Isaac Davidson Hebrew School

Question: I would like information about one of Baltimore's early Hebrew schools - the Isaac Davidson Hebrew School. When did it open and who was it named for?

Answer: According to the work Jewish Baltimore : A Family Album by Gilbert Sandler [Baltimore : The Johns Hopkins University Press in association with the Jewish Museum of Maryland, 2000], the Isaac Davidson Hebrew School opened on October 4, 1925 (Sandler, p.134). The school was located on Shirley Avenue between Park Heights Avenue and Reisterstown Road (ibid., p.130). The Isaac Davidson Hebrew School was named for a German-born businessman who was interested in assisting Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. Davidson immigrated to the United States in 1869 and started a furniture business in Baltimore in 1884. Mr. Davidson died the same year that the Hebrew school opened but there are no records that state why his name was chosen for the school (ibid., p.135-136). There is much more information relating to the Isaac Davidson Hebrew School and the history of the Jews in Baltimore in Sandler's book.