by Cieslafdn | Sep 4, 2013 | Social Justice Work
The Washington Post has written a nice article about “Reflections on the Jewish and African American Civil Rights Alliances,” a symposium co-produced by the Ciesla Foundation and On The Potomac Productions. From the article:
Jews were extremely active in the civil rights movement, and they played a role that was especially remarkable in light of their making up such a small part of the nation’s population. Prominent rabbis marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and several were involved in the founding of the NAACP.
Read more at The Washington Post.
by Cieslafdn | Sep 3, 2013 | Rosenwald Grant Recipients
Ernest Everett Just was a great scientist, but his story is equally interesting today for what it reveals about the unique pressures faced by one of the earliest African Americans biologists in a field that was not very open to him. In 1983, Kenneth R. Manning published an excellent biography of Just called Black Apollo of Science, which ably brings out the tensions produced by Just’s excellence in his field in spite of the difficulties he faced.
Ernest Everett Just, date unknown
Photo credit: The Marine Biological Laboratory Archives
For us, the most interesting facet about Just’s story as Manning tells it is his special relationship with Julius Rosenwald and the Rosenwald Fund. In the late 1910s, Just was a well-liked instructor at Howard University, but he wanted more time to pursue independent research. It was with this in mind that he met with Julius Rosenwald in early 1920. Just’s work had attracted several ‘mentors’, one of which was Abraham Flexner of the Rockefeller Foundation. Because the Rockefeller Foundation wasn’t able to support Just, Flexner set up a meeting with Julius Rosenwald. It was unusual for the Rosenwald Fund to give a grant to an already established researcher; for example, Dr. Charles Drew received his Rosenwald grant while still in medical school at McGill. However, Flexner eloquently argued on Just’s behalf that “service would be rendered to humanity through giving a fitting opportunity and support to a really able scientist of the Negro race.” Rosenwald agreed, electing to give Just an independent research grant of $1,500 a year (to which he added $500/year to support Just’s summer research at Woods Hole, Massachusetts).
Just relaxing at Woods Hole
Photo credit: The Marine Biological Laboratory Archives
The only problem with this arrangement was that Howard’s administration didn’t want Just to give up his full time teaching position, which didn’t pay well. They didn’t see his research as increasing his value to the university. But once again Flexner came to his aid. Howard University agreed to let Just cut back his course load to allow time for research in exchange for Flexner securing a large donation for the university through the Rockefeller Foundation.
Although Flexner was a strong supporter of Ernest Just, Manning describes him as holding casually racist attitudes: he was interested in alleviating the plight of African Americans but his support was marked by paternalism and he was shortsighted about the possibility for African American achievement in the sciences. Rosenwald’s work has been criticized on these grounds as well, and an example from Manning’s book paints him this way. When deliberating over whether to extend a permanent endowment to Just’s work, Rosenwald asked Just and his mentor Ralph Lillie whether Just’s attitude towards other blacks was one of “helpful association or aloofness.” This extra hurdle is not one that he or other philanthropists would have felt necessary to require with white grant beneficiaries, who would have been judged on the merits of their work.
Abraham Flexner
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
Nevertheless, Just seems to have had a special affection for Rosenwald. Just’s bond with Rosenwald was best demonstrated by his request to list his official title as “Julius Rosenwald Fellow in Biology.” This was an unusual request, Manning notes, as Rosenwald rarely allowed his name to be used in connection with his philanthropic work. The request was granted. Manning also writes that Just often sent letters to Rosenwald with personal details about his life and upbringing and the professional problems he faced getting hired because of race. Just consistently shared his successes (being asked to speak at national and international conferences, being cited in major publications, his own work on fertilization being lauded) with Rosenwald and this strategy of personal appeals lead to Rosenwald renewing the grant several times, to 7 years in total. In his letter to Rosenwald at the end of the 7-year grant period, Just described their relationship as “an almost holy alliance–a thing of spirit which I shall always remember” (qtd. in Manning, 155).
Julius Rosenwald in 1917
Photo credit: Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress
In fact, Rosenwald’s support wasn’t over. He soon came back and supported Just with a more modest 3 year grant, which Just used to support the work of his student, Roger Arliner Young (a notable marine biologist in her own right). Later, Just appealed to Edwin Embree, who ran the Rosenwald Fund after Julius Rosenwald’s death, for support for Howard’s biology department. Just successfully convinced Embree, who was typically against endowments, to make a large donation to the department. Embree followed through even when planned-upon support from the General Education Board was not forthcoming.
