Nathan Straus
Encyclopedia
Nathan Straus was an American
merchant
and philanthropist
who co-owned two of New York City's biggest department store
s – R.H. Macy & Company
and Abraham & Straus
– before giving away most of his fortune to the Zionist cause.
, Germany
, to a Jewish family, the third child of Lazarus Straus (1809–1898) and his wife Sara (1823–1876). His siblings were Hermine Straus Kohns (1846–1922), Isidor Straus
(1845–1912) and Oscar Solomon Straus
(1850–1926). The family moved to the U.S. state of Georgia
in 1854. After the American Civil War
the family moved to New York City
where his father formed L. Straus & Sons, a crockery and glassware
firm
On April 28, 1875, Straus married Lina Gutherz (1854–1930) with whom he had six children, among them Sissie Straus who was married to Irving Lehman
, later Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals
.
department store
. The brothers became partners in Macy's in 1888 and co-owners in 1896.
In 1893, he and Isidor bought out Joseph Wechsler from the Abraham and Wechsler dry goods store in Brooklyn, New York, which they renamed Abraham & Straus
.
Park Commissioner from 1889–1893, president of the New York City Board of Health, 1898, and in 1894 he was selected by Tammany Hall
to run for Mayor on the Democratic ticket, but withdrew from the race when his friends in society threatened to shun him if he did.
In 1892, he and his wife privately funded the Nathan Straus Pasteurized Milk Laboratory to provide pasteurized milk to children to combat infant mortality and tuberculosis
. In his battles with the disease he opened the Tuberculosis Preventorium
for Children at Lakewood Township, New Jersey
(later it was moved to Farmingdale, New Jersey
in 1909. Their book, Disease in Milk: The Remedy Pasteurization : the Life Work of Nathan Straus records that unclean, unpasteurized milk fed to infants was the chief cause of tuberculosis, typhoid, scarlet fever, diphtheria and other diseases that were the main cause of, e.g. a 25% infant mortality rate in the US in 1890, 15% in 1903 (but 7% in New York in 1900, where pasteurized milk had already become the norm) (it is now below 1% in the US). Straus is credited as the leading proponent of the pasteurization movement that eliminated the hundreds of thousands of deaths per year then due to disease-bearing milk.
During the panic of 1893
Straus used his milk stations to sell coal at the very low price of 5 cents for 25 pounds to those who could pay. Those who could not received coal for free. He also opened lodging houses for 64,000 persons, who could get a bed and breakfast for 5 cents, and he funded 50,000 meals for one cent each. He also gave away thousands of turkeys anonymously. At Abraham & Straus, he noticed that two of his employees were starving themselves to save their wages to feed their families, so he established what may have been the first subsidized company cafeteria.
In 1916, as American entry into World War I
loomed, Straus sold his yacht Sisilina to the Coast Guard and used the proceeds to feed war orphans. Later, he fed returning American servicemen at Battery Park
.
Straus donated money to the New York Public Library
, specifically targeting young people. The Young People's Collection at the Donnell Library Center
is named for him. He also helped the city's poorer inhabitants by building a recreational pier, the first of many on the city's waterfront.
was to affect Straus profoundly. On the trip he became fascinated with the area. His brother Isidor and Isidor's wife headed back to New York aboard the Titanic and perished when it sank. Feeling he had been spared by divine intervention, he devoted two-thirds of his fortune to helping Palestine. He established a domestic science school for girls in 1912, a health bureau to fight malaria
and trachoma
, and a free public kitchen. He opened a Pasteur Institute, child-health welfare stations, and then funded the Nathan and Lina Straus Health Centers in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv
.
The modern Israeli city of Netanya
, founded in 1927, was named in his honor, and Rehov Straus in Jerusalem, which was Chancellor Avenue during the British Mandate, was also named for him.
