National Council of Jewish Women, Greater New Orleans Section records

The National Council of Jewish Women, Greater New Orleans Section was established in New Orleans in 1897 when seventeen women first began giving housekeeping lessons to immigrants. Their many projects include helping illiterate adults learn to read and write; "Magic Land," a cultural enrichment program for disadvantaged preschool children that was the forerunner for '"Project Head Start"; and "Teen Town," a recreational program that was the predecessor for the New Orleans Recreation Department. The Council has supported the Better Young Men Boys' Club in the Lower Ninth Ward, and the Mobile Answer Desk along with the city of New Orleans. They are also active regarding public relations and legislation for Tay-Sachs disease, women's rights, and human rights. Each year they hold the Angel Ball, which is their major social and fund-raising event.

A collaborative effort between the National Council of Jewish Women, New Orleans Section; WDSU-TV; the New Orleans Public Library; and New Orleans public and parochial schools, these programs encouraged reading and literacy as well as the use of the public library amongst New Orleans-area children. The fifteen-minute storytelling programs aired on WDSU from 1951-1975. Beginning in 1946, the National Council of Jewish Women, under the guidance of Storytelling Committee Chair Helene Baginsky, began a storytelling program at the New Orleans Public Library. This program continued for five years when Baginsky and the Committee approached WDSU with the idea of a children's television show. WDSU agreed to the proposal and in 1951 "Magic Tree" began. "Let's Tell a Story," beginning in 1958 and one of WDSU's first color telecasts, ran until 1975.