Originally, the OU was formed by the same rabbis who created the JTS. Henry Pereira Mendes helped create both the OU and JTS. Rabbi Dr. Bernard Drachman was president of the Orthodox Union and professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary.
Conservative Judaism was a break-off from Reform Judaism after it came to a head in 1883, at the “Treifa Banquet” at the Highland House entertainment pavilion where shellfish and other non-kosher dishes were served at the graduating class of Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati.