ROSENWALD – The Review

By Cate Marquis

Julius Rosenwald is not likely to be a name you recognize but this head of Sears, Roebuck was once a man of enormous influence, not just in commerce but in philanthropy. But the most surprising part is the direction Rosenwald’s philanthropy took – funding schools and cultural endeavors for African Americans.

In the documentary ROSENWALD, director Aviva Kempner reveals how this wealthy Jewish American merchant partnered with African Americans to fund good works for African Americans, including help for the Tuskegee Institute, building a chain of rural schools for black children across the South, and providing support for artists such as Marian Anderson, W.E.B. DuBois and Maya Angelou.

As the son of German Jewish immigrants, Rosenwald knew well what it was like to come from a persecuted minority. In the early 20th century, Rosenwald saw the parallels between how Jews were treated in Europe and how African Americans were treated in the U.S., which helped propel him to action.

In the early decades of the 20th century, Rosenwald gave away what would have been a billion dollars in today’s money. That would be an enormous amount in any era but who he gave it to, and how he did it, is a big part of what makes this story so fascinating.

Kempner, whose previous films include “The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg” and “Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg,” has a sure hand in presenting this forgotten story. Starting with Rosenwald’s parents, she builds up a picture of his character through his business career. Rosenwald’s father began as a peddler, eventually moving to Springfield, Il., where he bought a house across from the Lincoln family home. Abraham Lincoln became a lifelong inspiration to young Julius. After going to work as a teenager, Julius Rosenwald flourished in business, first in clothing manufacture, and then buying into the Sears, Roebuck company, which the documentary describes as the Amazon of its day. Under Rosenwald’s watch, Sears became one the country’s most successful companies.

After becoming one of the country’s richest men, Rosenwald began to fund schools for rural African American children in the South during a time when Jim Crow laws were in full effect and lynchings common. “Rosenwald schools,” as they were known, were designed to provide a first-rate education in a well-built building, as good as white children attended. That is amazing enough but the philanthropist did more, by using an innovative challenged grant method. Rosenwald donated one third of the money, then required the white community to provide another third, generally through educational budgets, and asked the black community to provide the last third. Often, this meant in-kind donations, supplying the labor to build the school, organizing fundraisers to fill them with supplies and staff, and volunteers to help out through the whole process. As a result, the community truly felt it was their school, and the building often became a community center as well as a place to educate children.

Kempner tells her story with a combination of archival photos and footage, and interviews with historians, family members, and descendants of those helped by Rosenwald’s generosity, even a few of the now-aged children who attended Rosenwald schools. To add a little touch of humor, and to help paint the picture of the Old West/pioneer world Julius grew up in, Kempner throws in a few Western movie/TV clips, including one from a 1950s TV Western with a young Clint Eastwood trying to pronounce a Yiddish word.

The result is an entertaining, fascinating documentary about a forgotten millionaire philanthropist who deserves to be remembered.

ROSENWALD is now playing at the Plaza Frontenac Cinema.

OVERALL RATING: 4 1/2 OUT OF 5 STARS