Julius Rosenwald and the Rosenwald Schools Act of 2020

Floor Speech

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Mr. COHEN. Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Julius Rosenwald and Rosenwald Schools Study Act, a bill I introduced with Representative Danny Davis and Senator Dick Durbin from Illinois. It is also cosponsored by 43 of our colleagues in the House of Representatives and nine Senators.

This bill would begin the process to establish a Julius Rosenwald & Rosenwald Schools National Historical Park to focus on the incredible impact of Julius Rosenwald, a successful entrepreneur and renowned philanthropist who made lasting contributions to the advancement of African American education during the twentieth century.

Mr. Rosenwald was the President of Sears, Roebuck & Company who used his fortune to enhance the lives of others--establishing museums, community centers, and housing as well as helping Jews in Europe and new immigrants to the U.S. Moved by Booker T. Washington's autobiography Up from Slavery, Mr. Rosenwald committed his time and finances to improving the lives of African Americans. Notably, he established the Julius Rosenwald Fund that partnered with local communities to create over 5,300 schools in the south to address the lack of education for African Americans. During the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, one-third of all African American children in the south were educated in Rosenwald schools. A 2011 study by two Federal Reserve economists concluded that the schools played a significant role in narrowing the education gap between black and white students in the south.

In addition, Mr. Rosenwald provided matching funds to communities for construction of YMCA's for African Americans during the Jim Crow era. The Rosenwald Fund supported the early NAACP cases that eventually led to the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, provided fellowship to African Americans in the arts and sciences, and supported a number of Historically Black Colleges and Universities, including Fisk, Dillard, and Howard. Mr. Rosenwald improved the lives of those in Chicago as well, creating the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago and the Museum of Science and Industry among many other local initiatives. When I was seven years old, our first family vacation was to my mother's hometown of Chicago. During that trip, we went to the Museum of Science and Industry, which my mother and others referred to as ``the Rosenwald.'' That memory led me to dig into the life of Julius Rosenwald as an adult. My dear and late friend, Julian Bond, told me about the Rosenwald schools and that furthered my appreciation of this man's farsightedness, empathy and wisdom.

The esteemed contralto singer Marian Anderson, discriminated against in the Jim Crow South, won a prestigious Julius Rosenwald Fellowship that allowed her to tour Europe, entertaining heads of state, making headlines in American newspapers and creating ``Marian Mania'' around the world. Returning to the United States, she was invited by President Franklin Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to play the White House in 1936 and, famously, sang ``My Country 'Tis of Thee'' from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday 1939 after being denied the stage of the Daughters of the American Revolution Constitution Hall by segregationists.

The documentary, ``Rosenwald,'' by Aviva Kempner was a fitting tribute to Julius Rosenwald. I was privileged to be present for a showing at the White House East Wing when Barack Obama was president and Valerie Jarrett was his senior advisor. Ms. Jarrett's maternal grandfather, Robert Rochon Taylor, was involved in carrying on the legacy of Julius Rosenwald by helping to plan, build and manage what became known as Rosenwald Courts, a multiunit housing complex in Bonzeville.

Julius Rosenwald was a visionary philanthropist whose altruism--and philosophy of giving embodied the Jewish concept of tzedakah--social justice and charity. It's past time to ensure his legacy receives its due place in history. I urge my colleagues to support the swift passage of the Julius Rosenwald and Rosenwald Schools Study Act.

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