More information

The records in this section are primarily newspaper articles. Short essays on the history of many of these organizations are posted here.

A. U. C. Club

A club organized for social activity in early 1920. This club consists mainly of the pupils in the Confirmation class.

Balfour Young Judaea

A youth club formed in December 1922, presumably affiliated with the national movement.

B'nai B'rith Lodge #1454 (Melvin Frank)

Organized in 1941, it succeeded the earlier lodge, which had fallen into inactivity. In May 1948 it became the Melvin Frank Lodge in memory of the son of its then president.

B'nai B'rith Youth Organization (BBYO)

Starting in 1948 references to a joint Homestead BBYO begin to appear.

Charity Girls

A short-lived group of young Jewish women who caused a public controversy in 1908 when they defied the Ladies' Aid.

Charles Hertz Memorial Club

A club formed in 1920 by Class 2 of the religious school in memory of Charles Hertz.

Community House

An attempt in the 1920s to form a Homestead J.C.C.

Hebrew Ladies' Aid Society / Sisterhood

The Ladies’ Aid, later known at the Sisterhood, assisted the men-only officers and directors of the synagogue in supporting the shul and its school. It was founded in 1905 to help the survivors of the Kishinev Massacre. In 1937 they changed their name to the Rodef Shalom Sisterhood of Homestead. More info »

Hebrew School

At different periods in its history Homestead had a daily after-school cheder and a Sunday school.

Heptagon Club

An active Jewish club in 1907-1908.

Homestead A.Z.A 455

A reconstituted A.Z.A. chapter that began at the beginning of 1945 as boys came home from the war.

Homestead Dramatic Club

Under the auspices of the synagogue, this group was created in 1932 and remained active for a couple years.

Homestead Hebrew Cemetery / Chevra Kadisha

Founded in 1896 and active to this day, the cemetery, operated for most of its existence as part of the congregation, is the resting place of generations of Homestead Hebrews. More info about the chevra kadisha »

Homestead Hebrew Club

A local social group in the early 1900s. It may have been the same group at the Homestead Hebrew Political Club, a political & social group.

Homestead Hebrew Congregation Rodef Shalom

The Homestead Hebrew Congregation was the only shul in Homestead, PA (except for a brief period in the early 1900s). The community was formally organized in 1894 and disbanded in 1992. Its first synagogue was located at 540 Ammon St. It was destroyed in an arson. The new synagogue remains to this day near the corner of 10th and McClure. More info »

Homestead Hebrew Political Club

A local political group in the early 1900s that focused on borough elections. It may have been the same group at the Homestead Hebrew Club, a social group.

Homestead Junior Rodeph Shalom

First mentioned in 1938. May or may not be a continuation of previous such efforts.

Homestead Zion Society

Founded in 1903, this group was first of a series of local Zionist organizations supported by Homestead's Jewish community. More info »

H. S. Schwartz Aleph Club (A.Z.A.)

Organized in 1941, it seems to have petered out in early 1943 when too many boys were sent to war.

Independent Order B'nai Abraham (I.O.B.A.)

A Jewish fraternal lodge in Homestead founded in 1907. More info »

Independent Order B'nai B'rith (I.O.B.B.) #586

There were two B’nai B’rith lodges during Homestead’s history. This one, organized 12/11/1904, was the first. It seems to have faded to inactivity by the 30s. More info »

Jolly Thirteen Club

A group of women in the Homestead in the 1930s.

Junior Congregation

Organized in the 1920s, a group of high school boys and girls at the synagogue.

Merrymakers Club

Created in the early 1920s, it comprised the younger boys and girls of the religious school.

Quorum Society

Founded in late 1925, this group was formed for the purpose of doing welfare work and to establish closer and more harmonious relationships among the entire local Jewry.

Roosevelt Club

A short-lived club of Jewish young women in 1907. Named after Teddy Roosevelt, it turned one of his less-memorable causes—preventing "race suicide"—towards the Jewish community.

Sumtime Inn Club

A mid-1920s social group comprised of young men mainly from Homestead.

Tillyend Club

A mid-1920s club of young Jewish men in Homestead.

United Palestine Appeal

Organized in early 1926, this group raised money from the whole Jewish community of the Homestead district as part of a coordinated national effort.

Y. M. & W. H. A. of Homestead

In late 1931 the gender-separated Y. groups of Homestead merged into one.

You Know Club

A short-lived group of young people that may or may not have been Jewish. There was a much later YDK Club that clearly wasn't Jewish.

Young Boys' Hebrew Association (Y.B.H.A.)

Organized in 1915, this short-lived group presumably provided a social outlet for those too young for the Y.M.H.A.

Young Israel Congregation

The Young Israel Congregation of the Rodeph Shalom Synagogue was created for the students to hold Shabbat services Saturday afternoons.

Young Judaean Club

Young Judaea was born in 1909 out of Zionist clubs across the country. Homestead's local chapter was organized in the late teens and continued intermittently through the 1950s. More info »

Young Lions Young Judaea Club

First appears in the newspaper in 1948 around the time the State of Israel is born.

Young Men's Hebrew Association (Y.M.H.A.)

Founded in October 1914, the Homestead chapter of the Y.M.H.A. gave the young Jewish men of Homestead a social organization of their own. More info »

Young Women's Hebrew Association (Y.W.H.A.)

Founded in early 1912, the Homestead chapter of the Y.W.H.A. gave the young Jewish women of Homestead a social organization of their own. More info »

Zionist District

Organized in late 1923 as part of a region-wide effort.