The I N
F O C U S
FREE
F O R
P E O P L E
O V E R
More than 200,000 readers throughout Greater Washington
VOL.34, NO.2
To fight injustice, he built schools
FEBRUARY 2022
I N S I D E …
PHOTO BY JASON SAULER
Glenda C. Booth “All the other pleasures of life seem to wear out, but the pleasure of helping others in distress never does.” —Julius Rosenwald Bethesda retiree Dorothy Canter was “blown away” when she saw “Rosenwald,” a 2015 documentary directed by Aviva Kempner that told the story of Julius Rosenwald, a philanthropist who built more than 5,000 schools for African American children who were denied the right to public education during the Jim Crow era. Born in 1862 to German Jewish immigrants who came to the U.S. fleeing persecution in the mid-1800s, Rosenwald left his Illinois home at 16 for New York City. There he learned the clothing trade, never completing high school. When he was 23, he moved to Chicago and opened a company making men’s suits. Sears, Roebuck & Co., then a struggling new company that sold many products by mail order, was a client. Rosenwald eventually headed Sears, transforming it into a retail powerhouse. Rosenwald believed in the Jewish concepts of tikkun olam, “repair the world,” and tzedakah, which means “righteousness, charity and responsibility.” He had a “give while you live” philosophy, believing that every generation should create wealth and direct it for use in their time. He was alarmed at the injustices against African Americans, and in 1911 befriended Booker T. Washington, founder of the Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), and joined Tuskegee’s board. At Washington’s urging, Rosenwald helped six rural Alabama communities raise money to build schoolhouses at a time when there were few or no schools for African American children in the rural South. From that effort with Washington grew
5 0
L E I S U R E & T R AV E L
Warm up to the mansions and manatees of Florida’s Palm Beach County; plus, what’s (probably) in store for travel this year page 29
ARTS & STYLE La Verne Gray, left, was a student at this former school in Capitol Heights, Maryland, one of more than 5,000 built to educate Black American children in the early 20th century, when public schools refused to admit them. The massive building campaign was partly funded and driven by philanthropist Julius Rosenwald. Today, Dorothy Canter, right, is working to preserve some of the Rosenwald Schools still standing and make them into a multi-site element of our National Park system.
a financing partnership combining Rosenwald’s grants and local contributions that led to the construction of 5,357 school facilities for African American students in 15 states between 1913 and 1932.
Inspired to create a national park Before seeing the film, Canter, a retired Ph.D. biophysicist, had never heard of See SCHOOLS, page 12
Vibrant Senior Living in All Seasons Call 1-877-575-0231 or visit DMVSeniorLiving.com.
202590_SB
Get your FREE brochure!
New book unveils the history of the Birchmere music hall and its famous performers; plus, founding father books, and Bob Levey on what cc: stands for page 32 FITNESS & HEALTH 4 k How to eat healthy for less k Do at-home COVID tests work? LIVING BOLDLY k Newsletter for D.C. seniors
20
LAW & MONEY 22 k Bonds that pay more with inflation k Financial tips for single women ADVERTISER DIRECTORY
39
PLUS CROSSWORD, BEACON BITS, CLASSIFIEDS & MORE