When I was little, I remembered hearing stories about one of the key executives of Sears, Roebuck & Company, who made a difference in this country. That was back when Sears Roebuck meant you could expect good deals and good products. (I even had the chance to work with Sears Roebuck years later, back when the RV industry was in its heyday. I felt pretty good being among their company then.)
But, I digress. I really want to talk about Julius Rosenwald. Who? Well, just like General Electric (GE) was founded by Thomas Edison (technical), JP Morgan, and the Vanderbilt family- but converted into a true industrial giant by Jack Welch (the PhD Chem E who ran the firm between 1981 and 2001), Rosenwald made Sears Roebuck & Company into the giant it became. As part owner of the firm, he conceived the innovations that made Sears into the American colossus it became. But, he did more.
You see, Julius Rosenwald understood the concept of Tikun Olam, leaving the world just a little better off when we leave it than when we came. And, the biggest project he decided to undertake was to team up with Booker T. Washington (the founder of the Tuskegee Institute) and create some 5300 schools. For Blacks. In the South. Before the Civil Rights era- way back in the early 1900’s (the 20th century).
But, he did more. He also provided grants to Langston Hughes, Ralph Ellison, Marian Anderson, and Woody Guthrie among others. One of the other people Julius Rosenberg helped was the late Julian Bond, the civil rights beacon and the state officer; Rosenwald also provided grants to Julian’s father and uncle, too. To advance the cause of science and art. And, directed that his philanthropic foundation expend all its money before 1948. All $ 62 million of it. (By the way, that would be equivalent to $ 750 million- ¾ billion- today.) Long before America paid attention to philanthropic foundations.
One of the key factors Julius Rosenwald understood was that you can’t just give money and hope for the best. No, his system required each community getting a school to be responsible for building and operating it. Which meant the community had bake sales, fish fries, among other fundraising activities to achieve their portion of the commitment.
And, while he knew that “separate but equal” would eventually fold- but also knew that the concept was bull…t. The schools were separate and unequal. But, he would, at least, make sure that the Rosenwald schools would be equal. Which, of course, enticed the hate-mongers to blow up the schools (with dynamite) or torch them. (Many of these were rebuilt, just to tick off the haters.) However, once the Supreme Court eradicated the separate but equal concept from the American lexicon (1954), the schools were obsolete.
Rosenwald, like many Jews of the early to mid-20th century, clearly understood that living in societies that discriminated against Jews and societies that killed Jews yielded the same circumstances that American Blacks had to endure.
So, the Rosenwald schools were no backwater situation. They were provided the best architectural designs of the era, replete with big windows to ensure sunlight would irradiate the interiors. They had multiple rooms- no one room schoolhouse under his designs. For schools in the Northern climes, there were wood stoves to allow students to learn without freezing to death.
White folks around the time of the schools introduction (1900) were managing to complete eighth grade- but Blacks were pretty much out of their schooling by the fifth grade. Until the Rosenwald schools arrived- and then the 3 year gap was erased; Rosenwald students continued through the 7th or 8th grade.
Data from that era also indicates that the IQ of those who matriculated Rosenwald had higher scores than those who didn’t. And, made higher incomes. They had longer life spans. And, while women were often forced to enter marriage at early ages, the Rosenwald women still finished school- and they also had fewer kids. And, those matriculated students were more likely to participate in the Great Migration- leaving the poor South and its environment of racial hatred- to settle in the Northern states.
How did I learn this much more about the Rosenwald schools? I’m lucky enough to have met Aviva Kempner, a DC film professional. One of her first full-length documentaries covered Hank Greenberg, the Jewish Detroit Tigers star of yesteryear. This current project was this film y’all should see- Rosenwald- about this great program that helped change the lives of so many over the years.
30 October, 2017 Update
Want to learn more about Rosenwald? About two years after this blog was posted, a new book by Hasia Diner has been published.
