Ten students from various parts of the country were graduated at the second Commencement Exercises of the Training School for Jewish Social Work, held Thursday afternoon at the Hotel Astor. Certificates were presented to the class by Louis E. Kirstein of Boston, President of the School. Dr.Cyrus Adler, Dr. John H. Finlcy, editor of the New York Times and Maurice J. Karpf, the Director of the School, addressed the students.
The commencement exercises were presided over by Felix M. Warburg, chairman of the Executive Committee. Mr. Warburg, when presenting the class, paid a tribute to the professional development of social work and of his conviction in its future possibilities and importance. He said that the school, though young, has already performed an important and distinguished service and that he and the Board of Trustees hope that its contributions in the future will be even greater.
Dr. Finley reviewed the development of social service as a profession, particularly in the city of New York during the last twenty-five years. Mr. Kirstein, in speaking directly to the graduating group, declared that the School was dedicated to raising the professional standard of social work and as part of that program favored adequate salaries.
Mr. Kirstein emphasized the necessity of recognizing obligations alongside of rights. “The mistake is frequently made of assuming rights without the corresponding duties.” We will be judged by our early products rather than by the late. A greater obligation, therefore, rests upon you to make good.””
Dr. Adler described the Biblical background for modern Jewish philanthropy and stated that the Jewish conception of charity always has been in the spirit of justice.
The class of 1927 represented eight cities in the United States and one in Canada. In the class were: David Areinoff, Brooklyn, N. Y.; Jeannette Axelrode, Winnipeg, Canada; Emanuel Borenstein, Dorchester, Mass.; Lena Farber, Seattle, Wash.; Samuel Levine, Weissport, Pa.; Jacob Mirviss, Minneapolis; Esther D. Schwartz, Corvallis, Ore.; Mary Joyce Siegel, Portsmouth, N. H.; Rose Sorkin, Philadelphia, Pa. and Janet G. Weisman, Minneapolis, Minn.
Officers of the School besides Mr. Kirstein, the President and Mr. Karpf, the Director, include: Dr. Lee K. Frankel of New York and A. Richard Frank of Chicago, Vice-Presidents; I. Edwin Goldwasser of New York, Treasurer; Solomon Lowenstein of New York, Secretary and Felix M. Warburg of New York, Chairman of the Executive Committee. Miss Frances N. Harrison is Assistant Director of the school.
The School was founded upon the recommendation of the National Conference of Jewish Social Service and admission is limited to graduates of regularly accredited colleges. The School offers facilities for the initial training of new social workers and also provides courses for the supplementary training of those already in the field. In addition to the ten students who were graduated this year and the ten in last year’s class, there are twenty-two in the third class which began its studies in July of this year and which will complete its work in September 1928.
Telegrams of congratulations were received from various communities throughout the country.
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.