Manning describes Just as driven and often overworked, which eventually took a toll on him. Whether his benefactors (like Flexner, Rosenwald and Embree) intended to be overbearing in the administration of their support or not, Just felt pressure to excel because of the trust placed in him. Not only did he have to produce quality research (as his Rosenwald grants were administered by the National Research Council) he felt he constantly had to promote his work in order to maintain the fellowships he needed to stay afloat. Just’s career as a biologist was marked by this tension – trying to do great research while pleasing his benefactors and providing much needed instruction for his students at Howard.
By Michael Rose
by datdudejbal | Aug 29, 2013 | Rosenwald Fund
On Tuesday, August 27th, the Ciesla Foundation joined On the Potomac Productions to present “Reflections on Jewish and African American Civil Rights Alliances,” a symposium remembering the collaboration between Jews and African Americans during the Civil Rights era and considering new ways for the two communities to work together in the future. Ciesla provided 501(c)(3) sponsorship for the event, which was held at NYU’s Constance Milstein Center in Washington D.C. Ciesla Director Aviva Kempner also spoke at the symposium about the Rosenwald Schools and screened the work in progress of Ciesla’s upcoming documentary about Julius Rosenwald.
Aviva Kempner and Gloria Davidson Hart
Photo credit: Tobiah Mues, Aug. 27, 2013
The Rosenwald Schools were one of the main topics on the “Education” panel. In addition to Aviva’s presentation, Gloria Davidson Hart recounted her experience going to a Rosenwald School and talked about the esteem the community had for the comparatively high quality Rosenwald Schools that were built throughout Southern states in the early part of the 20th century.
Rabbi Israel “Si” Dresner
Photo credit: Tobiah Mues, Aug. 27, 2013
Other highlights of the conference included Rabbi Dresner, who shared some stories about the time he spent with Martin Luther King Jr. and talked about the affinity he felt between the Civil Rights struggle and the Biblical Exodus. Clarence Page described his early days at the Chicago Tribune, at a time when some of his co-workers were worried that an African American employee would be too “militant.” Ron Carver implored the audience to remember that Martin Luther King Jr. didn’t act alone and that young people today need not wait for a savior like King to begin collective action. Glenn Rabin chaired the communications panel and discussed the effects of the recent loss of governmental policies to promote minority ownership of media. The audience also heard a recorded message from Julian Bond, who is working on a film project about the relationship between the birth of rock and roll and the Civil Rights movement called “Crossing the Color Line.”
Clarence Page
Photo credit: Tobiah Mues, Aug. 27, 2013
The final speaker of the day was Washington D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray. As a young man, Gray’s parents encouraged him to attend George Washington University despite the fact that he would be one of the only black students on campus. While these difficult circumstances caused a few of his friends to transfer away from GWU, Mayor Gray found a home at Tau Epsilon Phi, a Jewish fraternity that accepted him as its first black member.
Mayor Vincent Gray and Mark Plotkin
Photo credit: Tobiah Mues, Aug. 27, 2013
Mayor Gray contrasted his experience as a minority at GWU with his time at the famous and predominately black Dunbar High School in Washington D.C. and named some of the remarkable alumni of the school, such as Charles Hamilton Houston and Dr. Charles Drew. Mayor Gray also mentioned Ernest Everett Just, who taught at Dunbar. Just, who had a special relationship with Julius Rosenwald and the Rosenwald Fund, will be the subject of an upcoming post on this blog.
Mayor Vincent Gray with Aviva
Photo credit: Tobiah Mues, Aug. 27, 2013
Thomas Hart Jr. of On the Potomac Productions put together an amazing group of speakers for this weekday morning symposium, and the Ciesla Foundation is grateful for the opportunity to participate.
From left to right: Clarence Page, Mark Plotkin, Rabbi Dresner, Thomas Hart Jr., Aviva Kempner, Leroy Nesbitt and Susannah Heschel
Photo credit: Tobiah Mues, Aug. 27, 2013
By Michael Rose
by datdudejbal | Aug 28, 2013 | Rosenwald Fund
Lynn Sweet, Washington Bureau Chief at the Chicago Sun-Times, published a great article today about Julius Rosenwald and The Rosenwald Schools production.
