The Daughters of Jacob Leave East Broadway, 1920

New York · May 1920

The Daughters of Jacob Leave East Broadway, 1920

Published October 25, 2026

On East Broadway, men carry elderly residents down the steps of the Daughters of Jacob home while a crowd fills the street.

About 2 minutes, silent. New York, 12 May 1920. Fox News (a cinema newsreel), story 2661, University of South Carolina.

Men carry older residents down the steps of the Daughters of Jacob home. Others carry sifrei Torah out of the building. A crowd fills East Broadway. Police stand at the bottom. Trucks and cars wait at the curb.

The doorway of the Daughters of Jacob home, with the name over the arch and a crowd outside — The doorway. The name of the home is cut into the stone over the arch.

A man carries a sefer Torah out of the Daughters of Jacob home — A sefer Torah is carried out.

An older resident carried down from the steps of the home — An older resident is carried down from the steps.

An older resident leaving the home, held on either side — Another resident leaves, held on either side.

A crowd, cars, and a truck outside the Daughters of Jacob home on East Broadway — East Broadway. The crowd fills the street. Cars and a truck wait at the curb. Frames from the Fox film.

A resident carried through the doorway numbered 302 at the Daughters of Jacob home — A resident is carried through the doorway numbered 302. The arch is the same one in the film.

It is 12 May 1920 / 24 Iyar 5680. They are leaving the home at 301 East Broadway. The new building is on East 167th Street in the Bronx, between Findlay and Teller Avenues. The camera stays on the old home and the street. The Bronx building is in the papers and the photographs that follow.

Four residents of the Daughters of Jacob home seated with a nurse — Residents of the home with a nurse. The day is not given.

Mrs. Bertha Dworsky started the home. A dinner in 1926 marked its 30th year, which puts the start in 1896. The American Jewish Year Book dates the formal organization to 3 November 1897, and in 1907 it counted 101 residents at 302 East Broadway. By 1917–18 there were 204. Work on Louis Allen Abramson’s Bronx building was already underway in 1916. New York’s real estate paper, the Record and Guide, reported in February 1919 that the war had stopped it.

Record and Guide, 8 February 1919, on the Daughters of Jacob home stopped by the war — *Record and Guide*, 8 February 1919. The plans were nearly four years old, and the war had stopped the work.

The new Home of the Daughters of Jacob in the Bronx, September 1920 — *The Architectural Forum*, September 1920. The new home in the Bronx. Louis Allen Abramson, architect. G. Richard Davis & Co., builders.

Portrait of Albert Kruger, superintendent of the Daughters of Jacob home — Albert Kruger, superintendent of the home through the years of the move.

The New York daily Tribune reported an opening dinner on 30 May. Judge Otto A. Rosalsky was toastmaster. Bird S. Coler, the city’s charities commissioner, spoke. By then 225 people were living there, in a building with room for 600. Orthodox Jews ran the home. Older people of any religion could be admitted.

New York Tribune, 31 May 1920, on the opening of the Daughters of Jacob home — New York *Tribune*, 31 May 1920. The opening dinner the night before.

Denver’s Jewish News, on 26 May, described eight wings, two shuls, separate meat and dairy kitchens, workshops, and rooms for older couples. It gave room for 600 then, and 1,000 as a later goal. It also looked ahead to a formal opening on 13 May. The dinner the Tribune reported was 30 May.

Denver Jewish News, 26 May 1920, on the new Daughters of Jacob home — Denver’s *Jewish News*, 26 May 1920. Eight wings, two shuls, and room for 600.

In early June Denver’s Jewish News reported a week of opening events at the Bronx building. Those days are the opening. The film is the leaving.

Denver Jewish News, 23 June 1920, on the opening week at the Bronx home — Denver’s *Jewish News*, 23 June 1920. A week of opening events at the Bronx home in early June.

The film and what followed

In October, the Record and Guide said the East Broadway building, 301–303, had been sold to the Talmudical Yeshiva.

Record and Guide, 30 October 1920, on the sale of 301-303 East Broadway to the Talmudical Yeshiva — *Record and Guide*, 30 October 1920. The home sells 301–303 East Broadway to the Talmudical Yeshiva.

January 1929: men carry sifrei Torah out of the old East Broadway building for the yeshiva’s move to Washington Heights — January 1929. Not the May 1920 leaving. Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary carries sifrei Torah out of this doorway, on the way to Washington Heights. Yeshiva University names Rabbi Bernard Revel, Harry Fischel, and Rabbi Moses S. Margolies in front.

On 16 December 1926 the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported a dinner for the home’s 30th year. More than 500 people were living there. Samuel C. Lamport remembered Mrs. Bertha Dworsky. A film of the home, given by Sam E. Mishkind, was shown that night. No copy of that film has turned up, and nothing ties it to this Fox reel. In 1934 Pathé filmed Samuel Baron’s 106th birthday at the Bronx home.

Timeline

3 November 1897: The American Jewish Year Book dates the formal organization. In 1907 it counts 101 residents at 302 East Broadway.
1916: Construction notices for Louis Allen Abramson’s Bronx building.
1917–1918: The home at 301 East Broadway has 204 residents.
February 1919: The Record and Guide reports that the war stopped the work.
12 May 1920 / 24 Iyar 5680: Fox films residents and sifrei Torah leaving the East Broadway home. Jack Gill is the cameraman.
30 May 1920: Opening dinner at the Bronx home. The Tribune counts 225 residents, with room for 600. Judge Otto A. Rosalsky is toastmaster.
Early June 1920: Denver’s Jewish News reports a week of opening events.
October 1920: The East Broadway building is sold to the Talmudical Yeshiva.
January 1929: The yeshiva carries sifrei Torah out of the old building for the move to Washington Heights. This is not the May 1920 leaving.
16 December 1926: A 30th-anniversary dinner. More than 500 residents. Sam E. Mishkind’s film of the home is shown.
1934: Pathé films Samuel Baron’s 106th birthday at the Bronx home.