USA: Olean, NY Synagogue Added to National Register

USA: Olean, New York  Synagogue (1929) Added to National Register of Historic Places

Two weeks ago I gave a lecture about New York synagogues, with special attention given to the large numbers of historic structures that have been named local protected sites and/or added to the National Register of Historic Places. At the time I didn't know of the latest synagogue addition to the National Register; the 1929 Temple B'nai Israel at 127 South Barry Street in Olean, a small city in the southwestern part of the state.  The National Register nomination was prepared by Katie Eggers Comeau of Bero Architecture PLLC in Rochester.

Olean, NY. Temple B'nai Israel. Photo: Katie Eggers Comeau for NR Nomination

Olean, NY. Temple B'nai Israel. Photo: Katie Eggers Comeau for NR Nomination

Olean, NY. Temple B'nai Israel. Photo: Katie Eggers Comeau for NR Nomination

In the past twenty years the number of landmarked synagogues in New York State has grown into the hundreds.  Originally, many structures were designated because they stood within the borders of historic districts - of which there are so many in New York City.  Over the years, however, as interest in historic religious structures has grown, more and more synagogues have been listed individually.  In some instances this work has been spurred by organized regional surveys (as in Sullivan County). Outside of New York City many congregations, such a my own Temple Concord in Syracuse, have taken the lead in recognizing the history of their congregations and buildings and have prepared or sponsored the preparation of National Register nominations. There is also the recognition that NR designation can help in fund-raising for the ongoing maintenance and repair of historic structures through the Sacred Sites Program of the New York Landmarks Conservancy and other agencies.

Temple B’Nai Israel, designed for the Olean Hebrew Congregation by local architect J. Milton Hurd (1895-1982) was dedicated on September 29, 1929, shortly before the much larger by stylistically related Temple Emanuel in Manhattan.   Plans for the synagogue had been discussed for more than a decade, and Hurd was hired in 1927.  Hurd was a graduate of Cornell in 1916, and seems to have worked exclusively in the region of Olean.  Biographical information is provided in the NR nomination, but little is know of his other work.  For the synagogue design he was certainly indebted to recent synagogues erected in New York City, many of which had been published in architecture magazines.

Olean's B'nai Israel's  facade is dominated by a massive arch with common version of a Jewish 'rose' window.  The NR nomination rightly compares it to New York City's  B’Nai Jeshurun in Manhattan (Henry Herts & Walter Schneider, 1917-18) and Temple Beth-El in Brooklyn (Shampan & Shampan, 1920), to which we can add the demolished Mount Nebo Synagogue (formerly on 79th Street in Manhattan).  Walter Schneider also designed Mount Nebo  and thus probably deserves much of the credit for the popularity of this particular type of Byzantine-inspired synagogue facade type.  The building also should be compared to the much larger complementary Temple Emanuel in Manhattan (Clarence Stein, Robert D. Kohn, and Charles Butler, archs., 1927-1930). Variations of the Byzantine style were favored for synagogue design throughout the United States in the period between word War I and the Great Depression.

Click here to read the full National Register file on Temple B'Nai Israel

Brooklyn, New York. Temple Beth El (now Young Israel Beth El), Shampan & Shampan, archs, 1920 . Photo: Samuel D. Gruber

New York. NY. Mount Nebo Synagogue, Walter Schneider, arch, 1927-28 (demolished, 1985). Photo: Courtesy of New York Landmarks Conservancy

New York, NY. Temple Emanuel, dedicated January 1927-1930. Photo: Paul Rocheleau. 

Jews began to settle in Olean the 1880s when the city began to flourish as an early center of oil production (A history of the Jewish settlement, its most prominent members with sources is provided in the National Register nomination).  Personal memories of growing up Jewish in Olean by Carol Levine  can be read in Tablet Magazine.

USA: ISJM to Survey Post-World War II American Synagogues

Syracuse, NY. Former Temple Beth El, built in the 1960s. Photos taken shortly before closure and sale to a church in 2007. The building has never been documented, but I was able to photograph it top to bottom before it was cleared of furniture and Judaica fitting. Photos: Samuel D. Gruber/ISJM

USA: ISJM to Survey Post-World War II American Synagogues
by Samuel D. Gruber (President, ISJM)

The International Survey of Jewish Monuments (ISJM) is launching a new documentation initiative aimed at gathering information about the architecture, art and condition of modern American synagogues built in the second half of the 20th century. The emphasis of the survey will be on buildings designed and erected between 1945 and 1975 as these are most at risk.

Research by ISJM members has shown that many of these buildings - even when designed by master architects - are poorly documented, and often threatened with radical alteration or complete demolition due to specific congregational factors and larger demographics shifts. Synagogues built in the 1950s and 1960s are regularly altered, expanded, sold and demolished due to expanding congregations, new liturgical and congregational expectations, changing tastes in style, and sometime high cost of maintaining deteriorated materials.

In the past decade alone synagogues designed by such as noted architects including Pietro Belluschi, Sidney Eisenshtat, Harrison & Abramovitz, Fritz Nathan, Percival Goodman. Walter Gropius, Philip Johnson, Louis Kahn, Kivett & Myers, Eric Mendelsohn and Werner Seligmann have been significantly altered and in some cases even demolished. Scores of synagogues by lesser known local architects, such as Beth El in Syracusee pictured above, have shared this fate. Many others, like Adat Israel i Newport News, Va (below) are at risk.

