Julius Rosenwald
Encyclopedia
Julius Rosenwald was a U.S. clothier
, manufacturer, business executive, and philanthropist
. He is best known as a part-owner and leader of Sears, Roebuck and Company
, and for the Rosenwald Fund
which donated millions to support the education of African American
children in the rural South
, as well as other philanthropic causes in the first half of the 20th century. He was also the principal founder and backer for the Museum of Science and Industry
in Chicago, to which he gave more than $5 million and served as President from 1927 to 1932.
Samuel Rosenwald and his wife Augusta Hammerslough Rosenwald, a Jewish immigrant family from Germany
. He was born and raised just a few blocks from the Abraham Lincoln
residence in Springfield, Illinois
during Lincoln's presidency of the United States.
By his sixteenth year, Rosenwald was apprenticed by his parents to his uncles in New York City
to learn the clothing trades. While in New York he befriended Henry Goldman
and Henry Morgenthau, Sr.
. With his younger brother Morris, Rosenwald started a clothing manufacturing company. They were ruined by a recession in 1885. Rosenwald had heard about other clothiers who had begun manufacturing clothing according to standardized sizes from data collected during the American Civil War
. He decided to try the system but to move his manufacturing closer to the rural population that he anticipated would be his market. He and his brother moved to Chicago, Illinois.
Once in Chicago, the Rosenwald brothers enlisted more help from a cousin, Julius Weil, and together they founded Rosenwald and Weil Clothiers.
, Adele (Rosenwald) Deutsch Levy, Edith (Rosenwald) Stern, Marion (Rosenwald) Ascoli and William Rosenwald
. Their son Lessing Rosenwald became a prominent businessman, following his father in the chairmanship of Sears, Roebuck & Company (1932–1939).
renamed their watch company Sears, Roebuck & Company and began to diversify. Rosenwald and Weil was a principal supplier of men's clothing for Sears, Roebuck. The volumes of unsold merchandise caused by the Panic of 1893
and his declining health led Roebuck to leave the company. He placed his interest in the company in the hands of Sears who, in turn, offered that half of the company to Aaron Nusbaum. Nusbaum, needing backers, asked his brother-in-law Julius Rosenwald for financing. In August 1895, Sears sold Roebuck's half of the company to Nusbaum and Rosenwald for $75,000.
Rosenwald worked exceptionally well with Richard Sears. Rosenwald brought to the company a rational management philosophy and diversified product lines: dry goods, consumer durables, drugs, hardware, furniture, and nearly anything else a farm household could desire. From 1895 to 1907, under Rosenwald's leadership as Vice President and Treasurer, annual sales of the company climbed from $750,000 to upwards of $50 million. The prosperity of the company and their vision for greater expansion led Sears and Rosenwald to take the company public in 1906. Rosenwald turned to his old friend Henry Goldman
, who was now a senior partner at Goldman Sachs
, to handle the IPO. Richard Sears resigned the presidency in 1908 due to declining health, and Rosenwald was named president.
Sears, Roebuck was laid low during the post-World War I
recession. To bail out the company, Rosenwald pledged $21 million of his personal wealth. By 1922, Sears had regained financial stability. Two years later, in 1924, Rosenwald resigned the presidency to devote time to his philanthropies, but not before he oversaw the design and construction of the company's first department store within Sears, Roebuck's massive 16-hectare (40-acre) headquarters complex of offices, laboratories and mail-order operations at Homan Ave. and Arthington St. on Chicago's West Side. The store opened on February 2, 1925. After leaving the presidency, Rosenwald was appointed Chairman of the Board of Sears, a position he held until his death in 1932.
Mr. Rosenwald was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1992.
. Sachs often stayed with Rosenwald during his many trips to Chicago and the two would discuss America's social situation, agreeing that the plight of African American
s was the most serious in the US. Sachs introduced Rosenwald to two prominent educators and proponents of African-American education, William H. Baldwin and Booker T. Washington
. Rosenwald made common cause with Washington and was asked to serve on the Board of Directors of the Tuskegee Institute
in 1912, a position he held for the remainder of his life. He endowed the Institute to free Washington from fundraising and enable him to devote more time managing the Institute.