Nathan Straus died on January 11, 1931, in New York City. Twenty years before, at a dinner in his honor, he had given what could have been his own eulogy.
and arrived in Heidelberg University in 1908 where he met a young art history scholar named Otto Frank
. Otto accepted a job in Macy's with Nathan Straus, Jr., where he fell in love with New York and its brashness. But in 1909, Otto's father died and he returned to Germany
where he fought in World War I
and lived to see the time when he and his family would have to leave Germany because of anti-Semitism. One of Otto's daughters was Anne Frank
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
merchant
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
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...
who co-owned two of New York City's biggest department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
s – R.H. Macy & Company
Macy's
Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...
and Abraham & Straus
Abraham & Straus
Abraham & Straus was a major New York City department store, based in Brooklyn. Founded in 1865, in 1929 it became part of Federated Department Stores, which eliminated the A&S brand shortly after its 1994 acquisition of R.H. Macy & Company...
– before giving away most of his fortune to the Zionist cause.
Life
Nathan Straus was born in OtterbergOtterberg
Otterberg is a municipality in the district of Kaiserslautern in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate with about 7,350 inhabitants. It is situated approx...
, 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...
, to a Jewish family, the third child of Lazarus Straus (1809–1898) and his wife Sara (1823–1876). His siblings were Hermine Straus Kohns (1846–1922), Isidor Straus
Isidor Straus
Isidor Straus —a German Jewish American—was co-owner of the Macy's department store with his brother Nathan. He also served briefly as a member of the United States House of Representatives...
(1845–1912) and Oscar Solomon Straus
Oscar Straus (politician)
Oscar Solomon Straus was United States Secretary of Commerce and Labor under President Theodore Roosevelt from 1906 to 1909. Straus was the first Jewish United States Cabinet Secretary. - Biography :...
(1850–1926). The family moved to the U.S. state of Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
in 1854. After 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...
the family moved to 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...
where his father formed L. Straus & Sons, a crockery and glassware
Glassware
This list of glassware includes drinking vessels , tableware, such as dishes, and flatware used to set a table for eating a meal, general glass items such as vases, and glasses used in the catering industry whether made of glass or plastics such as polystyrene and...
firm
On April 28, 1875, Straus married Lina Gutherz (1854–1930) with whom he had six children, among them Sissie Straus who was married to Irving Lehman
Irving Lehman
Irving Lehman was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He was Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals from 1940 until his death in 1945.- Biography:...
, later Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals
New York Court of Appeals
The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the U.S. state of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six associate judges who are appointed by the Governor to 14-year terms...
.
Macy's and Abraham & Straus
Straus and his brothers sold crockery to R.H. Macy & CompanyMacy's
Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...
department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
. The brothers became partners in Macy's in 1888 and co-owners in 1896.
In 1893, he and Isidor bought out Joseph Wechsler from the Abraham and Wechsler dry goods store in Brooklyn, New York, which they renamed Abraham & Straus
Abraham & Straus
Abraham & Straus was a major New York City department store, based in Brooklyn. Founded in 1865, in 1929 it became part of Federated Department Stores, which eliminated the A&S brand shortly after its 1994 acquisition of R.H. Macy & Company...
.
Public service and philanthropy
In the late 1880s, Straus began a period of philanthropy and public service in New York City. He served as New York CityNew 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...
Park Commissioner from 1889–1893, president of the New York City Board of Health, 1898, and in 1894 he was selected by Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall
Tammany Hall, also known as the Society of St. Tammany, the Sons of St. Tammany, or the Columbian Order, was a New York political organization founded in 1786 and incorporated on May 12, 1789 as the Tammany Society...
to run for Mayor on the Democratic ticket, but withdrew from the race when his friends in society threatened to shun him if he did.
In 1892, he and his wife privately funded the Nathan Straus Pasteurized Milk Laboratory to provide pasteurized milk to children to combat infant mortality and tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
. In his battles with the disease he opened the Tuberculosis Preventorium
Preventorium
A preventorium was an institution or building for patients infected with tuberculosis who did not yet have an active form of the disease. Popular in the early 20th century, preventoria were designed to isolate these patients from uninfected individuals as well as patients who showed outward symptoms...
for Children at Lakewood Township, New Jersey
Lakewood Township, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 60,352 people, 19,876 households, and 13,356 families residing in the township. The population density was 2,431.8 people per square mile . There were 21,214 housing units at an average density of 854.8 per square mile...
