JEWISH MIGRATION TO ST. LOUIS PARK

One of the major factors in Park's remarkable growth after the War was the migration of the Jewish community of Minneapolis to the suburbs. The same advantages that other city dwellers sought in moving to the suburbs drew this close community westward. Much of the northernmost area of town was undeveloped, creating an opportunity for a large scale relocation. The Jewish community made an important and lasting impact on the city and had contributed a great deal to the development and image of St. Louis Park.

Much of the information for this section came from "Jewish Settlement in Minneapolis, 1860's-1972: Historic Context for Minneapolis Preservation Plan" by Garneth O. Peterson, AICP, Landscape Research: August 1997. Information about discrimination in Minneapolis in the 1940s is from the book "An Echo in My Blood" by internationally renowned author (and St. Louis Park native) Alan Weisman (Harcourt Brace & Company:  1999.  A book available from the Minnesota Historical Society Press is “Jews in Minnesota,” by Hyman Berman and Linda Mack Schloff.

FilminFocus.com, the film culture website of film company Focus Features (A Serious Man, Brokeback Mountain, Coraline), recently posted an editorial titled “Jews in the USA” which looks at the smaller Jewish communities across America.  The site includes a feature on The St Louis Park Jewish Community.

1850s
Jewish settlers first came to Minnesota. Abram Elfelt, know to be Minnesota’s first Jewish settler, died in 1888.

1856
The first synagogue in the state was established in 1856 in St. Paul.

1868-69
German Jews came to Minneapolis and established shops, particularly selling clothing and dry goods.

1878
The first congregation in Minneapolis, the Reform Shaarai Tov (later Temple Israel) was formed.

1880
Shaarai Tov's synagogue, the first in Minneapolis, a frame Byzantine edifice designed by LeRoy Buffington, was built on Fifth Street between Marquette and Second Avenues.

1882
Approximately 600 Jewish refugees from Eastern Europe arrived in Minnesota, with fewer resources and English skills as their German counterparts. The new immigrants established mostly orthodox synagogues centered around their country of origin at first.

1888
A Romanian Orthodox congregation called "Rumanian Schul," which became B'nai Abraham, was formed on the South Side of Minneapolis. About 300 Romanian immigrants met in a building on 15th Avenue South between Third and Fourth Streets.

1900
Approximately 5,000 Jews lived in Minneapolis.

1910
Approximately 4,500 mostly Russian, Lithuanian, and Polish Jews had settled in North Minneapolis, and approximately 3,500 mostly Romanian Jews had settled on the South Side.

1920’s
Minneapolis had 20 active Ku Klan chapters in the early ‘20s. In Minnesota the Klan directed its wrath mostly to Catholics and Jews.

1940
Evidence of anti-Semitism appeared in the form of a pamphlet issued by the “American Christian Movement,” PO Box 485, Minneapolis. The pamphlet was addressed to farmers in rural Minnesota, and began with a diatribe against the New Deal. The text reads “Are the Jews Really Being Persecuted?” and “No one seems eager to die for the Jews!” It then reproduced a few pages from the Talmud, with the intention of alienating and frightening the populace.

1946
An article entitled "Minneapolis:  The Curious Twin," written by essayist Carey McWilliams, was published in Common Ground magazine.  McWilliams proclaimed that Minneapolis was the "most anti-Semitic city in America."  Jews were publicly and unapologetically excluded from membership in private country clubs, but also Rotary, Lions, and Kiwanis Clubs, and groups like the Toastmasters.  Jews were even barred from the Minneapolis chapter of the American Automobile Club. Discrimination had turned away Jewish professionals, and in 1948, frustrated Jewish doctors started their own hospital, Mt. Sinai, after being denied access to Minneapolis medical facilities.  Jews were barred from local chapters of labor unions that had been started in New York by Jewish organizers.  Summer resorts on Lake Minnetonka advertised that they catered to "Gentiles only."  Department stores such as Montgomery Ward refused to interview Jewish job applicants. Many neighborhoods were "restricted," barring Jews, Blacks, and even Catholics and Italians.  Jewish teachers were few and far between.

