Harry was sharing with me about a review of a recent documentary he'd heard on NPR. While he was googling about the man - Julius Rosenwald - and sharing what he was reading, I was googling the Laemle to see if it was playing there!
It was! At 1:50 and 7:30. Since we are retired - at least I am and Harry's schedule is flexible - we hustled into Pasadena and saw it.
We were not disappointed at all. In fact, I am really wondering why I never heard of this man before. As the son of Jewish immigrants, he grew up learning to hustle for himself - and ended up acquiring half the ownership of Sears, Roebuck and Company!! He promoted the extended use of the catalog - and came up with the idea of making their book shorter and fatter so that it would end up sitting on the top of the catalogs in people's homes!! Genius!
As his wealth expanded, he became more and more generous and forward-thinking. He was devoutly Jewish, believing in the tenent of the Jewish doctrine to be righteously engaged in good works!
He started by donating money to build YMCA facilities that would be available to blacks. As as despised minority, he identified with the plight of African Americans. He continued to share his wealth and was instrumental in building over 5,000 schools in the rural south that served the former slave population there. They were called Rosenwald Schools and benefited countless young people of that era. He also aligned himself with Booker T. Washington and contributed to the growth of the Tuskegee Institute.
I'm truly amazed that I've never heard of him, because I have read extensively about the Civil Rights movement - and he was certainly a forerunner.
Well, there are lots of books about him, so I can get busy now!
And if you have a chance to see this film, do!
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