The Chicago Hebrew Institute (CHI) was founded in 1903 as a grassroots community center for immigrant Jews of the Maxwell Street area. Its program encouraged education, promoted physical welfare, and reinforced a dual Jewish and American identity. The CHI offered classes in English, public speaking, citizenship, housekeeping, dressmaking, millinery, infant welfare, stenography, typewriting, bookkeeping, boxing, wrestling, basketball, and lifesaving. The CHI evolved into the Jewish Community Centers (JCC) of Chicago, which continue to play a vital role in Jewish community life.