In 1934, the National Council of Jewish Women St. Louis (NCJWSTL) bought a three-story house known as Council House at 4500 Page Blvd. in St. Louis, next door to Shaare Zedek Synagogue. Council House was a gathering place for social, athletic and educational activities. The original Council House closed and, in an effort to offer a gathering place for a shifting Jewish population, NCJWSTL opened a new Council House at Clara and Wells avenues.
Recently, the Jewish Light received an email from long time reader and former St. Louisan Dr. Irvin Pretsky . He sent us a photo he has had in his possession for more than 70 years.
The photo shows Pretsky and 16 other children and one adult, taken outside the Council House on Wells Avenue.
“I am in the back row on the right, wearing a Marine cap sent to me by older brother Max Pretsky, USMC, from the Iwo Jima, Pacific Campaign,” said Pretsky.
He believes that the young man sitting on the banister rail is Lee Platke, that the young man sitting in the top row, left side and next to the banister, is Jackie Becker. He also believes that the young man in the first row, furthest to the right, is Sigfried Adler, and to his left is Paula Chervitz.
So, who are the rest of the children in the photo? That’s what Pretsky has asked us to help him find out. If you have any ideas, please email Jordan Palmer at [email protected]
More about the Council House
Council House was a neighborhood recreation center that proved popular among children and older adults. In 1957, NCJWSTL implemented another program to encourage older adults to get out of their homes and stay active. It was known as Council Lounge that was extremely popular with older adults living in the neighborhood.
In a January 1964 proposal to the NCJWSTL, Geri Schiller (one of the architects of the project) called the Council Lounge the “miracle on Enright” that touched the lives of hundreds of people. She and other council leaders studied the program at length and determined that older adults desired independence combined with a safe environment.
In a Sept. 14, 1967, presentation to the Washington University School of Law and Continuing Education, Schiller explaining that “it was so successful that the vitality and general well-being of the neighborhood noticeably improved.”
The success of Council Lounge was one of the factors leading to the concept of a facility geared toward recreational needs of older adults, including subsidized housing.
| RELATED: Can you help us identify everyone in this photo from April, 1977