Dr. Washington encouraged Rosenwald to address the poor state of African American education in the US. He responded by providing funds for the construction of six small schools in rural Alabama, which were constructed and opened in 1913 and 1914, and overseen by Tuskegee. Built by and for African Americans, the project foreshadowed the role in education Julius Rosenwald would play. Inspired by the social progressivism of Jane Addams
, Minnie Low, Grace Abbott
, Paul J. Sachs
, and Booker T. Washington
, and the Reform Judaism
of Emil Hirsch
and Julian Mack
(many of whom were his personal friends as well), Rosenwald devoted his time, energy, and money towards philanthropy
. In his words, written in 1911:
His Rosenwald Fund
was established in 1917 for "the well-being of mankind." Unlike other endowed foundations, which were designed to fund themselves in perpetuity, The Rosenwald Fund was intended to use all of its funds for philanthropic purposes. As a result, the fund was completely spent by 1948.
Over the course of his life, Rosenwald and his fund donated over 70 million dollars to public schools, colleges and universities, museums, Jewish charities
and black institutions. The rural school building program was one of the largest programs administered by the Rosenwald Fund. It contributed more than four million dollars in matching funds
to the construction of more than 5,000 schools, shops, and teachers' homes in the South. These schools became informally known as "Rosenwald School
s."
Rosenwald commissioned one of Chicago's largest philanthropic housing developments: the Michigan Boulevard Garden Apartments, at 47th St. and Michigan Ave. The Michigan Boulevard Garden Apartments was one of the first American housing developments to mix residential, commercial and social uses and still stands. The complex was built in 1929 by Julius Rosenwald and his nephew, architect Ernest Grunsfeld (who also designed the Adler Planetarium, at the behest of Rosenwald's brother-in-law, Max Adler). Covering a square block, the buildings enclosed an enormous central landscaped courtyard. Rosenwald planned the development of 421 units to provide sound housing for African Americans and to relieve the tremendous overcrowding due to Chicago's pervasive racial segregation. The development also included 14 stores along the 47th Street side of the property, four of which were occupied by black-owned businesses, and a nursery school. Rosenwald invested $2.7 million in the project, receiving only a 2.4 percent return during the first seven years.
Rosenwald was the patron of chess prodigy
Samuel Reshevsky
. He encouraged Reshevsky to earn a university degree so as not to be completely dependent upon chess for his living. Reshevsky did so, earning his degree in accounting from the University of Chicago
.
Rosenwald gave $1000 grants to the first 100 counties in the U.S. to hire County Extension Agents
, helping the United States Department of Agriculture
launch a program that was highly valuable to rural Americans. He was also the principal founder and backer for the Museum of Science and Industry
in Chicago, to which he gave over $5 million and served as the President (1927–1932).
Rosenwald died at his home in the Ravinia section of Highland Park, Illinois
, on January 6, 1932.
Tailor
A tailor is a person who makes, repairs, or alters clothing professionally, especially suits and men's clothing.Although the term dates to the thirteenth century, tailor took on its modern sense in the late eighteenth century, and now refers to makers of men's and women's suits, coats, trousers,...
, manufacturer, business executive, and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
. He is best known as a part-owner and leader of Sears, Roebuck and Company
Sears, Roebuck and Company
Sears, officially named Sears, Roebuck and Co., is an American chain of department stores which was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in the late 19th century...
, and for the Rosenwald Fund
Rosenwald Fund
The Rosenwald Fund was established in 1917 by Julius Rosenwald and his family for "the well-being of mankind."...
which donated millions to support the education of African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
children in the rural South
South
South is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.South is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points. It is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to east and west.By convention, the bottom side of a map is south....
, as well as other philanthropic causes in the first half of the 20th century. He was also the principal founder and backer for the Museum of Science and Industry
Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago)
The Museum of Science and Industry is located in Chicago, Illinois, USA in Jackson Park, in the Hyde Park neighborhood adjacent to Lake Michigan. It is housed in the former Palace of Fine Arts from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition...
in Chicago, to which he gave more than $5 million and served as President from 1927 to 1932.
Early life
Julius Rosenwald was born in 1862 to clothierTailor
A tailor is a person who makes, repairs, or alters clothing professionally, especially suits and men's clothing.Although the term dates to the thirteenth century, tailor took on its modern sense in the late eighteenth century, and now refers to makers of men's and women's suits, coats, trousers,...
