Records of the Grand Street Boys' Association

Grand Street in the early 1900s was the center of a large immigrant neighborhood in the Lower East Side of New York and was home to many Eastern European (many of them Jewish), Italian, and Irish immigrants. Many of the first generation immigrant families later moved to other areas of the city when they could afford it. In 1916, a reunion was held in Manhattan for men who had grown up on or near Grand Street. Mirroring the demographic makeup of the Lower East Side in the early 1900s, attendees were primarily Jewish. The success of that reunion led to a second reunion in 1920. At the second reunion, it was decided that a permanent club should be formed and the Grand Street Boys' Association was incorporated in 1921.¹ Their motto became "Good Fellowship, Benevolence, Charity."

At first, only men who grew up in the vicinity of Grand Street were eligible to enroll. This restriction was soon removed and the Association became the "headquarters of those who really love New York."² Membership, though originally consisting of mostly first and second generation Jewish immigrants, was open to all regardless of religion or ethnicity and it spanned all sectors of social class and occupations. Alongside governors, mayors, judges, senators, and famous entertainers were bartenders, furriers, detectives, opera singers, restaurateurs, art therapists, umbrella salesmen, meter readers, and firemen. Well-known members included Irving Berlin, Eddie Cantor, Irving Caesar, Fiorello H. La Guardia, Al Smith, John Lindsay, Robert F. Wagner Jr., Jonah J. Goldstein, Herbert H. Lehman, Nelson A. Rockefeller, and Cardinal Patrick Hayes.³

Initially, the Grand Street Boys raised money through membership fees and selling certificates of indebtedness to members. Meeting in banquet rooms and ballrooms in Manhattan hotels, the Association soon outgrew the rented spaces. With money collected from the fees and certificates, the Grand Street Boys' Association quickly raised enough money to acquire its first clubhouse. Opened in 1924 in the former MacDougal Club, located at 106-108 West 55th Street, the clubhouse had a gym, lounge, dining room, barbershop, auditorium, and a library. ⁴

The Association also raised money through selling tickets to their annual dinners and selling advertisements in its yearbook. From assets derived from investments, the Association was able to fund its charitable work. In 1945, the Grand Street Boys' Foundation was incorporated and tasked with the financial management of investments and assets, as well as distributing grants, scholarships, and awards.⁵

From the outset, the Grand Street Boys' Association was involved in civic and patriotic work, welfare projects, war efforts, and acts of good fellowship and tolerance. Its projects included financing college scholarships; assisting needy families with course tuition, school supplies, and other items; coordinating a "Hobbies for All Ages" program that supplied arts and crafts materials to homes for the elderly and to underprivileged children in the city (later the program was expanded and became known as the Hobbycraft Program); offering a fresh air camp and summer employment for youth; hosting Boy Scouts events at the clubhouse; and providing loans to recently released prisoners. The Association also offered high school excellence awards, gave out awards to New York City teachers, and held Golden Anniversary wedding celebrations honoring some of New York's longest married couples. Inclusive to all, the Grand Streeters hosted dinners, cultural performances, and holiday-themed events. They celebrated Purim alongside of Saint Patrick's Day.

The 1930s was a key decade for the Grand Street Boys' Association. During that decade the auxiliary groups the Amen Boys (for older members) and the Yeoman (for younger members) were formed; Judge Jonah J. Goldstein was elected president of the Association (a position he held for over thirty years); Wuxtra, the Association's newsletter, was first published; and the Association sponsored its first track and field team, an integrated amateur athletic team. The Grand Street Boys were committed to eliminating discrimination in sports and organized integrated sports competitions at the national and inter-scholastic levels.⁶

From its early days, patriotism was a core value for the Association. In the late 1920s, the Grand Street Boys formed American Legion Post No. 1025. On Columbus Day, Post 1025 held an annual march from the clubhouse in Midtown to nearby Columbus Circle. In 1954, on Veteran's Day, the Grand Street Boys' Post 1025 dedicated a plaque to war veterans. The plaque is located in Sherman Square, located on Broadway in the Upper West Side. ⁷ As part of its Hobbycraft Program, the Grand Street Boys donated books, maps, and other items to veteran's homes and medical centers throughout the United States.⁸

During World War Two, the Grand Street Boys and Sir Louis Sterling (a lifetime Grand Street Boys member), opened a recuperation center, the London House, for displaced mothers and children in Britain. Louis Saul Sterling (1879-1958) was an industrialist and philanthropist from the Lower East Side who immigrated to England in the early 1900s, where he became a leading figure in the record industry.⁹

From the post-war years through the 1960s, the Grand Street Boys entered into a stable period under the leadership of Jonah J. Goldstein. The Association received awards from local organizations and a playground in the Lower East Side was named in honor of Goldstein.¹⁰ Following Goldstein's death in 1967, the Grand Street Boys moved to a new clubhouse located at 131-135 West 56th Street. In the late 1970s, they sold that clubhouse and began renting space in the Grand Masonic Lodge of New York building located at 71 West 23rd Street.

In the 1970s, membership began to decline as members with ties to the Lower East Side were aging and dying. The Grand Street Boys expanded its efforts to attract new members and eventually began accepting women. During the 1980s and 1990s, the Hobbycraft Program remained a main focus for the Association. Financially, the assets of the Grand Street Boys' Foundation seemed robust and secure. In the 1990s, assets totaled nearly four million dollars.¹¹In 2011, the Grand Street Boys' Foundation was dissolved and the majority of the remaining assets were dispersed to foundations started by the trustees of the Grand Street Boys' Foundation.¹² As of 2015, the Grand Street Boys' Association was still in existence and was posting updates on its Facebook page.