- Person
- Julius Rosenwald
- Lived
- 1862–1932
- Field
- Retail & philanthropy
- From
- American
The story
Julius Rosenwald was born in Springfield, Illinois, in 1862, the son of German Jewish immigrants, and grew up a few blocks from Abraham Lincoln's home. At his family's synagogue, where his father served as president, he learned the values of tzedakah, or charity, and tikkun olam, repairing the world. His biographer Hasia Diner links his philanthropy to the biblical command to remember the stranger, because you too were strangers, and to his wish to make America a fairer home for Jews and for others who faced injustice.
After moving to Chicago he joined Chicago Sinai Congregation, the city's leading Reform synagogue. Its rabbi, Emil G. Hirsch, taught that wealthy people have a duty, not merely an option, to help the poor. Rosenwald also came to believe that the plight of African Americans was deeply connected with the inequities Jews had faced throughout their history. Conversations with his friend Paul Sachs, who agreed that the situation of Black Americans was the most serious social problem in the country, led him to Booker T. Washington and, in 1912, to a seat on the board of the Tuskegee Institute.
In the same years he became one of the early supporters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, founded in 1909 to fight for civil rights. In its first years he contributed several thousand dollars to help establish the organisation. When the NAACP needed a place for its 1912 meeting in Chicago, Rosenwald helped it find one: the meeting was held at his own synagogue.
Rosenwald explained his commitment plainly, writing that the horrors of race prejudice came home to Jews more forcefully than to other white people because of the centuries of persecution they had suffered and still suffered. In 1919 he was appointed to the Chicago Commission on Race Relations, and the Rosenwald Fund continued to support the NAACP's work in education and legal defence.
His early backing formed part of a wider record that included thousands of schools, YMCAs and fellowships for Black Americans, and it stands as an early example of the partnership between American Jews and the struggle for civil rights.
Why it matters
Rosenwald’s early support helped the NAACP establish itself and continue its work in education and legal defence.
About Julius Rosenwald
Clothier who turned Sears, Roebuck into America’s great mail-order retailer, then helped build nearly 5,000 schools for Black children across the segregated South.
More about Julius Rosenwald
- Julius Rosenwald helped launch county farm advisersJulius Rosenwald gave $1,000 grants to the first 100 US counties to hire County Extension Agents, helping the Department of Agriculture launch a valuable rural programme.
- Julius Rosenwald founded Chicago’s science museumJulius Rosenwald was the principal founder of Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry, giving it over $5 million and serving as its president from 1927 to 1932.
- Rosenwald fellowships backed Marian Anderson and HughesFrom 1928 the Rosenwald Fund gave over $400,000 in fellowships to rising artists and scholars, most of them Black, including Marian Anderson, Langston Hughes and James Baldwin.
- Julius Rosenwald built 5,000 schools for Black childrenSears president Julius Rosenwald partnered with Booker T. Washington to build about 5,000 Rosenwald Schools for Black children in the segregated South, educating some 600,000 students.
- Julius Rosenwald gave Sears workers a share of the profitsIn 1916 Julius Rosenwald and Albert Loeb launched one of the first comprehensive profit-sharing plans at Sears, open to every employee; 90% of workers joined.
- Julius Rosenwald gave away $687,000 on his 50th birthdayTo mark his 50th birthday in 1912, Julius Rosenwald gave away $687,000, including $250,000 for the University of Chicago, and kept giving about $500,000 a year.
- Julius Rosenwald built good housing for Black ChicagoansIn 1929 Julius Rosenwald built the Michigan Boulevard Garden Apartments, 421 homes for African Americans in Chicago, investing $2.7 million for a modest return.
- Julius Rosenwald funded 25 YMCAs for Black AmericansJulius Rosenwald offered $25,000 to any city that raised $75,000 for a YMCA for African Americans; between 1911 and 1933 he helped build 25 YMCAs in 24 cities.
Sources
- Julius Rosenwald Wikipedia
- Julius Rosenwald National Park Service
Another act of tikkun olam. This is part of tikkun olam, the Jewish idea of repairing the world, and every one of us can add to it.