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Julius Rosenwald, possibly the most celebrated Jewish philanthropist of the Progressive Era, is virtually unknown today (although work such as Aviva Kempner's documentary Rosenwald may spur new awareness). In this thorough and engaging biography, Hasia R. Diner explores both the man in his time and the reasons for his disappearance from historical memory. Rosenwald, who came up through the garment trade and eventually owned Sears, Roebuck, supported many causes, from Chicago's Hull House to public health and social work programs, from Jewish cultural and community centers to schools for African Americans in the South. At the time, his expansive generosity, public commitment to his religion, and seriousness of purpose brought renown not only to himself but to American Jewry as a whole. Yet his commitment to disbursing his money while he lived rather than establishing an endowment and his refusal to put his name on most of his projects meant that while his works endured, his name lived on only in the memories and records of his family and of those to whom he gave.
In Diner's words, Rosenwald directed his money to "countering prejudice, easing poverty and promoting civic unity" and encouraged others to give both by example and often by providing explicit matching fund grants (54). Because he believed in Booker T. Washington's ideal of selfhelp, he also required those communities...