The Educational Alliance, famed Lower East Side Jewish settlement house which serves all races and creeds, announced tonight that it will name its main building after David Sarnoff, board chairman of the Radio Corporation of America, who studied there as a young immigrant from Russia in 1900.
The announcement, made at a dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Alliance, said that a $500,000 program is being undertaken to modernize and improve the building. The announcement was made by Joseph S. Gershman, president of the Educational Alliance.
It was also disclosed that more than $2,000,000 has been obtained by the Educational Alliance for its development fund to provide increased facilities and services. More than 700 community leaders attended the dinner, paying tribute to leaders of the American Jewish community who established the Educational Alliance in 1891 to help prepare Jewish immigrants for citizenship and participation in American life.
Donald B. Straus, grandson of the agency’s founding president, Isidor Straus, served as 75th Anniversary chairman. He noted that the Alliance is one of the nation’s largest community centers and the largest social work field training center. Gerard Oestreicher, dinner chairman for the anniversary celebration, pointed out that the Alliance is the nation’s second oldest settlement house and the first to be established by the Jewish community. He said that it now provides a comprehensive and non-sectarian program of services for about 8,000 men, women and children of the Lower East Side. The agency is a member agency of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York.
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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.
