The wonderful world of philanthropy has taken on a new wave of contributors giving back to causes that they believe in today. The achievement of wealth may be an attribute for those seeking the ‘American’ dream in creating a better standard of living but the give takes a much higher calling.
The Jewish terms tzedakah (charity) and tikkun olam (repairing the world) are the base for Julius Rosenwald, a Chicago self-made millionaire at the turn of the 19th Century. Rosenwald came from humble beginnings, as the son of Jewish immigrants, he never finished high school. His rise to becoming the President of Sears, the largest catalog retailer in the U.S. at the time and the country’s leading philanthropist. His influence and contributions are documented in a newly released documentary, Rosenwald produced by Aviva Kempner.
The film is historic account of the Rosenwald’s contributions to Black and Jewish communities around the country as well as holding his role as a silent partner for the Pre-Civil Rights movement. Rosenwald’s grandson, Peter Asciloi wrote a book Julius Rosenwald: The Man Who Built Sears, Roebuck and Advanced the Cause of Black Education in the American South (Philanthropic and Nonprofit Studies), released in 2006 chronicling his grandfather’s life. A former professor at the University of Chicago, Asciloi had no clue that the his grandfather had practically helped build and modernized Chicago.
With the film release of Rosenwald, it’s a side of Julius Rosenwald that is rarely seen throughout his life’s work. Many of the buildings including the Wabash YMCA, Museum of Science and Industry, the Carter G. Woodson Library and the University of Chicago’s Rosenwald Hall still stands today—unbeknownst to most Chicagoans. The Michigan Boulevard Garden Apartments (The Rosenwald) on 47th and Michigan Ave was built by Rosenwald in 1929 where famous residents included Nat King Cole, Gwendolyn Brooks and Quincy Jones.
“He was a pretty modest man. He didn’t like to leave his name on things. Although, he founded the Museum of Science Industry here in Chicago, he insisted that his name be taken off the building. The trustee wanted to call it the Rosenwald Museum. He thought about it and then he said no,” Ascioli said. “He wanted other people to help fund it. He felt if his name was on it, people would say, ‘Well, Rosenwald put all of that money into so we don’t have to give anything to it.’ So he decided it wasn’t a good thing.”
Rosenwald assisted many African-American intellectuals and artists of his day so that they could pursue their scholarship and art. They included: Marian Anderson, James Baldwin, the father and uncle of civil rights leader Julian Bond, Ralph Bunche, W. E. B. DuBois, Katherine Dunham, Ralph Ellison, John Hope Franklin, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Gordon Parks, Jacob Lawrence and Augusta Savage along with Woody Guthrie.
Although, he was instrumental in supporting some of our most artistic trailblazers, he also was the innovator of ‘match’ funding back then. “He gave what we called ‘g’ money matching money. It had to be matched by state and local government funds and by the Black community. This was during the height of the Jim Crow South when the Klu Klux Klan was heavy. That’s also in the film,” Ascioli explained.
When other wealthy businessmen such as John Rockefeller and Dale S. Carnegie was contributing large amounts of donations to institutions sporting their sir names, Rosenwald felt it was his mission to contribute to causes that he believed in. He has helped build over 5,300 school houses throughout the United States including down South. Although, many schools were burned down by the racial hatred that resonated through Southern towns, Rosenwald continued to contribute funds for rebuilding.
How come the current generation is unaware of Julius Rosenwald’s impact today? Asocili said, “He established a foundation but he insisted that it goes out of existence within 25 years after his death. It happened sooner in 1948. The foundation doesn’t exist anymore.”
Rosenwald was the Bill Gates of his time and when he died in 1932, the story was front page news on all of the newspapers with a special radio broadcast of the memorial service.
“The Rockefellers and the Carnegies believed that their foundations should last forever. He didn’t believe that. He was opposed to life long foundations, that is the idea that the foundation would last forever—he felt traditions change. Each generation should spend monies on the causes that it believes in,” Ascoli feels today’s next wave of billionaire influencers are impacted by his grandfather’s philosophy. “Bill and Melinda Gates announced several years ago that they would go out of existence within 50 years of the death of the last trustee. This is the formula very similar to what my grandfather had in place.”
Ascoli reconnected to his roots when he attended the University of Chicago in the early 1960’s and later came back in 1979. Since then, he’s resided in Hyde Park and loves the diversity. It wasn’t until 1993 when he started to do research for his book that he discovered he didn’t know much about Rosenwald.
He was introduced to filmmaker Aviva Kempner through a cousin who kept papers, photographs and other Rosenwald memorabilia. Kempner went to hear the late Julian Bond speak at an event in Martha’s Vineyard and didn’t realize the talk was mainly centered around Julian Rosenwald’s contribution to Black and Jewish relations. Ascoli worked with Kempner in the beginning of the film production.
In addition to Rosenwald’s collaboration with the Black community, he was appointed on the Governor’s Commission along with Chicago Defender founder, Robert Abbott to bring racial conformity as a result of the terrible Race Riots of 1919.
This past weekend, the film debuted at the Landmark Century Centre and Renaissance Place Theaters for an independent short run. Ascioli recommends that people make a point to see this film because of it’s historical importance and how relevant it is to today’s philanthropic culture.
“The Dot.com millionaires that live here in Chicago are giving money to causes that really believe in and they are really are involved with—like my grandfather. He wasn’t a ‘hands-off’ philanthropist. The reason he wanted the foundation to end,” Ascioli adds, “I think there’s something truly important in that. He also felt people should give to the things that interest them while they are alive.”
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