page_title: Baron Hirsch Synagogue
section_title: 1950s
hierarchical_section_title: Baron Hirsch Synagogue / History / 1950s
caption_attribution_description: English: Baron Hirsch Synagogue south portico facing Vollintine Avenue
context_page_description: The Baron Hirsch Synagogue, established in Memphis, Tennessee circa 1862–1864, is a flagship of American Orthodox Judaism. From modest beginnings, it underwent tremendous growth in the first half of the 20th century, emerging, in the 1950s, as the largest Orthodox congregation in North America, a position it still holds.
  Its former building, an impressive International Style structure built in the 1950s, is a U.S. Historic District Contributing Property and the centerpiece of the Vollintine Hills Historic District, a cohesive collection of 78 post-World War II Minimal Traditional and ranch-style houses built around the former synagogue by members of the congregation.
context_section_description: Flourishing in the post-War years under the leadership of Rabbi Isadore Goodman, by the late 1950s, it had grown to over 1000 households and 500 children in its school.  This dramatic increase in membership coupled with the movement of Jews out of the downtown Pinch area, spurred the congregation to begin planning  for a new synagogue.
  Built in two phases — 1950–52 and 1955–57 — on a 12.4-acre (50,000 m²) plot, the enormous new synagogue rose on the site of a former golf course at Vollintine Avenue and Evergreen Street in midtown Memphis (in what is now the Vollintine Hills Historic District). It was built with 2200 permanent seats in the sanctuary and accommodation for an additional 1000 worshippers. When it was completed in 1957, the main sanctuary of the synagogue was the largest in the United States, according to the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America.
  The $1,600,000 rectilinear International Style building was designed by architect George Awsumb with powerful gray limestone wall cladding enhancing its clean modern lines.  Artisan Jack Grue designed the stained glass windows.
  Construction of this new synagogue, along with a significant amount of new housing for members of the congregation that was within walking distance of the synagogue, created a clearly definable geographic area, readily distinguishable from other areas, which has now been placed on the National Register of Historic Places and called the Vollintine Hills Historic District.
  The congregation's membership doubled in the new synagogue, emerging as the largest Orthodox congregation in the United States. Explanations for this strong growth vary: A claim has been made that it is a "testament to the strength of orthodox Judaism in Memphis;" other sources attribute it as something of a hallmark or local trait, that is, the tendency at that time for both Jews and Christians in Memphis to be affiliated with a religious institution.   In the United States in the 1950s, there was a national trend towards increased affiliation with both church and synagogue membership rising in an unprecedented fashion.  The country experienced a 40% rise in population from the 1930s to the 1950s but a 50% increase in church and synagogue affiliation.
caption: South portico and entrance facing Vollintine Avenue
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