Original Wraps. 12mo. 94, [7] pages. 17 cm. Only edition. With 7 leaves of plates: depicting the Young Women's Hebrew Association building, facilities, and courses. Detailed twelfth annual report of the YWHA. As a communal agency run entirely by and for women, the YWHA provided an important political arena for Jewish women in the early part of the twentieth century. As a pioneering Jewish institution combining social and religious services, the YWHA became one of the principal sources of the Jewish community center movement.
In the new building of 1914, the auditorium doubled as the synagogue, and services were conducted every Friday night, Saturday morning, and on Jewish holidays. The other major Jewish aspect of the YWHA was its curriculum consisting of classes in Hebrew, Bible study, and Jewish history. This was coordinated with an experimental Hebrew school for girls conducted at the YWHA by the Bureau of Jewish Education (of the New York City Kehilla) . Of course, the YWHA offered far more than religious services and Hebrew classes. In 1917, a few years after the completion of its new eight-story facility on 110th Street overlooking Central Park, the New York YWHA was described as 'the only large institution of its kind in America. ' The description of the modern social center continued: 'Besides being a most comfortable home for one hundred and seventy girls, the building is also a true center for the communal interests of the neighborhood; it houses a Commercial School, a Hebrew School, Trade Classes in Dressmaking, Millinery, Domestic Science, classes in Hebrew, Bible Study, Jewish History, Art, English to Foreigners, Advanced English, French, Spanish, and Nursing. There is a completely equipped modern gymnasium and swimming pool. - Jewish Women's Archive. Subjects: Jews - New York (State) - New York. Young Women's Hebrew Association (New York, N. Y. ) - Annual Reports. OCLC lists 1 copy (NYPL) . Wraps previously rebacked, bumped and soiled wraps, internally clean and fresh. Good + condition. Rare. (WOMEN-1-24)
