Jewish Community Center (Seattle) formally opens its doors in 1949.

  • By Lee Micklin
  • Posted 12/18/1998
  • HistoryLink.org Essay 549
See Additional Media

The Jewish Community Center (JCC) formally opens its doors in Seattle under the strategic leadership of first president Norman Davis and secretary Harry Ash. Alfred Shemanski also serves as an early leader of the organization.

The JCC reflected the mission of Jewish Community Centers throughout the United States. It was conceived as a place for Jews to come because they did not have anywhere else to go, due to restrictions prohibiting Jews from many non-Jewish social and recreational clubs. It was a place they could participate in activities with a particular American twist and style: basketball, arts classes and lectures, summer camps, and social clubs.


Sources:

Michele Rosen "Fortieth Anniversary of the Jewish Community Center," Stroum Jewish Community Center, Seattle, 1988.


Licensing: This essay is licensed under a Creative Commons license that encourages reproduction with attribution. Credit should be given to both HistoryLink.org and to the author, and sources must be included with any reproduction. Click the icon for more info. Please note that this Creative Commons license applies to text only, and not to images. For more information regarding individual photos or images, please contact the source noted in the image credit.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License
Major Support for HistoryLink.org Provided By: The State of Washington | Patsy Bullitt Collins | Paul G. Allen Family Foundation | Museum Of History & Industry | 4Culture (King County Lodging Tax Revenue) | City of Seattle | City of Bellevue | City of Tacoma | King County | The Peach Foundation | Microsoft Corporation, Other Public and Private Sponsors and Visitors Like You