Samuel Rosenwald and his wife Augusta Hammerslough Rosenwald, a Jewish immigrant family from Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. He was born and raised just a few blocks from the Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
residence in Springfield, Illinois
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...
during Lincoln's presidency of the United States.
By his sixteenth year, Rosenwald was apprenticed by his parents to his uncles in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to learn the clothing trades. While in New York he befriended Henry Goldman
Henry Goldman
Henry Goldman was an American banker, son of Marcus Goldman. He was instrumental in the making of the financial conglomerate Goldman Sachs in the early twentieth century. An innovative banker, he helped list retail companies like Sears and Woolworth, despite the firms' shortage of assets...
and Henry Morgenthau, Sr.
Henry Morgenthau, Sr.
Henry Morgenthau was a lawyer, businessman and United States ambassador, most famous as the American ambassador to the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. He was father of the politician Henry Morgenthau, Jr. and the grandfather of Robert M. Morgenthau, who was the District Attorney of...
. With his younger brother Morris, Rosenwald started a clothing manufacturing company. They were ruined by a recession in 1885. Rosenwald had heard about other clothiers who had begun manufacturing clothing according to standardized sizes from data collected during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. He decided to try the system but to move his manufacturing closer to the rural population that he anticipated would be his market. He and his brother moved to Chicago, Illinois.
Once in Chicago, the Rosenwald brothers enlisted more help from a cousin, Julius Weil, and together they founded Rosenwald and Weil Clothiers.
Marriage and family
In 1890, Rosenwald married Augusta Nusbaum, a daughter of a competing clothier. Together they had five children: Lessing J. RosenwaldLessing J. Rosenwald
Lessing Julius Rosenwald was an American businessman, a collector of rare books and art, and a chess patron.-Biography:...
, Adele (Rosenwald) Deutsch Levy, Edith (Rosenwald) Stern, Marion (Rosenwald) Ascoli and William Rosenwald
William Rosenwald
William Rosenwald was an American business executive whose American Securities Corporation invested in other business including AMETEK and Western Union International. He was a philanthropist who helped establish the nationwide United Jewish Appeal in 1939 and made other charitable grants through...
. Their son Lessing Rosenwald became a prominent businessman, following his father in the chairmanship of Sears, Roebuck & Company (1932–1939).
Sears, Roebuck & Company
In 1893, Richard Sears and Alvah C. RoebuckAlvah C. Roebuck
Alvah Curtis Roebuck was a manager, businessman, and the founder of Sears, Roebuck and Company with his partner Richard Warren Sears.-Biography:...
renamed their watch company Sears, Roebuck & Company and began to diversify. Rosenwald and Weil was a principal supplier of men's clothing for Sears, Roebuck. The volumes of unsold merchandise caused by the Panic of 1893
Panic of 1893
The Panic of 1893 was a serious economic depression in the United States that began in 1893. Similar to the Panic of 1873, this panic was marked by the collapse of railroad overbuilding and shaky railroad financing which set off a series of bank failures...
and his declining health led Roebuck to leave the company. He placed his interest in the company in the hands of Sears who, in turn, offered that half of the company to Aaron Nusbaum. Nusbaum, needing backers, asked his brother-in-law Julius Rosenwald for financing. In August 1895, Sears sold Roebuck's half of the company to Nusbaum and Rosenwald for $75,000.
Rosenwald worked exceptionally well with Richard Sears. Rosenwald brought to the company a rational management philosophy and diversified product lines: dry goods, consumer durables, drugs, hardware, furniture, and nearly anything else a farm household could desire. From 1895 to 1907, under Rosenwald's leadership as Vice President and Treasurer, annual sales of the company climbed from $750,000 to upwards of $50 million. The prosperity of the company and their vision for greater expansion led Sears and Rosenwald to take the company public in 1906. Rosenwald turned to his old friend Henry Goldman
Henry Goldman
Henry Goldman was an American banker, son of Marcus Goldman. He was instrumental in the making of the financial conglomerate Goldman Sachs in the early twentieth century. An innovative banker, he helped list retail companies like Sears and Woolworth, despite the firms' shortage of assets...
, who was now a senior partner at Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational bulge bracket investment banking and securities firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients...
, to handle the IPO. Richard Sears resigned the presidency in 1908 due to declining health, and Rosenwald was named president.