(later it was moved to Farmingdale, New Jersey
Farmingdale, New Jersey
Farmingdale is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 1,329....
in 1909. Their book, Disease in Milk: The Remedy Pasteurization : the Life Work of Nathan Straus records that unclean, unpasteurized milk fed to infants was the chief cause of tuberculosis, typhoid, scarlet fever, diphtheria and other diseases that were the main cause of, e.g. a 25% infant mortality rate in the US in 1890, 15% in 1903 (but 7% in New York in 1900, where pasteurized milk had already become the norm) (it is now below 1% in the US). Straus is credited as the leading proponent of the pasteurization movement that eliminated the hundreds of thousands of deaths per year then due to disease-bearing milk.
During 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...
Straus used his milk stations to sell coal at the very low price of 5 cents for 25 pounds to those who could pay. Those who could not received coal for free. He also opened lodging houses for 64,000 persons, who could get a bed and breakfast for 5 cents, and he funded 50,000 meals for one cent each. He also gave away thousands of turkeys anonymously. At Abraham & Straus, he noticed that two of his employees were starving themselves to save their wages to feed their families, so he established what may have been the first subsidized company cafeteria.
In 1916, as American entry into 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...
loomed, Straus sold his yacht Sisilina to the Coast Guard and used the proceeds to feed war orphans. Later, he fed returning American servicemen at Battery Park
Battery Park
Battery Park is a 25-acre public park located at the Battery, the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City, facing New York Harbor. The Battery is named for artillery batteries that were positioned there in the city's early years in order to protect the settlement behind them...
.
Straus donated money to the New York Public Library
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
, specifically targeting young people. The Young People's Collection at the Donnell Library Center
Donnell Library Center
The Donnell Library Center was a branch of the New York City Library at 20 West 53rd Street just north of Rockefeller Center. It closed as of August 30, 2008....
is named for him. He also helped the city's poorer inhabitants by building a recreational pier, the first of many on the city's waterfront.
Israel
In 1912, a trip to what was then called PalestinePalestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
was to affect Straus profoundly. On the trip he became fascinated with the area. His brother Isidor and Isidor's wife headed back to New York aboard the Titanic and perished when it sank. Feeling he had been spared by divine intervention, he devoted two-thirds of his fortune to helping Palestine. He established a domestic science school for girls in 1912, a health bureau to fight malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
and trachoma
Trachoma
Trachoma is an infectious disease causing a characteristic roughening of the inner surface of the eyelids. Also called granular conjunctivitis and Egyptian ophthalmia, it is the leading cause of infectious blindness in the world...
, and a free public kitchen. He opened a Pasteur Institute, child-health welfare stations, and then funded the Nathan and Lina Straus Health Centers in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
.
The modern Israeli city of Netanya
Netanya
Netanya is a city in the Northern Centre District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is located north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa between the 'Poleg' stream and Wingate Institute in the south and the 'Avichail' stream in the north.Its of beaches have made the...
, founded in 1927, was named in his honor, and Rehov Straus in Jerusalem, which was Chancellor Avenue during the British Mandate, was also named for him.
Nathan Straus died on January 11, 1931, in New York City. Twenty years before, at a dinner in his honor, he had given what could have been his own eulogy.
I often think of the old saying, "The world is my country, to do good is my religion. ... This has often been an inspiration to me. I might say, "Humanity is my kin, to save babies is my religion." It is a religion I hope will have thousands of followers.
Anne Frank connection
Nathan's son (Nathan Jr., 1889–1961) attended Princeton UniversityPrinceton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
and arrived in Heidelberg University in 1908 where he met a young art history scholar named Otto Frank
Otto Frank
Otto Heinrich "Pim" Frank was a German-born businessman and the father of Anne Frank and Margot Frank...
. Otto accepted a job in Macy's with Nathan Straus, Jr., where he fell in love with New York and its brashness. But in 1909, Otto's father died and he returned to 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...
where he fought in 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...
and lived to see the time when he and his family would have to leave Germany because of anti-Semitism. One of Otto's daughters was Anne Frank
Anne Frank
Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank is one of the most renowned and most discussed Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Acknowledged for the quality of her writing, her diary has become one of the world's most widely read books, and has been the basis for several plays and films.Born in the city of Frankfurt...
.