The three cardinal interests of Frank L. Weil are his family, his work and his collection of rare books.
The president of the Y.M.H.A. which this week is celebrating its sixtieth anniversary in an elaborate program of athletic competition and social affairs, is a tall, well-built man, smiling and affable, with a flair for the artistic.
He is youthful and enthusiastic about his activity in Jewish affairs, a field which he has made his own. For many years Mr. Weil has been a member of the ‘Y’, directing many of its activities and engaging in almost all of them.
DESCRIBES HOBBIES
High in the Lincoln Building where the law firm of Weil, Gotshal and Manges has offices, Mr. Weil chatted with a reporter, describing with enthusiasm his hobbies, his interests and also the major interest of his life, the law.
Educated at the Columbia University Law School, where he was graduated in 1917, Frank Weil established friendships with contemporary students including Supreme Court Justice Samuel Rosenman and his present law partners.
He is married to the former Henrietta Simons, whose grandfather was Moses Alexander, America’s first Jewish governor-elect. They have three sons. Besides being president of the ‘Y’, Mr. Weil is director of the New York vocational Adjustment Bureau, which cares for socially handicapped girls of all faiths. He is chairman of the advisry board of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, and in this capacity takes a keen interest in the organization.
In an interview Mr. Weil spoke with pride of the success of the Y.M.H.A., prasing his predecessor presidents who included many distinguished Jewish Ieaders, among them Felix M. Warburg, Judge Irving Lehman, Sol. M. Stroock and former Justice Joscph M. Proskauer.
PRAISES SCHIFF
He told of the work of the late Jacob H. Schiff whose gifts were in the main responsible for the erection of the present building on Lexington Ave. and 92nd St.
Regarding the celebration this week, Mr. Weil discussed plans which have been in progress for some time to make the affair a success. The fete will be climaxed this week and when Mayor La Guardia and other officials will address ‘Y’ audiences.
SIXTIETH ANNIVERSARY
Noted national figures paid tribute during the week to the Y. M. H. A., Lexington Avenue and 92nd Street, upon the celebration of the organization’s sixtieth anniversary.
Two thousand persons attended the all-sports dinner and athletic carnival which opened the celebration Tuesday evening. Outstanding men representing every field of athletic endeavor were at the dinner and witnessed the subsequent exhibitions of basketball,. boxing, wrestling, swimming, ping-pong and fencing.
Dr. Alvin Johnson, director of the New School for Research and founder of the University for Exiles from Germany, last night discussed "Adult Education and the Problems of the Minorities."
DANCERS INVITED
Featuring exhibitions by professional dancers from various schools, the house council will sponsor its invitation dance tonight in the Buttenweiser Hall as its contribution to the celebration of the sixtieth anniversary. Mary Wigwam’s proteges will offer a demonstration in classical dancing; Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Duryca will present an exhibition purported to show the evolution of social dancing during the last sixty years; Jack Blue and six girls from his school will render a tap dance exhibition; the Michael School will unfold an acrobatic exhibition; and the Arthur Murray School will donate a silver loving cup to the best dancing couple.
Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, of the Free Synagogue will speak tomorrow evening at the Friday services on "Sixty Years of American Jewry." The program will be supplemented later in the night by the choral society which will sing "Hallelujah," the chorus of Beethoven’s "Engedi."
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
