Presidents:

1950-1952 Lorraine Schein*
1952-1954 Sara Waldman*
1954-1956 Edna Cohen*
1956-1958 Marie Bitterman*
1958-1960 Bette Schuttler*

* of blessed memory

In 1951 the Section pioneered the first after-school program. A teacher, who was coincidentally a Section Vice President, broached the possibility of an after-school program and after determined efforts Section initiated a program in the basement of City Park School. An SMU student was engaged as supervisor and for five afternoons a week, fifteen volunteers served apples and cookies, directed playground activities, read stories, played games, helped with homework and engaged in enrichment activities with twenty-five to forty children. This pioneering solution to latchkey children was vindicated by the fact that City Park School was inundated with requests for transfers from other schools. In 1951 Evening Branch was created to involve a new generation and thirty-three young women became its members. Their first project was a survey of mental hospitals for children, and their exhaustive research disclosed that only thirty-five beds existed. The Evening Branch President was invited to present these findings to the Texas Psychological Association.

Service to the Foreign Born offered both English and citizenship classes. In 1954, forty students completed their courses and became citizens. 1956-57 brought fourteen Hungarian refugees. In 1957, Evening Branch was reorganized with an emphasis on newcomers, young mothers and working women who were not able to attend daytime functions. Programming focused on newcomers, from both various part of the United States and overseas. In partnership with the Women’s Division of the Jewish Federation of Dallas, “Your Key to Big D” was launched. Evening Branch also offered “Know Your Community Club” for Jewish New Americans.