“The film, “The Legacy of Julius Rosenwald” has been nominated for a 2025 Mid-America Emmy award!
“The film, highlighting the life and works of Julius Rosenwald was directed by Storyteller Studios with the Lincoln Presidential Foundation and Looking for Lincoln as producing partners. This project was made possible in part by a grant from the National Park Foundation.
“Rosenwald was an American business executive and philanthropist who lived his early life in the same neighborhood as the Abraham Lincoln home in Springfield, Illinois. He was the long-time president and an owner of Sears, Roebuck and Company, and established ‘The Rosenwald Fund’ to promote education.
“The fund’s Rural School Building Program was one of its largest initiatives, and was responsible for the construction of more than 5,000 schools in the South for African-American children. These life-changing institutions became informally known as ‘Rosenwald Schools.’ (Lincoln Presidential Foundation)
- “The Legacy of Julius Rosenwald”, a film by Lincoln Presidential Foundation and Looking for Lincoln with generous support from a National Park Foundation Storytelling Grant. (16:29)
- The most famous Jewish philanthropist you may have never heard of and the campaign to amplify his legacy with a national park; Julius Rosenwald was a revolutionary philanthropist, yet his name is not well known, in part because his foundation shut down soon after his death, Rachel Kohn, JewishInsider, 5/28/25
- Learn more at the Julius Rosenwald & Rosenwald Schools National Historical Park Campaign website
- Rosenwald, A film by Aviva Kempner
