The Independent Order of B’nai B’rith, founded in 1843, is the oldest continually operating Jewish service organization in the world, with lodges and chapters worldwide. The first San Diego lodge, the Lasker Lodge #370 was founded in 1887. The first B’nai B’rith Women’s Chapter was founded in 1909 in San Francisco and the first chapter in San Diego was the Birdie Stodel Chapter #92 founded in 1929. In 1967, the Shalom Chapter #713 was formed. In 1995 B’nai B’rith Women, facing declining membership and a hostile takeover from the men’s organization, B’nai B’rith International, reorganized and changed its name to Jewish Women International. Over the years there have been at least seven distinct chapters of B’nai B’rith Women which made up the Greater San Diego Council.

Gerri Hart Kalb (1910-2002) joined B’nai B’rith in 1945. She lived in Tucson from 1949 until she moved to San Diego in 1966. In Tucson she was active in all facets of B’nai B’rith, from forming local chapters to ADL, BB Youth Organization, BBW Mountain Council and Veterans / Armed Forces Committee, for which she won the National Community / Veterans Service Award. In San Diego, she did many of the same things, starting new chapters, creating the BBW Council, helping people at the VA Hospital, the Naval Training Center and various hospitals. She implemented new programs such as Dolls for Democracy and Operation Stork, continued her leadership in BBW District 4 and organized national conferences. She was active at Hebrew Homes, Jewish Family Service Food Bank, San Diego Hunger Coalition and more. In her spare time, she was a deputy sheriff (Tucson), an artist and writer.

Charles Kalb (1909-1984) was president of the M. J. Brown Lodge in Tucson and was charter president of the B’nai B’rith Men’s San Diego Heartland Lodge.

Ellie Kalb Nadler grew up in Tucson, where she was active in B’nai B’rith Girls. She married Harry Nadler in 1960 and they moved to San Diego soon after, where she joined the BBW Birdie Stodel Chapter and then became the founding president of the BBW Shalom Chapter. She was ADL Chair for both chapters and for BBW District 4. She also planned several district and national conventions. For the ADL she led the San Diego Women’s Plea for Soviet Jewry and the statewide Textbook Evaluation Project. As part of the San Diego BBW Council she helped organize new chapters. She had a career as a dental hygienist and is the mother of three.

Harry Nadler (1933-2008) was born in New York City and grew up in Tucson where he was active in AZA, attended the University of Arizona and Northwestern University School of Dentistry and served in the U. S. Navy Dental Corps. In San Diego he had leadership roles in United Jewish Federation’s Community Relations Committee and the JCC. Nadler was president of the Heartland Lodge and Weinberger Breitbard Lodge and served on the San Diego Council of Lodges. He served as the San Diego ADL Council president and was on the regional board. He was the founding president of the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization Advisory Council. He was a periodontist.

This is one of many B’nai B’rith collections at SCUA.