Julius Rosenwald: Repairing the World (Jewish Lives) by Hasia R. Diner

Julius Rosenwald: Repairing the World (Jewish Lives) Reviews

• 
  Elizabeth Higginbotham

  Julius Rosenwald by Hasia Diner is an excellent book. I heard the author make a presentation on the book at the Hagley Library in Delaware. I purchased the book but during this pandemic have had the time to read and enjoy it. As a person who grew up in New York City, I was familiar with the Jewish community. As a race and ethnic scholar, I knew much about the Jewish immigration from Eastern Europe that begins in the 1880s. I knew these people were aided by Jewish immigrants and their descendants from an earlier era, many from Central Europe, places that would become Germany.
  
  Julius Rosenwald, born in 1862, was the son of such immigrants, who used their skills and peddlers and were able to make a place in the textile industry in America. Working with family connections, Julius, who never finished high school is able to benefits from economic opportunities, industrialization in textile industry, improvements in train lines and the fact that American could consume more than people in other nations. He joins with a partner and invest in Sears, Roebuck and over time is the sole owner as he markets to wider audiences. His timing was perfect because the post office directly delivered mail to the public, so they did not have to travel into town to get their packages. Sear Roebuck catalogs made securing consumer goods easy for the public and Rosenwald made millions, expanding the warehouse in Chicago and other cities.
  
  The core of the book is about Julius Rosenwald’s Jewish identify and what he did with his money. I grew up in NYC, but never really grasped the different Jewish religious communities. Perhaps because I grew up with many young people who were either Reform or fairly secular. Yet, Diner provides a context for understanding these different groups in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Jewish immigrants, especially Rosenwald’s parents enjoyed racial privilege, but Anti-Semitism was a constant. He was able to go into business without a lot of education and make money. Yet, he was cognizant of his people’s precarious status both in the United States and abroad. His charity was to support many who arrived and knew poverty, but also to promote both the retention of Jewish traditions and their integration into American society.
  
  Rather than being separate, the Jewish people had to be part of the wider society and assume responsibly for its betterment. He gave generously, but was very specific about the causes. He was not a supporter of Zionism, but did support uniting different segments of the Jewish community in betterment efforts. He gave to the University of Chicago, because they did not have quotas, which was common for many universities during his time. He would also support Black students at that university and pushed the school to accept them.
  
  His plan was to always have his money run out, so his legacy is forgotten by those who were not directly touch or know the stories. I learned about Rosenwald though the history of Black Education when I was in graduate school and teaching part-time. I got this course because someone was going to teach it and could not. Yet, over two years I really claimed it as my own, finding reading that were appropriate for undergraduate students. So, I knew about the Rosenwald schools, that Julius Rosenwald funding in the South from Henry Allen Bullock’s History of Negro Education in the South (1964). When states were not providing an education for Black children, Rosenwald stepped in and helped, of course they followed his formula of matching donation. The schools, never had his name, but the community members knew the history. Rosenwald’s introduction to supporting Black causes is through Booker T. Washington and Tuskegee Institute, now University. He gave support to that college and also encouraged others with money to do so. He also looked at the lack of schooling in rural areas. As always, he did not believe in outright charity, but people had to match his support with funds or labor. Bullock noted the importance in organizing these communities and their ownership of the schools. As the same time, Rosenwald pushed the wider communities to assume responsibility for curriculum and funding. Other Black schools were church or private charity. Although the schools were segregated, this is the beginning of creating opportunities for educating people who would expand their demands for change over time.
  
  Rosenwald also funded Black YMCAs, which were segregated, but essential services as people migrated to northern cities where they lacked housing, recreational facilities and safe gathering spaces. He began in Chicago, but offers funding the YMCAs in other cities when they match funds. A’Lelia Bundles writes about how her grandmother, Madam C.J. Walker, made matching donations In Indianapolis and other cities, which was a way of demonstrating her own wealth and commitment to bettering the race.
  
  Rosenwald’s thinking about race reflected the prejudice and discrimination model. So that people who “improved” as even the Jewish immigrants and to pull themselves up, with the aid of kinsmen, they could gain acceptance. Thus, his actions for the Black community were not revolutionary in our terms, but challenged the White supremacy that dominated the thinking. In these days of eugenic and the survival of the fittest, the state made no investment in the Black community. Rosenwald supports institutions and pushes the state to act. Of course, his actions were resented by many Southerners, but the schools and the YMCAs flourished. Having educated members of the race made a difference. Rosenwald also supported the education of individual scholars, like Ernest Everett Just, and artists.
  
  Rosenwald dies in 1932, but his foundation continued to support important causes in the Jewish community and the Black community. Many individuals were able to advance because of his funding. It did not mean that other door automatically opened, but an education was a way to made economic advances. I had some of the puzzle pieces, but reading this book enabled me to see the larger context and appreciate how Rosenwald’s support for schools, housing projects, YMCAs, libraries and health care enabled the Black community to make greater progress in the 20th century.
• 
  Florence

  Julius Rosenwald was the son of an immigrant peddler. His family was part of a wave of Jewish immigrants who arrived from central Europe in the mid nineteenth century. He is most well known for building Sears and Roebuck into a colossal retail enterprise. Rosenwald was influenced by the Jewish progressive movement in Chicago led by Rabbi Emil Hirsch. He donated one third of his fabulous wealth to charity. Tikkun Olam, acts of altruism to correct injustice in the world, is an ancient Jewish tradition and JR embodied it. He was especially attentive to the needs of poor African Americans, funding almost 5,000 elementary schools to serve them in southern states. He believed that America needed to improve the living conditions of its poorest inhabitants in order to assume moral standing in the world. Unfortunately, his name and deeds are not widely remembered.
• 
  Kristine

  Julius Rosenwald: Repairing the World by Hasia R. Diner is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in late August.
  
  Where this could have been a book about a spotlight-shy philanthropist, Diner chooses to spend a greater amount of time on a full-scope analysis of his decisions made during particular pivot points in American culture. Instead, it's a fine, well, and good story about Rosenwald buying and improving Sears Roebuck, working to retain long-term employees, shunning endowments, and funding 'Rosenwald schools' that teach vocations and college readiness classes at YMCA and YWCAs, Tuskegee University, the Urban League, and fellowships for African American scholars.
• 
  Randi

  Julius Rosenwald helped to shape the nature of philanthropy in America. His process - especially his views on endowments - was fascinating to learn. The book was extremely repetitive, however, and therefore a little boring to read.
• 
  Shari (Shira)

  Rosenwald embraced the jewish directive tikun olam, repair the world. He used 1/3 of his wealth to make the world a better place with a special focus on African Americans.