Educational Alliance is a leading social institution that has been serving communities in New York City’s

Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...

since 1889. It provides multi-generational programs and services in education, health and wellness, arts and culture, and civic engagement across 15 sites and a network of five community centers: the 14th Street Y, Center for Recovery and Wellness, Manny Cantor Center, Sirovich Center for Balanced Living, and Educational Alliance Community Schools.

History

In 1889, the Alliance was founded as a partnership between the Aguilar Free Library, the Young Men's Hebrew Association (now the

92nd Street Y 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY) is a cultural and community center located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, at the corner of East 92nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Founded in 1874 as the Young Men's Hebrew Association, the ...

), and the Hebrew Institute. The organization’s main purpose was to serve as a settlement house for Eastern European Jews immigrating to New York City. Jewish philanthropists

Isidor Straus Isidor Straus (February 6, 1845 – April 15, 1912) was a Bavarian-born American Jewish businessman, politician and co-owner of Macy's department store with his brother Nathan. He also served for just over a year as a member of the United State ...

, Samuel Greenbaum,

Myer S. Isaacs Myer Samuel Isaacs (May 8, 1841 – May 24, 1904) was a Jewish-American lawyer and judge from New York. Life Isaacs was born on May 8, 1841, in New York City, the son of Rev. Samuel Myer Isaacs and Jane Symmonds. His paternal grandfather was ...

Jacob H. Schiff Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Ja ...

, Morris Loeb, and

Edwin R. A. Seligman Edwin Robert Anderson Seligman (1861–1939), was an American economist who spent his entire academic career at Columbia University in New York City. Seligman is best remembered for his pioneering work involving taxation and public finance. His p ...

raised $125,000 to buy land and build the organization's five-story flagship building at 197 East Broadway. Classes for children and adults were offered on subjects such as the English language, American history and civics, stenography, and cooking. In 1903, the Children’s Educational Theater was founded.

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

attended a performance and subsequently joined the Board of Advisors.

Eddie Cantor Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz; January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Familiar to Broadway, radio, movie, and early television audiences, ...

made his stage debut at the theater in 1905. The Art School, founded in 1905 and then re-organized by Abbo Ostrowsky in 1917, trained some of the most famous American visual artists of the mid-20th century including Chaim Gross, Elias Newman,

Philip Evergood Philip Howard Francis Dixon Evergood (born Howard Blashki; 1901–1973) was an American painter, etcher, lithographer, sculptor, illustrator and writer. He was particularly active during the Depression and World War II era. Life Philip Evergoo ...

, Ben Shahn, Leonard Baskin,

Concetta Scaravaglione Concetta Scaravaglione (July 9, 1900 – September 4, 1975) was an American sculptor. Her parents immigrated from Calabria, Italy, and Concetta was the youngest of nine children. She is known for her monumental figurative sculpture, her work fo ...

, Moses Soyer and

Isaac Soyer Isaac Soyer (April 26, 1902 – July 8, 1981) was a Russian-born American social realist painter and educator. His art work often portrayed working-class people of New York City in his paintings. Biography He was born as Isaac Schoar on April 26, ...

, Joseph Margulies, Jo Davidson,

Dina Melicov Dina Melicov (1905–1969) was an American sculptor, and painter who studied at The Educational Alliance Art School. She graduated from Wadleigh High School for Girls, and studied with Solon Borglum. She married Samuel Gould. Dina Melicov was ...

Leo Gottlieb Leo "Ace" Gottlieb (November 28, 1920 – August 16, 1972) was an American professional basketball player. Early and personal life Gottlieb, who was Jewish, was born in New York City, New York. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School in The Bron ...

Peter Blume Peter Blume (27 October 1906 – 30 November 1992) was an American painter and sculptor. His work contained elements of folk art, Precisionism, Parisian Purism, Cubism, and Surrealism. Biography Blume, born in Smarhon, Russian Empire to a ...

, and

Abraham Walkowitz Abraham Walkowitz (March 28, 1878, Tyumen, Russia - January 27, 1965, New York City, EUA) was a Russian-American painter grouped in with early American Modernists working in the Modernist style. While never attaining the same level of fame as h ...

