The Annual Meeting of the Jewish People’s Institute will take place Sunday evening, January 15th, at the Standard Club. The meeting will be preceded by a dinner which will take the form of a testimonial to Jacob M. Loeb, the retiring President.
Mr. Loeb has been associated with the Institute for the past twenty-five years, twenty-two years of which he has acted as President. During his administration, the Institute has made tremendous strides. It has developed from a mere shell into one of the largest community centers in the United States. The Institute touches at one time or another during the year fifty thousand different individuals through its many activities.
The major activities are a School of Physical Education, Schools of Music, Art and Drama.
The Club Department consisting of young people’s clubs, as well as clubs for adults, include over one hundred different groups, which meet regularly, with a total in population of over five thousand.
The Adult Education Department during its life-time has served literally tens of thousands of immigrants in the teaching of the English language, and through its citizenship department it has prepared for intelligent citizenship thousands of men and women who became citizens of the United States and who have been given an intelligent civic training. The Adult Education Department has likewise been conducting an accredited evening high school for many years.
During the past year a million and a quarter people in the aggregate have used its many facilities. It now occupies one of the finest community center buildings in the country, which was dedicated five years ago, at a cost of over a million dollars.
The Institute has also a roof garden used during four summer months. It has housed the first and only Day Camp in this part of the country. Some three hundred youngsters were given camping experience during the day. An aggregate of over one hundred thousand children and young people were served in this one activity alone.
The girls’ camp of the Institute, Camp Chi, has served during the last twelve years seven thousand different girls.
The Institute’s activities also include one of the finest specialized libraries in the country. It is a gift of Mrs. Heyman Schur in memory of her husband. This library specializes in the social sciences and in Judaica, and in this department it has the finest collection in this part of the country. As many as five hundred people a day use this library for reference purposes.
The Institute also houses a Museum of Jewish Antiquities, Ceremonial Objects and Rare Manuscripts, which is visited by thousands weekly.
While the policy of the Institute has always been to encourage those who make use of its facilities to pay a nominal amount for the services rendered, in the past few years it has done more than one-half of the work absolutely free for those who are economically dependent. It has offered free activities to over four thousand different boys and girls, young men and young women.
The testimonial dinner, which is being given to Mr. Loeb on his retirement by the Board of Directors and the membership of the Institute, is tendered in recognition of his distinguished and devoted service. Mr. Loeb is not only
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