The situation was exacerbated by Reverend William Bell Riley at the First Baptist Church in Minneapolis, whose sermons were anti-Semitic diatribes.

As a response to the charges of anti-Semitism, Minneapolis Mayor Hubert H. Humphrey appointed a task force to investigate the situation. The task force confirmed the allegations, and also shone light on discrimination against Blacks and American Indians. Humphrey turned the task force into a permanent Mayor's Council on Human Relations. Ordinances were passed in the next two years that outlawed anti Semitic and racist practices in housing and employment. In 1948, Humphrey gave a groundbreaking speech on civil rights at the Democratic National Convention.

The resultant migration from Minneapolis was almost complete, with fewer than ten families still attending the Romanian Congregation in South Minneapolis.

1948
Race-specific real estate covenants were invalidated by the U.S. Supreme Court.

1952
A synagogue committee of the Park B'nai B'rith chapter convened a meeting of Jewish families at Lenox School. Discussions went on with Jewish congregations in Minneapolis until an "amalgamation with B'nai Abraham evolved."

1953
The St. Louis Park chapter of B'nai B'rith Women received its charter on December 13, 1953.  There were 93 charter members - membership in 1961 was 130.  A 1961 Dispatch article states that "This philanthropic organization supports hospitals throughout the country, the Hillel houses on a number of campuses, and the Anti-Defamation League and the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization."

1954
The Anti-Defamation League, a branch of B’nai B’rith, presented a booklet to the Superintendent of Schools that included a schedule of the Jewish holidays and suggestions for teachers.

1956
In May, B'nai Abraham moved to a three-bedroom house at 3115 S. Ottawa Avenue on land purchased by Lewis Schwartz. The original 27 members grew to 294 families by the fall.

1958
The B'nai Abraham Synagogue Center at Highway 7 and Ottawa Avenue (3115 Ottawa) was built - the first in the Park. Moses B. Sachs was the rabbi in 1959. By 1961, 400 families were members.

1964
Construction began on the Talmud Torah and Emanuel Cohen Center - later known as the Jewish Community Center. It represented a merger of the Emmanuel Cohen Center and Council Camp. Its aim, voiced by the Park Jewish Youth Services in July 1959, was “to provide a community-wide program to meet the social, cultural, and recreational needs of every segment of the community.”

1965
Gemelus Chesed, a North Side congregation, moved to the Park.

Phil Blazer presented the B'nai Shalom Hour on Sundays from 11 to noon on KUXL.  The show featured "Jewish Music Favorites, Israeli Folk Music, News of Jewish Community Interest, Yiddish Comedy, and Interviews."  An ad for the show was in the February 5, 1965 issue of the newspaper American Jewish World.

1968
Beth El, a North Side congregation with 900 families, moved to 5224 W. 26th St. in St. Louis Park. A youth center had been built at that location in 1960 to serve members of the congregation who had already relocated.

A memo dated August 30, 1968 from the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota provided Superintendents of Minnesota school and the President of the U of M with a calendar of Jewish holidays from 1968 through 1973. “We are hopeful that having a schedule of these holidays so far in advance will avoid scheduling conventions, examinations, etc., on days when Jewish youngsters and adults observe their Holy Days.”

1971
Kenesseth Israel, organized in 1888, moved to a new building at 4330 W. 28th.

In December 1971, the School Board drew up guidelines on how to celebrate holidays - primarily Christmas - in the public schools.  See Race, Creed, and Color.

1972
B'nai Abraham, Mikro Kodesh, and Tifereth B'nai Jacob merged to form B'nai Emet. A new building at 3115 Ottawa Ave. was finished in April 1974.

1987
38 percent of the Jews residing in the Minneapolis area lived in the Park.

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This information comes from a variety of sources: newspapers, books, yearbooks, phone directories, interviews, etc. Given the varied sources, we cannot guarantee that all of this information is correct, and welcome any additions and corrections. Please contact us with your contributions and comments.