The American Jewish Committee today moved its national headquarters to its new eight-story structure, which will be known as Institute of Human Relations, Construction of the new building, located at 165 East 56th Street, was begun last year and completed this summer.
Herbert B. Ehrmann, president of the American Jewish Committee, said today that “in its new home, the Committee will both extend and intensify its pioneering efforts in the advancement of intergroup understanding.” He emphasized that the Institute of Human Relations “is probably the first in America which will be devoted exclusively to research and action necessary for the effective treatment of intergrop tension and conflict.”
The Committee’s first office in December, 1906, was located in the Hebrew Charities Building on New York’s Second Avenue. Its paid staff consisted of one secretary, who was later joined by a single clerical aide. “Currently, more than 26, 000 men and women in 44 chapters representing 600 American communities make up the Committee membership. The AJC maintains offices in Paris, Buenos Aires, and correspondents in a number of European countries, as well as North Africa and Israel,” Mr. Ehrmann stated.
“In addition to continuing and expanding the AJC activities, the facilities of the Institute will serve as a conference center for those now working in the field of intergroup relations and will offer training opportunities for those who wish to enter it,” the AJC president said: “By extending these facilities to scholars and graduate students from this country and abroad, the Committee hopes to stimulate further research which will analyze the nature and effect of prejudice and discrimination on the individual and on society.”
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.
