BBYO: The Earl Yaillen Era |
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A new era for the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization began in November 1949, when it moved into the Bloch Building at 1909 Murray Avenue, about where the Squirrel Hill Giant Eagle stands today. The new and expanded offices gave BBYO more room to oversee its growing operations throughout the region.
By the start of the 1950s, BBYO had some 45 chapters across Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia, covering about 1,000 children. The "Western Region" office represented about a quarter of all the BBYO members in District 3, which covered Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware and New Jersey. The statistic is especially notable when you consider the size of the Jewish populations in Philadelphia and New Jersey compared to the Pittsburgh area.
[IMAGE: A.Z.A. boys from various local chapters including Steel City A.Z.A., Victory A.Z.A. and Squirrel Hill A.Z.A. meet at the YM&WHA in Oakland to welcome Aleph Gadol Aleph George Lefcoe to Pittsburgh, c.1957—from Earl Yaillen Photographs, MSS 1168]
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Earl Yaillen arrived in Pittsburgh in October 1954 to become the regional director of BBYO for Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. He left in March 1957, when BBYO promoted him to lead its regional office in Detroit.
Yaillen's brief tenure with BBYO (he returned to Pittsburgh in the late 1960s to work in staff development at Y-IKC) made a big impact on the Jewish children who came through BBYO during those years. His name appears in many recollections about AZA and BBG activities in this region during the 1950s.
A few years ago, the Rauh Jewish Archives received a small collection of photographs from Yaillen's tenure with BBYO. The photographs show BBYO highlights such as a triennial convention in Washington DC in May 1956, an annual BBYO University event from 1957, a BBYO District 3 Convention in Philadelphia, visits from national BBYO leaders and local social events.
The collection also documents a fire that destroyed the Bloch Building in January 1956. No one was hurt, but the legendary Victory AZA trophy case was destroyed. BBYO had to relocate to the YM&WHA offices in Oakland.
[IMAGE: Earl Yaillen (far right) and local B.B.G. and A.Z.A. members prepare for the annual B.B.Y.O. University event, 1957—from Earl Yaillen Photographs, MSS 1168]
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BBYO had at least six directors in this region between 1948 and 1966.
Seymour Cohen (1948-1953) and Marshall Gordon (1958-1966) both led the regional BBYO office for a longer period of time than Yaillen, but neither left behind as much documentation in the Archive, making it harder to consider the work on those eras in detail. If you have documentation of BBYO activities in the late 1940s, early 1950s, or 1960s, please contact the archive.
All this year, the Rauh Jewish Archives is highlighting stories of Jewish club life in Western Pennsylvania. If you would like to donate records of a local Jewish club, or just chat about clubs, contact the archive or call 412-454-6406.
[IMAGE: A newspaper clipping from January 1956, showing fireman attempting to control a blaze at the 1900 block of Murray Avenue—from Earl Yaillen Photographs, MSS 1168]
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The Founding of the Enoch Rauh Club (in four takes) |
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In a 1998 oral history with the National Council of Jewish Women, the critic Barry Paris told a second-hand story about the founding of the Enoch Rauh Club — how it got its name and how it secured start-up funds for its youth basketball team. He had heard the story from his father, Wyoming Paris, who had been a leader in the club for decades.
“He, as he tells the story, if I have it right, took the streetcar out to Squirrel Hill to where [the Rauhs] lived — I think with a friend, he would tell you the name and the age and size and height — and knocked on the door and asked to see Mrs. Rauh, and she kindly allowed them to come in, and seated them in her beautiful parlor, and they told her the story and made the request, and she came through,” Paris recalled...
[IMAGE: The Enoch Rauh Club basketball team, 1919-1920—from Jewish Sports Hall of Fame Photographs, MSP 308.]
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ICYMI: "After the Tree of Life shooting,
they found fortitude and friendship"
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From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
"Dan Leger and Tim Matson started their lives over in a hospital, slowly rebuilding their physical strength and finding the fortitude to learn how to walk again after both were seriously wounded during the Tree of Life synagogue shooting in 2018 that left 11 people dead.
"As they healed, they formed a friendship..."
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If you like this newsletter, why not forward it to a friend? We want to share the story of Western Pennsylvania Jewish history with as many people as possible.
If you've received this newsletter from a friend or neighbor, and you want to read more, just click on the link below to start receiving future editions.
[IMAGE: Marian Schreiber and employees at the Schreiber Trucking Company, c.1943—Schreiber Family Papers and Photographs, MSS 846.]
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The Rauh Jewish Archives was founded on November 1, 1988 to collect, preserve, and make accessible the documentary history of Jews and Jewish communities of Western Pennsylvania. You can help the RJHPA continue its work by making a donation that will directly support the work being done in Western Pa. |
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Plan a Visit
Senator John Heinz History Center
1212 Smallman Street
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15222
412-454-6000
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A proud affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, the Senator John Heinz History Center is the largest history museum in Pennsylvania and presents American history with a Western Pennsylvania connection.
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