![Synagogue Forsyth Street Atlanta Illustrated 1881](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Synagogue_Forsyth_Street_Atlanta_Illustrated_1881.jpg)
The Temple (formally, the Hebrew Benevolent Congregation) is a
Reform
Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill#The Yorkshire Associati ...
synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
in
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
. The
oldest Jewish congregation in Atlanta, it was established in 1860 to serve the needs of
German-Jewish
The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (''circa'' 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish ...
immigrants. The Temple, designed by
Philip Trammell Shutze
Philip Trammell Shutze (August 18, 1890 – October 17, 1982) was an American architect. He became a partner in 1927 of Hentz, Adler & Shutze. He is known for his neo-classical architecture.
Designed the HM Patterson & son spring Hill chapel, ...
in a
Neoclassical style, was completed in 1931.
Previous temples of the congregation were located at:
*1875–1902: Garnett and Forsyth Streets, downtown
*1902–1929: South Pryor and Richardson Streets,
Washington-Rawson neighborhood southeast of downtown
During the 1950s and 1960s, The Temple became a center for civil rights advocacy. In response, white supremacists
bombed The Temple on October 12, 1958, with no injuries. While arrests were made, there were no convictions. ''
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...
'' editor
Ralph McGill
Ralph Emerson McGill (February 5, 1898 – February 3, 1969) was an American journalist and editorialist. An anti-segregationist editor he published the ''Atlanta Constitution'' newspaper. He was a member of the Peabody Awards Board of Juror ...
's outraged front-page column on the Temple bombing won a
Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing
The Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing is one of the fourteen American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Journalism. It has been awarded since 1917 for distinguished editorial writing, the test of excellence being clearness of style, ...
. The Temple and the bombing event was used as a central theme in the film ''
Driving Miss Daisy
'' Driving Miss Daisy'' is a 1989 American comedy-drama film directed by Bruce Beresford and written by Alfred Uhry, based on his 1987 play of the same name. The film stars Jessica Tandy, Morgan Freeman, and Dan Aykroyd. Freeman reprised his ...
'' (1989).
Organ
The Shutze temple opened in 1931 with a new Pilcher organ. In 1955, temple organist Emilie Spivey contracted Aeolian-Skinner to update and renovate the organ. The renovated organ, one of twelve in the country bearing G. Donald Harrison's signature plate, was dedicated October 14, 1955 with a performance of Ernest Bloch's ''Sacred Service''. On Oct 30, 1955 Spivey played the opening recital of Mozart, Bloch, and Poulenc's organ concerto.
The organ underwent a major renovation in 2011-2012.
References
External links
Synagogue websiteThe Templeat Atlanta Urban Design Commission
National Park Service Atlanta
Jews and Judaism in Atlanta
Synagogues in Georgia (U.S. state)
Reform synagogues in Georgia (U.S. state)
Buildings and structures in Atlanta
Religion in Atlanta
German-American culture in Georgia (U.S. state)
German-Jewish culture in the United States
National Register of Historic Places in Atlanta
Synagogues on the National Register of Historic Places in Georgia (U.S. state)
Synagogues completed in 1931
1931 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state)
Neoclassical architecture in Georgia (U.S. state)
Neoclassical synagogues
20th-century attacks on synagogues and Jewish communal organizations in the United States
{{US-synagogue-stub