Ben Welch, the blind comedian, died yesterday in Kings Park Sanitarium, Long Island, at the age of 50.
Welch was one of the outstanding Yiddish dialect comedians on the vaudeville stage and appeared in that role for many years. He lost his sight in 1921 while on a tour abroad. Returning to New York he made efforts to regain his sight, but failing, he appeared on the stage as a blind comedian. Before he lost his sight he was earning $50,000 a year.
Welch was born in New York on the East Side. His brother, Joe Welch, also a noted comedian, died in 1918. He is survived by his wife and a daughter of 17.
JEWISH COMMUNAL ACTIVITIES
Jewish young women attending college away from their homes this fall will be afforded an opportunity to enjoy the hospitality and interest of the National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods. Mrs. Martha L. Steinfeld of St. Louis, chairman of the National Committee on Student Welfare, has sent to all local Sisterhoods in towns adjacent to colleges a list of out-of-town Jewish students at school in or near the city.
Letters of welcome will be sent to the students by the local Sisterhoods to meet them on their arrival. “In this way the parents will know of the interest that is being taken in their son or daughter, and they will encourage their children to meet the advances halfway. It is the aim of our Committee to encourage a personal interest in every Jewish student. As in past years, out-of-town students will be invited to services on the holidays and on the Sabbath, and they will be made welcome in Jewish homes,” Mrs. Steinfeld stated.
Robert Sher, Earl L. Morse, and Isadore G. Alk were the three winners of the students of the University of Wisconsin in the Prize Oration Contest conducted by the Department of Synagogue and School Extension. Robert Sher received first prize for his essay. “A Few Suggested Reforms in Religion”; Earl L. Morse the second prize for his essay, “The Hebrew University on Mt. Scopus,” and Isadore G. Alk, the third prize for his essay, “The Youth and Zionism.”
Dr. Lee K. Frankel, Second Vice-President of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, New York, was the principal speaker at a luncheon given in the Montefiore Club on August 31, by the Business Men’s Council, a constituent group of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of Montreal.
Dr. Frankel spoke on “Applying Business Methods to Federation.”
Among those present were Mrs. L. K. Frankel, Mrs. Rosenau, Mrs. Lyon Cohen and Messrs. I. Greenberg, Lyon Cohen, S. W. Jacobs, K. C. M. P., J. Levinson, Sr., Maxwell Goldstein, K. C., Al Lesser, David Kirsch and Michael Morris.
A special session of the Board of Managers of the National Council of Jewish Women has been called for October 7 and 8. The purpose of the meeting, which will be held in New York, is to act upon the report and recommendations of the Bureau of Jewish Social Research on its survey of the Council.
The recommendations of the Board of Managers on the Survey Report will be referred to the Eleventh Triennial Convention of the National Council of Jewish Women, which will meet in Washington, D. C., during the week of November 14. The survey of the Council was made under the direction of Samuel A. Goldsmith of the Bureau of Jewish Social Research of New York City.
The date of the Israel Zangwill Memorial Meeting, arranged by the American Jewish Congress, originally scheduled for September 19, has been changed to Sunday evening, September 26. It will be held in Carnegie Hall.
The Committee includes David Belasco, Daniel Frohman, Adolph Ochs, Franklin P. Adams, Tudge Otto A. Rosalsky, Dr. Stephen S. Wise, Louis Marshall, Judge Abram I. Elkus.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
