Rabbi Leon Spitz was notable for his work in establishing Conservative congregations. He was born in Lithuania in 1891 and came to Hartford in 1904. He was a graduate of Trinity College (1915), had a master's degree from Columbia University, and was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary (1918). While on a one-month leave from the Army, where he served as a chaplain, he was asked to come home to organize what became the The Emanuel Synagogue, the first Conservative synagogue in Connecticut. He was subsequently asked to set up Conservative congregations in a number of other eastern communities. Rabbi Spitz was an ardent Zionist and officer of the Zionist Organization of America, the American Jewish Congress, and the Connecticut/Rhode Island division of United Palestine Appeal.

Rabbi Spitz was also a prolific author of historical fiction for children and adults. His books included: Jews and Judaism in American Poetry, Memoirs of a Camp Rabbi, and What the Liberty Bell Proclaimed. He was the editor of the Connecticut Jewish Year Book, the editor and manager of the Connecticut edition of the Jewish Advocate (1908) and contributed to British and American religious publications. Rabbi Spitz died in 1959.