Change is an inevitable process and ISJM's project is not intended to dictate how a congregation should use its property. The primary purpose of the survey is documentation, but documentation can lead to more informed decisions about future use. Also, since many of these buildings are now eligible or will soon be eligible for National Register listing, ISJM will encourage and assist congregations in this process when appropriate. We are pleased to note, for instance, that the NY Landmarks Conservancy has recently assisted the Kingsway Jewish Center in Brooklyn with NR nomination. Based on past success, it is hoped that interest by architectural historians and others through ISJM will also stimulate more interest in their buildings among congregants and also with local architecture and preservation organizations.

Newport, News, Virginia. Adat Israel is for sale. On a recent visit I was able to photograph the exterior, but could not get inside. One interesting feature is the room with windows to the right of the entrance in the photo immediately above. The room has no roof - it contains a permanent sukkah frame. Photos: Samuel D. Gruber/ISJM Sept 2009.

Plans call for an organizing committee of volunteers for this project, each to be responsible for collating inventories and organizing documentation based on location. Volunteers in New York, Florida, Illinois and Minnesota have already responded.

ISJM also welcomes informative and learned discussion on related issues of architects, patronage, planning, design, materials, construction, use and re-use of modern synagogues and all modern religious buildings. ISJM will aslo assist members with organizing lectures, seminars and conerence sessions on these topics.

With the exception of a few iconic buildings by a few noted architects (i.e. Wright's Unity Temple and Beth Sholom Synagogue; Kahn's First Unitarian Church and unbuilt Mikveh Israel Synagogue; Belluschi's sacred spaces), religious architecture in American mostly receives short shrift in the literature of architectural history.

If you are interested in participating as an organizer, documentarian, sponsor or organizational partner please contact me directly at samuelgruber@gmail.com.

ISJM is especially eager to hear from architects and builders (or their descendents) to learn about synagogues they have designed, and to discuss with them the eventual disposition of their papers, drawings and other documentation concerning such projects.

USA: Continued Progress for Restoration of Virginia, Minnesota Synagogue

USA: Continued Progress for Restoration of Virginia, Minnesota Synagogue

(ISJM) The May 2009 Newsletter of the B’nai Abraham Museum and Cultural Arts Center in Virginia, Minnesota reports great progress on the project to restore the 1910 synagogue in is centennial year. Matching fund have been raised form many private donations to secure the $48,500 grant from the Minnesota Historical Society. Work is now under way to complete the restoration of the sanctuary and several other important building features. The Friends of B’nai Abraham has also received a new matching planning grant of $5,957 from the Midwest Office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation from the Jeffris Heartland Fund. Fund will be used to plan the remaining phase of the restoration, which will include a serving kitchen in the social hall; restoration of the balcony area for storage and additional seating and walkway access form the street to the handicap lift. After planning, additional fund will still be needed to implement work.

The brick synagogue dedicated in 1909 is the last intact Jewish house of worship on Minnesota’s Iron Range, in the far north of the state. The 100th Anniversary and re-dedication of the B'nai Abraham Museum and Cultural Arts Center will be during the summer of 2010. ISJM member Marilyn Chiat has been an active participant in this project since its inception.

With its beautiful stained glass windows, it was described as “the most beautiful church (sic) on the Iron Range., ” in the local press at the time of its dedication. B’nai Abraham was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the 1980s and is the only Minnesota included. It remained in active use through the 1990s.

Extensive updates with photos of restoration work can be found on the Friends of B’nai Abraham website. Photos of the stained glass windows, and various Judaica items associated wit the synagogue are also posted.

These other synagogues once also stood in Iron Range towns:

The Hibbing synagogue, Agudath Achim founded in the former Swedish Evangelical Emanuel Lutheran Church in 1922, which it had it moved from North Hibbing to 2nd Avenue West, was turned into apartments after the congregation disbanded in the 1980s.

The Eveleth synagogue, Agudas Achim, founded in a reconfigured Catholic Church that was purchased in 1909 and then moved to a new location and remodeled for Jewish use was transformed back into a church when the congregation disbanded in the 1970s, and was subsequently demolished.

The Chisholm synagogue, B'nai Zion, built in 1913, was sold to a church in the 1960s and was then demolished to make way for the pastor’s house.

USA: Temple Beth Tefilloh in Brunswick, Georgia to Seek National Register Status

USA: Temple Beth Tefilloh in Brunswick, Georgia to Seek National Register Status

(ISJM) Recognizing the historic value of their 1890 synagogue, members of Temple Beth Tefiloh in Brunswick, Georgia are beginning the process to have the building listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Designed by Jewish architect Alfred Eichberg, who designed the Old City Hall of Brunswick at the same he designed the synagogue, the building retains its original interior woodwork, stained glass and its exterior architectural details, which include the recurring motif of "Moorish" horseshoe arches.

According to the congregation: In 1886, David Glauber, a proponent of Jewish life, relocated to Glynn County and convened twenty-one Jewish men to form a congregation and build a house of worship. In 1888, a lot on Egmont Street was purchased and a building committee established. The temple, dedicated on November 7, 1890, was attended by Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise, the founder of Reform Judaism in America. The synagogue has been in continuous use ever since. Wise came from Cincinnati to deliver the keynote address at the dedication [this history need to be confirmed for NR designation].

The congregation is small (under 50 families) but active. Through the International Survey of Jewish Monuments they will welcome any help from volunteers in documenting and research the history and architecture of their building.

For more information or to help, contact

Holle Weiss-Friedman, President
Temple Beth Tefilloh
1326 Egmont Street
Brunswick, GA 31520
email: sepr8@bellsouth.net
http://www.bethtefilloh.org/

please cc inquiries to samuelgruber@gmail.com