The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-11-29
HE Neighborhood house, the center

HE Neigbborhood house, the center
of social settlement work on the
West side, has been most ausplclousiy
named "a neighbor is one who lives
near another" says modern lexlcog-
rapher. and one would have to puzzle
long to. find a finer or more complete
definition than that. For he is priv
ileged to accept the word near" IN
the spiritual sense, and thus interpreted
it means very much, indeed.
Before ever there was a Neighbor-
hood house on the West side flats there
was this appreciation Of the mea1ng OF
the word "neighbor'' entertained by
little group of people who dWelt IN
other parts of the city and by little
group who dwelt on the West side. Al
though their homes were far apart,
these two little groups of people lived
near each other. The one gave and
the other accepted in the most neigh
borly spirit, and gradually that spirit
spread, until today it is difficult to es-
innate the number of those who are
influenced by it.
The Neighborhood house, then, is an
outgrowth of this neighborly spirit 1t
it G social settlement in the most So
. ciaI meaning Of the phrase. But TO
give its history it is necessary to go
back several years to time when
the phrase social settlement meant
nothing, when the neighborly spirit
was known by no other name.
About eight years ago Mrs. j. Wirth,
a member of the Hebrew Benevolent
society, interested number of Jewish
women in the opening of sewing class
for girls. The class met one morning
of each week in building on Indiana
avenue. The children were taught
plain sewing, and as the work adj
vanced the classes were graded. After
the school had been in existence about
three years the local branch of the
National Council of Jewish Women
took charge of it and manual train
ing for Il class of boys was introduced
into the school The school continued
to grow, and finally. the building in
which the classes were held became
the center of social life in that part
of the town.
When DR.. l. L. Rypins came to st.
Paul to take charge of the Mount Zion
synagogue he displayed keen interest
in the work that the women of his
congregation were carrying on over
on the West side, and the development
of the industrial classes int g social
settlement was carefully fostered by
him.
Its First Humble Quarters.
On the first day of September in
the year 1900 the Neighborhood House
association took possession of a small
tWo-story house opposite the present
Neighborhood house, and little over
a year later, on Oct 4, 1901, the asso.
citation incorporated with the following !
board of directors: President, DR.. Ry-
pins; vice president, Mrs. J. Wirth; |
treasurer, Mrs. Westheimer; Mrs M. |
Frankel, Mrs. w. L. Goodkind, Mrs. |
w. Fl. Elsinger, Mrs. Ambrose Gutter |
man, Mrs. Henry Stein, Mrs Joseph
Elsinger and Mrs. Albert N. Rose
An old tenement house which stood
at the corner of Indiana avenue and
Eva street had been placed on a new
foundation and thoroughly renovated, |
and in this new home which it rented
the association began it's work on a |
broader scale than had heretofore been |
attempted. Mrs. M. NJ. Pentland was |
installed as resident and the staff of /
volunteer teachers was increased.