. The Alliance became one of the first organizations to offer Head Start for early childhood education in 1965. In 1996, the Alliance addressed the needs of the aging population of the neighborhood by helping establish one of the first naturally occurring retirement communities, for which it provides services.

Community Centers

Educational Alliance’s network of community centers includes the 14th Street Y, the Center for Recovery and Wellness, the Manny Cantor Center, the Sirovich Center, and Educational Alliance Community Schools. Ed Alliance building

The 14th Street Y uses contemporary Jewish sensibilities as a source of inspiration, connection, and learning for the individuals and families it serves, which live primarily throughout New York City’s East Village. It has a health and wellness center, childhood, parenting and adult education and enrichment programs, and an arts and culture department. The Center for Recovery and Wellness (CRW) is a first-of-its-kind community center in New York State dedicated to community-based addiction support and overall wellness. It offers substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery services certified by the NYS Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS). CRW provides evidence-based care through an individualized person-centered approach, meeting clients both on-site and in-community. It also provides adult education and wellness services to the surrounding neighborhood. The Manny Cantor Center is Educational Alliance’s original flagship settlement house and is in its flagship building at 197 East Broadway. It offers events, programs, and critical services for people ages 0 to 100+ through its fitness center, preschool, art school, teen center, and Weinberg Center for Balanced Living, which serves older adults. The Sirovich Center for Balanced Living provides older adults services and programs that acknowledge the interconnectedness of physical, mental/emotional, and social health. The center is free for those aged 60+ and aims to improve both individual and community wellness. Sirovich headquarters Educational Alliance’s Older Adult Services, which also includes Project ORE and the Co-op Village Naturally Occurring Retirement Community (NORC). Educational Alliance partners with local public schools to create the Educational Alliance Community Schools, where students have access to free extended learning time opportunities. School leaders are assigned an Educational Alliance Community School Director as a partner in the student-centered approach to addressing challenges which impede student learning during the traditional school day. The multi-generational programs and services are also accessible to students and their families. All Educational Alliance community schools operate as a Boys and Girls Clubs of America site, tailored to the individual needs of each school.

Notable alumni

Abraham J. Feldman Abraham Jehiel Feldman (June 28, 1893 – July 21, 1977) was a Ukrainian-born Jewish-American rabbi. Life Feldman was born on June 28, 1893 in Kyiv, Russian Empire, Russia, the son of Jehiel Feldman and Elka Rubin. Feldman immigrated to America ...

(1893–1977), rabbi * Adolph Gottlieb (1903– 1974),

abstract expressionist Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...

painter, sculptor and printmaker * Chaim Gross (1902-1991),

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and educator *

Lazarus Joseph Lazarus Joseph (January 25, 1891 – May 23, 1966) was an American lawyer and politician from New York City. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was a New York State Senator from 1934 to 1945, and was the New Yor ...

(1891–1966), NY State Senator and

New York City Comptroller The Office of Comptroller of New York City, a position established in 1801, is the chief financial officer and chief auditor of the city agencies and their performance and spending. The comptroller also reviews all city contracts, handles the s ...

. *

Zero Mostel Samuel Joel "Zero" Mostel (February 28, 1915 – September 8, 1977) was an American actor, comedian, and singer. He is best known for his portrayal of comic characters such as Tevye on stage in ''Fiddler on the Roof'', Pseudolus on stage and on ...

(1915–1977), actor, comedian, and singer *

David Sarnoff David Sarnoff (February 27, 1891 – December 12, 1971) was an American businessman and pioneer of American radio and television. Throughout most of his career, he led the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) in various capacities from shortly afte ...

(1891-1971), Industralist *

Louis Schanker Louis Schanker (1903 – May 7, 1981) was an American abstract artist. Early life He grew up in an Orthodox Jewish environment in the Bronx, New York. His parents, Sam, a tailor, and Fannie Schanker, were of Romanian descent. He had five sibl ...

(1903–1981,

abstract art Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th ...

ist *

(1902–1981), Russian-born American

social realist Social realism is the term used for work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers and filmmakers that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structure ...

painter and educator

References

External links

*
Educational Alliance Records
RG 312; YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. {{DEFAULTSORT:Educational Alliance Education in Manhattan Lower Manhattan Settlement houses in New York City Jewish-American history Jews and Judaism in Manhattan