Exploring Architectural History: the origins of the SCAD Student Center
Written by Lilli Donohue, Photos by Katie Burke
Before the Student Center was a place for bees to buzz, it was known as the Congregation B’nai B’rith Jacob Synagogue (Congregation B.B.J), which was built in 1909.
According to the Historic Savannah Foundation, the Moorish Revival design, created by local architect Hyman Witcover, was based on the 1870 Central Synagogue in New York City. The congregation of around 300 people stemmed from the earliest days of Savannah’s founding. A group of Jewish settlers arrived in Savannah in the 1730s. A mere 42 people in all of the 13 colonies were Jewish, and they chose to be part of General James Oglethorpe’s charter according to the city records.
The building itself could be classified as Moorish-revival featuring horseshoe arches and arabesque tracery and stained glass. Today, the third floor is balcony-style and looks over the E-Sports center. In the past, this had a more specific purpose. Men would sit in the center section while women and children sat in two raised areas on the sides separated by a half wall. This is still a common architectural element found in synagogues.
Before this structure was built, the only temple in Savannah was Temple Mickve Israel of the Spanish-Portuguese Sephardic tradition. This differed from the group’s own Ashkenazic tradition of worship. The Spanish-Portuguese tradition had been in practice by the original Jewish settlers of the Colony of Georgia from 1734. The Ashkenazic group started meeting in the Amory Hall and then built a small wooden roof structure on Montgomery and State street corner, where the synagogue is today.
In 1907 they needed to expand from the small wooden building, but there were no funds. The congregation was so enthusiastic about moving, however, that they succeeded in raising $20,000 from sales of seats and donations. In 1909, more money was raised to build the edifice, and just four years later they built the Hebrew School.
The name for Congregation B.B.J. probably originated from the Independent Order of B’nai B’rith (I.O.B.B.), a Masonic-inspired fraternal organization for Jewish people. There are many auxiliary groups formed within the congregation as well — like the Hebrew Women’s Aid Society — who built a chapel in Savannah’s famous Bonaventure Cemetery.
So how did it become SCAD’s Student Center? The synagogue was decommissioned in 1962 when the congregation expanded and moved to the neighborhood of Ardley Park. It was sold to Saint Andrew’s Independent Episcopal Church, now Saint Andrew’s Reformed Episcopal Church, which used it as its home until 2002. The historic building now serves as the meeting place for the E-Sports team, employer presentations, club meetings and general student gatherings.
