Finding aid for the United Order True Sisters Cleveland No. 30 Records and Photographs

History of the United Order True Sisters Cleveland No. 30

The United Order True Sisters Cleveland No. 30, located at 2655 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, was a local lodge that was part of the oldest Jewish women's charitable organization in the country, the United Order True Sisters, founded in New York in 1846. The Cleveland Lodge was founded in November of 1925. From its founding through the early 1940s, there is little scholarship to consult about their activities, outside of their participation in fundraising events.

Locally, the goal of the lodge was to promote 'family unity' by establishing a day care center for the benefit of the community. To that end, the United Order True Sisters Cleveland No. 30 opened their child care center in 1945. The lodge also participated in various philanthropic and service activities around Cleveland, such as supplying and maintaining a playroom in the Cleveland Clinic.

By 1977, there were at least 68 True Sister lodges nationwide. However, following this time, the United Order True Sisters faced monetary issues and declining membership within the national order. Despite a name change to the Women's Service Organization in the late 1990s to early 2000s, the Cleveland's lodge was experiencing financial difficulties by 2006. In that same year, the decision was made to turn the True Sisters Child Care Center over to Wingspan Care Group. In August of 2012, the True Sisters Child Care Center merged with JDN Early Child Care Center, a program of Bellefaire Jewish Children's Bureau (JCB) in Shaker Heights, Ohio, and no longer exists. As of 2013, there were only six chapters of the United Order of True Sisters left: three in Florida, one in New York, one in Baltimore, and one in Arizona.

Scope and Content

The United Order True Sisters Cleveland No. 30 Records and Photographs, 1925-2007 and undated, consist of awards, booklets, budgets, bulletins, bylaws, a calendar, a cookbook, correspondence, a journal, flyers, manuals, membership books, minutes, newspaper clippings, notebooks, poems, a proclamation, reports, scrapbooks, sheet music, and speech text. There are also approximately 50 black and white and 300 color photographs.

This collection is of value to those researching the United Order True Sisters nationally, as well as the Cleveland No. 30 lodge. It is also useful to those researching the history of childcare in the United States, women's Jewish history, or the history of family life and children. Those interested in service and family value organizations, volunteer organizations, or organizations that have supported healthcare efforts may also find the material to be useful in their research.

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions on Access

None.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

Preferred Citation

[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 5427 United Order True Sisters Cleveland No. 30 Records and Photographs, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

Acquisition Information

Gift of Women's Service Organization (formerly United Order True Sisters Cleveland No. 30) in 2007.

Processing Information

Processed by Kyle Auchter, Emily Grucza, Robert Janis, Stanley Lasky, and John Veres in 2017.

Detailed Description of The Collection