The Temple (Atlanta)

The Temple (formally, the Hebrew Benevolent Congregation) is a Reform synagogue in Atlanta, Georgia. The oldest Jewish congregation in Atlanta, it was established in 1860 to serve the needs of German-Jewish immigrants. The Temple, designed by Philip Trammell Shutze in a Neoclassical style, was completed in 1931.

The Temple
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Atlanta Landmark Building
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Location	Atlanta, Georgia
Coordinates	33°47′52″N 84°23′21″W
Built	1931
Architect	Shutze, Philip
NRHP reference No.	82002420
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	September 9, 1982[1]
Designated ALB	October 23, 1989

Original temple (1875) on Forsyth Street

Previous temples of the congregation were located at:[2]

• 1875–1902: Garnett and Forsyth Streets, downtown
• 1902–1929: South Pryor and Richardson Streets, Washington-Rawson neighborhood southeast of downtown[3]

During the 1950s and 1960s The Temple became a center for civil rights advocacy. In response, white supremacists bombed The Temple on October 12, 1958, with no injuries. While arrests were made, there were no convictions. Atlanta Journal-Constitution editor Ralph McGill's outraged front-page column on the Temple bombing won a Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing.[4] The Temple as well as the bombing event was used as a central theme in the film Driving Miss Daisy (1989).