The Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center’s historic building opened on the corner of 16th and Q Streets NW in 1926, making this year its centennial.
Located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C., the EDCJCC is home to arts programming, Jewish learning, classes, a preschool, a summer camp, after-school programs, family and parent programming, volunteer opportunities and a fitness center.
The community marked this milestone with a centennial gala that retold the history of the EDCJCC. The annual gala, scheduled for May 19, is a fundraiser and celebration of “another successful year of the JCC,” CEO Jennifer Zwilling said.
“This year, it’s a really special one [in which] we are reaching back and telling our story over the past 100 years,” Zwilling said.
In the mid-19th century, Jewish life in the district began forming, growing with each wave of immigrants, according to the EDCJCC’s website.
Young leaders created the Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Associations, which eventually became a physical center for Jewish community in the nation’s capital.
The vision of a hub for Jewish culture, recreation and communal life came to fruition with the 1925 groundbreaking of the EDCJCC’s historic building. President Calvin Coolidge called the JCC a “fine example for other communities” at the laying of the cornerstone.
The building opened a year later in 1926. The community shifted in the mid-20th century, when many Jewish families moved to the Maryland suburbs. Another JCC opened its doors in Rockville in 1969, and the EDCJCC sold its building.
“We were part of the Rockville JCC for a while,” Zwilling said.
Almost 30 years later, the community reclaimed and restored the historic building on 16th and Q Streets. “The people who were part of establishing programs back downtown restarted this JCC at their kitchen table,” Zwilling said.
The historic building reopened in 1997 and was renamed the Irwin P. Edlavitch building in honor of the D.C. philanthropist. It’s been going strong ever since, undergoing a major renovation in 2018, when it was then renamed for Ginny and Irwin Edlavitch’s philanthropy.
“There’s that whole rich history to share, how it’s laid the foundation for where we are today,” said William Kreisberg, the co-chair of the centennial campaign and past president of the EDCJCC.
He said the EDCJCC is “so much more than” a typical community center containing a fitness center, preschool and summer camp.
“We have a professional theater housed in the building,” he said. “We have one of the largest Jewish film festivals that’s run by the JCC. Going back decades, we were one of the first, if not the first, to have a full-time year-round community service program where we go into all areas of the greater Washington community.”
The EDCJCC’s Morris Cafritz Center for Social Responsibility offers both hands-on volunteer opportunities and learning opportunities about systemic inequality, according to its website.
“We really try to help people be a partner to others in the Washington area who have needs that they can’t meet on their own,” Kreisberg said.
“We’re one of the largest sources of volunteers for the city,” Zwilling said, referencing the JCC’s popular D25 and Everything But The Turkey programs. “Social service agencies across the city know they can call on the JCC when they need volunteers, and we deliver.”
Kreisberg added that the EDCJCC housed one of the first LGBTQ+ engagement programs at a JCC. Its GLOE — Gay and Lesbian Outreach and Engagement — department was launched in the early 2000s.
“Things like that are just not typical of what you would necessarily expect of a JCC,” Kreisberg said. “And I think it’s those types of programs, in addition to our fundamentals, that have put us on the map and made us the kind of institution that is respected and admired for the kind of work we do and the impact we have.”
“We’ve reached out to lots of people who’ve been part of different chapters of our story,” Zwilling said.
Community members’ stories are an integral part of the centennial celebration. Throughout the fall, a listening booth in the lobby collected visitors’ experiences with the EDCJCC over the generations.
“There are people who came in and talked — one man talked about his grandfather being present at the cornerstone laying of the building in 1925,” Zwilling recalled. “Other people talked about what their grandparents did here when they were teenagers, and other people tell their stories [about] meeting their spouses [here] or other fun things that they like about the J.”
The EDCJCC shared snippets of these listening booth submissions on social media.
“In my tenure here at the EDCJCC, I think what struck me most as I meet people and hear their JCC story is that everybody has been part of one chapter or another,” Zwilling said.
The May 19 gala will recognize local recipients of two accolades. Jill and Robert Granader, leaders in D.C., are the recipients of the 2026 Lee G. Rubenstein Outstanding Leadership Award for building and supporting Jewish community throughout greater Washington.
“We’re also giving a special Centennial Impact Award to Ginny and Irwin Edlavitch for their incredible role in critical inflection points in our story,” Zwilling said.
The celebration is not only about reflecting on the EDCJCC’s history, but looking toward its future.
“It should be a very special, memorable evening, and then that will launch into our final push for the campaign, which we anticipate will wrap up by the end of the year,” Kreisberg said.
The centennial campaign is yet another way the community is celebrating. So far, the EDCJCC has raised more than $11 million to help ensure its long-term stability, “to know that our building can be here for another generation and also doing new initiatives that help to engage a new generation,” Zwilling said.
The funds benefit new initiatives, such as Capital J, a Jewish speaker program debuted in August. “We’re launching and expanding some of our community building efforts so that more people can find entry ways into the Jewish community,” Zwilling said.
She also plans to renovate the EDCJCC’s lobby space to make it feel more like a “living room” for gathering and expand the Clusters programs to include participants of all ages, rather than solely for young professionals.
“I think for me, [the centennial is] both a celebration of everybody who’s been part of making this community what it is, and an affirmation that we want to continue to be able to do that from a place of strength for generations to come,” Zwilling said.
