East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It was established in 1888 in response to the many Christian missionaries who worked on the Lower East Side of New York. [1] The school intended to promote Jewish culture, prevent students from becoming converts to Christianity, [1] offer Jewish education to students, prevent students from delinquency, and "raise up respectable and religious Jewish women." [2] The school became defunct around 1944. [1]

Contents

Mission

In 1907, Mathilde Schecter, who served on the school's Board of Directors, wrote that the school's goals were to "keep sacred and alive every little flame of Jewish home life, the holiness, the reverence for authority and religion, and harmonize the old and the new elements in [the children's] lives." [1]

History

Adolph Benjamin and Adolphus Solomons established the school in 1888. [1] It was initially located at 120 Columbia Street but relocated several times to East 3rd Street, East 5th Street, and Eldridge Street. [1]

In 1907, the school's principal was Rebecca Affachiner. [3] She grew up on the East Side of New York, having immigrated from Poland, and was described by the Atlanta Jewish Times as the "Betsy Ross of Israel." [3] Rosalie Solomons Phillips, who was eminent in the Jewish-American community and a founding member and co-chair of Hadassah, served as president of the Columbia School. [4]

In the mid-1930s and 1940s, the Columbia School struggled through "serious" financial challenges. [1] This was due to the Great Depression and due to the view that American Jews should "keep quiet and take care of themselves without asking for outside help." [1] A rough draft of a letter found in the school's files dated 1943 stated that the school would be forced to close on May 31, 1944 unless it acquired funds. [1] However, in 1944, Rose Kaye, the school's president, wrote in a note, "Thank God the school will live." [1] The school's last files were dated July 1944. [1]

Curriculum

The school consisted of a religious branch and an industrial branch. [1] The number of students who attended industrial classes was about twice as many as the number of students who attended religious classes. [1]

In the industrial branch, students were taught to sew by hand and machine, mend, embroider, cut, and make garments. [1] Approximately 200–300 students studied per afternoon; there were two different sessions so that the large number of students could be accommodated. [1] An assignment the students were assigned was to sew their graduation gowns. [1] The goal of the Industrial branch's classes was to provide activities to fill students' time so that they would not have time to be proselytized by missionaries and so that they would learn the skills required to "run a Jewish home." [1] Additionally, the industrial school intended to form a network of Jewish women which would serve the purpose of binding them to the Jewish community. [1]

Students from the Jewish Theological Seminary operated the religious department of the school. [1] About 120 students attended religious classes; they attended services on Saturday afternoons and Sunday school classes which taught Jewish doctrine, Bible history, and Hebrew. [1]

Students of the Columbia School also took singing lessons and attended field trips in July which exposed them to nature. [1]

Student body and alumnae

The school served about 1,000 students per week in 1907. [1] Most students were described as being "from the poorest elements of [the Lower East Side]" and of Galician and Hungarian descent. [1] Many of the students came from the families of "poor Jewish immigrants." [1]

After graduation, students of the Columbia School joined the Alumnae Club. [1] The club consisted of approximately 500 women who had graduated from or taught at the school. [1] Many students who had graduated from the school later taught there. [1] It met regularly for "religious and educational uplift." Members also attended social events such as a Purim dance, entertainment evenings, and anniversary celebrations. [1]

Related Research Articles

Mathilde Roth Schechter was the American founder of the U.S. National Women's League of Conservative Judaism in 1918.

Lillian Wald American nurse and activist

Lillian D. Wald was an American nurse, humanitarian and author. She was known for contributions to human rights and was the founder of American community nursing. She founded the Henry Street Settlement in New York City and was an early advocate to have nurses in public schools.

Beth Rivkah Chabad girls school

Beth Rivkah, formally known as Associated Beth Rivkah Schools, is a private girls' school system affiliated with the Chabad Lubavitch Hasidic movement.

Midrasha

A midrasha is an institute of Torah study for women, usually in Israel, and roughly the equivalent of a yeshiva for men. A "seminary" is a similar institution, more traditional in orientation. Midrashot are Religious Zionist, while Seminaries are usually Haredi; although in English, "Seminary", or "Sem", is often used for either.

Institute of Notre Dame Private, all-female school in Baltimore, , Maryland, United States

The Institute of Notre Dame was a private Catholic all-girls high school located in Baltimore, Maryland. After 173 years, the school closed on June 30, 2020.

Alliance Israélite Universelle International Jewish organization

The Alliance israélite universelle is a Paris-based international Jewish organization founded in 1860 to safeguard the human rights of Jews around the world. The organization promotes the ideals of Jewish self-defense and self-sufficiency through education and professional development. It is noted for establishing French-language schools for Jewish children throughout the Mediterranean, Iran and the Ottoman Empire in the 19th and early 20th century.

