Last week, we looked at the YM&WHA's Congress of Clubs, which oversaw the activities of dozens of local Jewish youth clubs starting in the late 1920s.
The dedication of the Y's big, beautiful new building on Bellefield Avenue in Oakland in 1926 put pressure on the Irene Kaufmann Settlement House. The IKS had been the mostly undisputed home for Jewish youth club activities in the city since opening its building on Centre Avenue in the Hill District in 1911.
The Irene Kaufmann Settlement House built a large auditorium in 1928 to support youth activities, even though the Jewish population of the Hill District was declining. The auditorium is the only surviving piece of the old campus.
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By the late 1920s, hundreds of Jewish families left the Hill District each year for eastern neighborhoods. And yet the Jewish population of the neighborhood was still quite large, well above 10,000. (By comparison, the current Jewish population of Squirrel Hill is around 12,000, according to the 2018 Community Study.) The Irene Kaufmann Settlement House remained hugely popular for clubs—some 6,590 Jewish children attended 817 meetings held by 34 house clubs in 1927, according to an annual report from that year.
Eager to keep its many youth clubs organized and engaged, the Irene Kaufmann Settlement House created the Club Federation in November 1935.
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The IKSH Club Federation mimicked the format and responsibilities of the YM&WHA's Congress of Clubs. It arranged interclub events including theatrical performances, debating contests, and athletic leagues. It provided adult mentors who taught club members how to hold meetings and keep records. It managed the use of the six-story Irene Kaufmann Settlement House building.
[IMAGES: A selection of newspaper clippings from the Jewish Criterion in late 1935 and early 1936, reporting on the work of the IKSH Club Federation.]
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The Irene Kaufmann Settlement House originally reported on the activities of individual house clubs in its newsletters "Neighbors" and "IKS News." In May 1936, it launched a short-lived journal called "Vision" that reported on the activities of house clubs but also published student writing and illustrations.
The Irene Kaufmann Settlement House opened a Squirrel Hill annex in the late 1940s and merged with the YM&WHA in 1960 to create Y-IKC. But for a period of about 20 years, from the late 1920s until the late 1940s, the two institutions competed for the attention of Jewish youth clubs in the city. Over the next few months, we'll profile some of these clubs, starting with the Victory Club, which became much better known as the E. J. Meyers Club.
Throughout 2021, 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.
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What Happened to the Webster Hall Coffee Cake? |
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A few months back, in our cookbook column, we featured the story of the Webster Hall Coffee Cake. Here, now, is the full story of the legendary desert.
[IMAGE: The cover of Temple Sinai's 1991 cookbook "Incredible Edibles" and a page showing one of the two known recipes for the Webster Hall Coffee Cake.]
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If you like this newsletter, why not forward it to a friend? We want to share the story of local Jewish history with as many of friends and neighbors as possible. |
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The Rauh Jewish History Program & 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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