Sears, Roebuck was laid low during the post-World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
recession. To bail out the company, Rosenwald pledged $21 million of his personal wealth. By 1922, Sears had regained financial stability. Two years later, in 1924, Rosenwald resigned the presidency to devote time to his philanthropies, but not before he oversaw the design and construction of the company's first department store within Sears, Roebuck's massive 16-hectare (40-acre) headquarters complex of offices, laboratories and mail-order operations at Homan Ave. and Arthington St. on Chicago's West Side. The store opened on February 2, 1925. After leaving the presidency, Rosenwald was appointed Chairman of the Board of Sears, a position he held until his death in 1932.
Mr. Rosenwald was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1992.
Philanthropy
After the 1906 financial reorganization of Sears, Rosenwald became friends with Goldman Sachs's other senior partner, Paul J. SachsPaul J. Sachs
Paul Sachs was Harvard associate director of the Fogg Art Museum, a partner in the financial firm Goldman Sachs and the developer of one of the early museum studies courses in the United States.-History:...
. Sachs often stayed with Rosenwald during his many trips to Chicago and the two would discuss America's social situation, agreeing that the plight of African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
s was the most serious in the US. Sachs introduced Rosenwald to two prominent educators and proponents of African-American education, William H. Baldwin and Booker T. Washington
Booker T. Washington
Booker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, author, orator, and political leader. He was the dominant figure in the African-American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915...
. Rosenwald made common cause with Washington and was asked to serve on the Board of Directors of the Tuskegee Institute
Tuskegee University
Tuskegee University is a private, historically black university located in Tuskegee, Alabama, United States. It is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund...
in 1912, a position he held for the remainder of his life. He endowed the Institute to free Washington from fundraising and enable him to devote more time managing the Institute.
Dr. Washington encouraged Rosenwald to address the poor state of African American education in the US. He responded by providing funds for the construction of six small schools in rural Alabama, which were constructed and opened in 1913 and 1914, and overseen by Tuskegee. Built by and for African Americans, the project foreshadowed the role in education Julius Rosenwald would play. Inspired by the social progressivism of Jane Addams
Jane Addams
Jane Addams was a pioneer settlement worker, founder of Hull House in Chicago, public philosopher, sociologist, author, and leader in woman suffrage and world peace...
, Minnie Low, Grace Abbott
Grace Abbott
Grace Abbott was an American social worker who specifically worked in advancing child welfare. Her elder sister was social worker Edith Abbott....
, Paul J. Sachs
Paul J. Sachs
Paul Sachs was Harvard associate director of the Fogg Art Museum, a partner in the financial firm Goldman Sachs and the developer of one of the early museum studies courses in the United States.-History:...
, and Booker T. Washington
Booker T. Washington
Booker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, author, orator, and political leader. He was the dominant figure in the African-American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915...
, and the Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
of Emil Hirsch
Emil Hirsch
Emil Gustav Hirsch was a major Reform movement rabbi in the United States.-Biography:Hirsch was born in Luxembourg, a son of the rabbi and philosopher Samuel Hirsch on May 22, 1851. He later married the daughter of Rabbi David Einhorn. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania, and in 1872...
and Julian Mack
Julian Mack
Julian William Mack was a United States federal judge and social reformer.-Early life and education:...
(many of whom were his personal friends as well), Rosenwald devoted his time, energy, and money towards philanthropy
Philanthropy
Philanthropy etymologically means "the love of humanity"—love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of "what it is to be human," or "human potential." In modern practical terms, it is "private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of...
. In his words, written in 1911:
-
- "The horrors that are due to race prejudice come home to the Jew more forcefully than to others of the white race, on account of the centuries of persecution which they have suffered and still suffer."
His Rosenwald Fund
Rosenwald Fund
The Rosenwald Fund was established in 1917 by Julius Rosenwald and his family for "the well-being of mankind."...
was established in 1917 for "the well-being of mankind." Unlike other endowed foundations, which were designed to fund themselves in perpetuity, The Rosenwald Fund was intended to use all of its funds for philanthropic purposes. As a result, the fund was completely spent by 1948.
