Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta Records

The Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta, formerly known as the Atlanta Jewish Community Center, was officially founded in 1910, as the Jewish Educational Alliance. Modeled after the settlement houses that were established in cities with large immigrant populations, the Alliance’s early programs were geared toward Americanizing the newcomers who settled in Atlanta. Over the next several decades the programs at the Alliance changed. They began to emphasize other activities such as sports and camping, and the building was often the central meeting place for the many boys, girls and adult clubs that were an integral part of the social life for Atlanta’s Jewish community. In 1946, the Jewish Educational Alliance incorporated and formally changed its name to the Atlanta Jewish Community Center (AJCC). Two years later a campaign was launched to begin raising money for the construction of a new building on land the Center had purchased on Peachtree Street. In 1956, the building was dedicated with William B. Hartsfield, the mayor of Atlanta in attendance. In 1961, the AJCC purchased land on Tillie Mill Road in Dunwoody, Georgia and opened a family park and day camp on that site. In 1962, additional land was purchased in Cleveland, Georgia for an overnight camp named for Barney Medintz, a community leader. Over the years the center remained the central meeting place for Jewish youth and adults. As the Jewish community of Atlanta continued its move to the northern suburbs, the location of the main campus was no longer that convenient to a large percentage of the population. In 1979, Zaban Park, named in honor of its major benefactor, Erwin Zaban, was built on the Tillie Mill Road site and in 1989, the Center opened a third site, Shirley Blumenthal Park in Cobb County. Again, due to demographic changes, the Peachtree Road building was closed and then sold in 1998. In 2000, in appreciation to Bernie Marcus, whose generosity allowed a new building to be erected at Zaban Park, the AJCC formally changed its name to the Marcus Jewish Community Center Atlanta. Today the mission of the MJCCA remains much the same as it was in its early years. It strives to ensure a vibrant greater Atlanta community by providing programs and services of distinction that inspires meaningful connections and promotes Jewish values.