Ida Crown Jewish Academy Parochial school in Skokie, Illinois, United States

Ida Crown Jewish Academy is a Modern Orthodox Jewish high school in Skokie, Illinois, overseen by the Associated Talmud Torahs. Its current Dean is Rabbi Dr. Leonard Matanky. Ida Crown places emphasis on both Judaic and Secular studies and holds its students to high academic standards. The Academy encourages its students to pursue a year in yeshiva or seminary in Israel before attending college. Ida Crown serves students from all over the northern Chicago area, including Chicago, Lincolnwood, Skokie, Northbrook, Highland Park, Glencoe, Deerfield, Buffalo Grove, Des Plaines, and Evanston.

Jewish Released Time Jewish learning initiative

Jewish Released Time, also known as Sheloh, is an organization promoting released time for the Jewish education of Jewish children learning in public schools.

Lizzie Black Kander

Elizabeth Black Kander (1858–1940) was an American progressive reformer, philanthropist and author, founder of a settlement house in Milwaukee, where she originated her best-known work, The Settlement Cookbook.

Torah Umesorah – National Society for Hebrew Day Schools

Torah Umesorah – National Society for Hebrew Day Schools is an Orthodox Jewish educational charity based in the United States that promotes Torah-based Jewish religious education in North America by supporting and developing a loosely affiliated network independent private Jewish day schools.

A Jewish day school is a modern Jewish educational institution that is designed to provide children of Jewish parents with both a Jewish and a secular education in one school on a full-time basis. The term "day school" is used to differentiate schools attended during the day from parttime weekend schools as well as secular or religious "boarding school" equivalents where the students live full-time as well as study. The substance of the "Jewish" component varies from school to school, community to community, and usually depends on the Jewish denominations of the schools' founders. While some schools may stress Judaism and Torah study others may focus more on Jewish history, Hebrew language, Yiddish language, secular Jewish culture, and Zionism.

Albert A. List College of Jewish Studies, known simply as List College, is the undergraduate school of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTS). It was founded by Solomon Schechter in 1909 as the Teachers Institute with the original goal of training American Jewish educators. List College is closely affiliated with Columbia University; almost all List College students are enrolled in dual-degree programs with either Columbia University’s School of General Studies or Barnard College.

New York School of Applied Design for Women Art and design school in Manhattan, New York City

The New York School of Applied Design for Women, established in 1892, was an early design school for women in New York City. The New York School of Applied Design building was built in 1908 and is now a landmarked building.

Shulamith School for Girls Private, jewish day school

Shulamith School for Girls is a Centrist Orthodox Jewish school. It was the first Orthodox Jewish elementary school for girls in North America. The name Shulamith is a feminine form of the Hebrew name Solomon, which loosely translates to "peace". As of July 2010, the organization was divided into two separate institutions which operate independent schools in Brooklyn and Long Island.

Muriel King (1900–1977) was an American fashion designer based in New York City. She was one of the first American fashion designers along with Elizabeth Hawes and Clare Potter to achieve name recognition. She also designed costumes for several major films in the 1930s and 1940s.

The Rabbi Jacob Joseph School is an Orthodox Jewish day school located in Staten Island, New York that serves students from nursery through twelfth grade, with another branch in Edison, New Jersey. The school was founded in 1903 by Rabbi Jacob Joseph Herman and named in honor of Rabbi Jacob Joseph, chief rabbi of New York City's Association of American Orthodox Hebrew Congregations.

Ramakrishna Sarada Mission Sister Nivedita Girls' School or Sister Nivedita Girls' School is a girls' school at Bagbazar, North Kolkata. It was established by Scottish-Irish social worker, author, speaker and disciple of Swami Vivekananda, Sister Nivedita, in November 1898.

Rosalie Silber Abrams was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates (1967–70) and Maryland State Senate (1970-84). She was the first female and Jewish majority leader of the state Senate (1978–82). Appointed by Gov. Harry Hughes, Abrams headed the Maryland Office on Aging from 1983 until retiring in 1996.

Marist Brothers College Rosalie Buildings

Marist Brothers College Rosalie Buildings are heritage-listed Roman Catholic monastery and school buildings at Fernberg Road, Rosalie, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. They are also known as Marist Brothers' Monastery and Marist College. They were added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 18 September 2008.

Rebecca Gertrude Affachiner

Rebecca Gertrude Affachiner was an active figure in Jewish public service in the United States until 1934 and in Israel from the time of her Aliyah to the mid 1950s.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 "Guide to the Columbia Religious and Industrial School for Jewish Girls (New York, N.Y.) records, undated, 1905-1944, I-24". Center for Jewish History. Retrieved 2016-06-15.
  2. ↑ "Jewish Girls Coming of Age in America, 1860–1920 | Reviews in History". www.history.ac.uk. Retrieved 2016-06-15.
  3. 1 2 "The Betsy Ross of Israel - AJT". AJT. 2016-05-05. Retrieved 2016-06-15.
  4. ↑ "Rosalie Solomons Phillips | Jewish Women's Archive". jwa.org. Retrieved 2016-06-15.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.