Jewish Educational Loan Fund, Inc. (Atlanta, Ga.) Records

The Jewish Educational Loan Fund, Inc., was originally established in 1889 as the Hebrew Orphan's Asylum. Although the suggestion to establish a Jewish orphanage was first discussed at the 1870 convention of the B'nai B'rith Lodge No. 5, little was accomplished, until 1886, when the communities of Atlanta, Richmond and the District of Columbia organized a fund raising campaign. It was decided to locate the home in the city that raised the most money. Within two years Atlantans collected more than half the money needed, and the Home was built in Atlanta on Washington Street between Love and Little Streets near what was then the southern border of town. The Home was of a Venetian style, built of brick and trimmed in terra cotta. The central building, clinic dairy, servant's cottage and playground occupied an entire square block. Officially changing its name from the Hebrew Orphan's Asylum to the Hebrew Orphan's Home in 1901, the facility was home to hundreds of Jewish children from the Southeast between the years 1889 to 1930, when it closed as a resident facility. Ralph A. Sonn was superintendent from 1889 until his retirement in 1924. Under his direction the children received religious instruction at either Ahavath Achim or The Temple, attended classes at nearby Fraser Street School, and were trained to be typists, stenographers, plumbers and printers. In 1948, the name of the Jewish Orphan's Home was officially changed to The Jewish Children's Service, Inc. Regional foster home placements and adoptions were administered under the auspices of this bureau. In 1988, the official name was again changed to the Jewish Educational Loan Fund, to more accurately portray the organization's present function, which is to provide interest-free loans to Jewish students whose families live in any of the affiliated communities throughout the Southeast.