Charitable trust
A charitable trust is an irrevocable trust established for charitable purposes, and is a more specific term than "charitable organization".-United States:...
and black institutions. The rural school building program was one of the largest programs administered by the Rosenwald Fund. It contributed more than four million dollars in matching funds
Matching funds
Matching funds, a term used to describe the requirement or condition that a generally minimal amount of money or services-in-kind originate from the beneficiaries of financial amounts, usually for a purpose of charitable or public good.-Charitable causes:...
to the construction of more than 5,000 schools, shops, and teachers' homes in the South. These schools became informally known as "Rosenwald School
Rosenwald School
A Rosenwald School was the name informally applied to over five thousand schools, shops, and teachers' homes in the United States which were built primarily for the education of African-Americans in the early twentieth century. The need arose from the chronic underfunding of public education for...
s."
Rosenwald commissioned one of Chicago's largest philanthropic housing developments: the Michigan Boulevard Garden Apartments, at 47th St. and Michigan Ave. The Michigan Boulevard Garden Apartments was one of the first American housing developments to mix residential, commercial and social uses and still stands. The complex was built in 1929 by Julius Rosenwald and his nephew, architect Ernest Grunsfeld (who also designed the Adler Planetarium, at the behest of Rosenwald's brother-in-law, Max Adler). Covering a square block, the buildings enclosed an enormous central landscaped courtyard. Rosenwald planned the development of 421 units to provide sound housing for African Americans and to relieve the tremendous overcrowding due to Chicago's pervasive racial segregation. The development also included 14 stores along the 47th Street side of the property, four of which were occupied by black-owned businesses, and a nursery school. Rosenwald invested $2.7 million in the project, receiving only a 2.4 percent return during the first seven years.
Rosenwald was the patron of chess prodigy
Chess prodigy
Chess prodigies are children who play chess so well that they are able to beat Masters and even Grandmasters, often at a very young age. Chess is one of the few sports where children can compete with adults on equal ground; it is thus one of the few skills in which true child prodigies exist...
Samuel Reshevsky
Samuel Reshevsky
Samuel "Sammy" Herman Reshevsky was a famous chess prodigy and later a leading American chess Grandmaster...
. He encouraged Reshevsky to earn a university degree so as not to be completely dependent upon chess for his living. Reshevsky did so, earning his degree in accounting from the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
.
Rosenwald gave $1000 grants to the first 100 counties in the U.S. to hire County Extension Agents
Cooperative extension service
The Cooperative Extension Service, also known as the Extension Service of the USDA, is a non-formal educational program implemented in the United States designed to help people use research-based knowledge to improve their lives. The service is provided by the state's designated land-grant...
, helping the United States Department of Agriculture
United States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
launch a program that was highly valuable to rural Americans. He was also the principal founder and backer for the Museum of Science and Industry
Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago)
The Museum of Science and Industry is located in Chicago, Illinois, USA in Jackson Park, in the Hyde Park neighborhood adjacent to Lake Michigan. It is housed in the former Palace of Fine Arts from the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition...
in Chicago, to which he gave over $5 million and served as the President (1927–1932).
Rosenwald died at his home in the Ravinia section of Highland Park, Illinois
Highland Park, Illinois
Highland Park is a suburban municipality in Lake County, Illinois, United States, about north of downtown Chicago. As of 2009, the population is 33,492. Highland Park is one of several municipalities located on the North Shore of the Chicago Metropolitan Area.-Overview:Highland Park was founded...
, on January 6, 1932.
Honors and legacy
- His bust was created in bronze and included among eight honoring industry magnates, which were installed between the Chicago RiverChicago RiverThe Chicago River is a system of rivers and canals with a combined length of that runs through the city of the same name, including its center . Though not especially long, the river is notable for being the reason why Chicago became an important location, as the link between the Great Lakes and...
and the Merchandise MartMerchandise MartWhen opened in 1930, the Merchandise Mart or the Merch Mart, located in the Near North Side, Chicago, Illinois, was the largest building in the world with of floor space. Previously owned by the Marshall Field family, the Mart centralized Chicago's wholesale goods business by consolidating vendors...
in downtown ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, IllinoisIllinoisIllinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
.
External links
- [Media:http://www.archiplanet.org/wiki/Rosenwald_Apartment_Building]
- The North Star (2008)
- Diane Granat, "Saving the Rosenwald Schools: Preserving African-American History", APF Reporter, Vol. 20 #4, Alicia Patterson Fund