Louis Aufrecht 1868-1878

Aufrecht, a schoolteacher from Cincinnati, was the JOA’s first superintendent, Under his supervision the JOA was conducted with regimented military discipline. Samuel Wolfenstein 1878-1913

Wolfenstein received both the rabbinical and Ph.D. degrees in 1864 at the age of 22 from the University of Breslau and the Rabbiner Seminar, the first Reform rabbinical school. He came to the U.S. in 1870 to Congregation B'nai El in Saint Louis as its rabbi. He was elected to the JOA Board in 1875 and named Superintendent in 1878. Simon Peiser 1913-1919

Peiser graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a bachelor of arts degree in 1896 and Hebrew Union College in 1898 as an ordained rabbi. He headed Congregation Anshe Chesed, a Reform synagogue in Erie, Pennsylvania from 1898-1901 before coming to Cleveland to begin an 18-year association with the JOA as teacher (1901-1913), assistant superintendent (1903-1913) and superintendent 1913-1919. Peiser changed the name to the Jewish Orphan Home in 1919 as part of his attempt to transform the asylum into a more humane place for the children to live.