B'nai Jehudah Temple at the southeast corner of Linwood boulevard and Flora avenue was occupied in 1908 and was the third temple to be used by this Jewish congregation. A temple was built in 1875 at Sixth and Wyandotte streets and was used 10 years. (T. M. James & Sons occupied this site at a later date.) A larger temple was built in 1885 at the southwest corner of Eleventh and Oak streets and part of its foundation is still in place today. The third temple, as pictured, was occupied continuously for nearly 50 years, from 1908 to 1957. Cut stone lettering above the six Ionic columns reads, My House Shall be a House of Prayer for All Peoples. An educational building is shown at right, just south of the temple.Twenty stained glass windows by John La Farge, New Yorker of French extraction and the most renowned artist in glass in the 19th century, were installed. At the time of their removal in 1957 Nelson Gallery valued them at $30,000. All except two are now in storage. Two are in the museum at the present temple at Sixty-ninth street and Holmes road. The Linwood temple was served by two senior rabbis, Harry H. Mayer (1908-1928) and Samuel S. Mayerberg (1928-1957). Mayerberg, who died in 1964, is remembered as one of the instigators of the fight against the machine rule in Kansas City. Harassed and threatened, he emerged victorious in the city political cleanup campaign he helped start in 1932. Congregation B'nai Jehudah enters its centennial year this month, and historic exhibits prepared by Frank J. Adler, administrative director, archivist and author, may be seen in the lobby of the temple at Sixty-ninth and Holmes. The exhibits will change monthly, each depicting a separate decade. The Scottish Rite purchased the Linwood temple, after the new temple on Holmes was erected. Kansas City Times, October 11, 1969.
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