Here’s an excerpt from the article, entitled “Chicago’s ‘under-known’ hero of civil rights movement”:
The celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington — and Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech — wrap up on Wednesday with remarks by Presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter at the Lincoln Memorial.
So this seems a good time to remind everyone that before the civil rights era of the 1960s, there was Chicago’s Julius Rosenwald, helping to pave the way for it.
Along with remembering Rosenwald, Sweet gives a rundown of our production to date and talks about the major stories and interviews the final film will include. Be sure to read the full article at the Sun-Times website.
Julius Rosenwald in 1929
Photo credit: Library of Congress National Photo Company Collection
by datdudejbal | Aug 16, 2013 | Rosenwald Fund
Roberta Smith reports in the New York Times (Aug. 16) that Hale Woodruff’s breathtaking set of murals, made for Talladega College in 1938, has arrived at an NYU gallery (the exhibition closes on Oct. 13th). Smith praises the “indomitable optimism” of the murals, arguing that they “teach history by making it visually riveting.” Three of the six murals expressively tell the story of the 1839 uprising on the slave ship Amistad. Click the link above to see one of Amistad series.
Hale Woodruff posing in front of one of the Talladega murals depicting the Underground Railroad
Photo credit: Library of Congress via FSA/OWI
We previously reported on the murals’ national tour in Atlanta and Chicago. At the end of the tour, the murals will return to their home in Talladega, but this exhibition in New York (their first) is a homecoming of sorts. It was likely on the strength of this work that Woodruff received Rosenwald Fund fellowships in 1943 and 1944, which allowed him to move to New York where he would work and teach until he passed away in 1980.
by datdudejbal | Aug 16, 2013 | Rosenwald Fund
From On the Potomac Productions’ (OTP) press-release:
OTP will be hosting, along with the Ciesla Foundation, a symposium at New York University-DC’s campus (NYU) entitled “Reflections on Jewish and African American Civil Rights Alliances” on August 27th on commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington. The “Reflections on Jewish and African American Civil Rights Alliances,” symposium will provide an opportunity to recognize Jewish and African American constituencies who supported the March on Washington and the Civil Rights movement. The forum will discuss the evolution of the alliances, present relations and future opportunities.
At the symposium, Aviva Kempner will discuss the Ciesla Foundation’s current project, The Rosenwald Schools, which concerns a partnership of African Americans and Jews before the Civil Rights era.
On the Potomac Productions also announced that their one-hour documentary about the effort to make Dr. King’s birthday a national holiday, entitled MLK: The Making of a Holiday, will air on television stations nationwide soon in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington. This is the first time MLK: The Making of a Holiday has aired in HD, and it’s a great opportunity to see the iconic moments of Dr. King’s life in more detail than ever before. Some stations that will broadcast the doc include: WMAQ Chicago NBC, WTAE Philadelphia ABC, WDIV Detroit NBC, KSTP Saint Paul ABC and WEWS Cleveland ABC.
The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington D.C.
Photo credit: Sue Waters (flickr)
by datdudejbal | Aug 12, 2013 | Rosenwald Fund
Today the developer of the soon to be rehabilitated Michigan Boulevard Garden Apartments, Rosenwald Courts Apartment LP, held a pre-bid conference at a nearby community center. You can read more on page 10 of 3rd Ward Alderman Pat Dowell’s newsletter or at a local development blog.
The planned number of apartments hasn’t changed since the last time we reported: the project team is planning for 97 family units and 138 senior units in the rehabilitated “Rosenwald Courts.”
We will continue to post updates to this project as we get them.
by datdudejbal | Jul 19, 2013 | Rosenwald Fund
Last Saturday, Mayor Vincent Gray and others helped inaugurate a new Heritage Walk in Washington D.C. Washington’s Heritage Walks are self-guided walking tours set up in historic neighborhoods around the city, each consisting of a series of plaques telling the history of the area or a specific site.
The Logan Circle Heritage Walk plaque in front of Ella Watson’s home
Photo credit: The Ciesla Foundation, July 18, 2013
The new tour is in Logan Circle, a neighborhood that was home to Ella Watson, famously photographed in 1942 by Gordon Parks in an provocative work he titled “American Gothic.” Parks followed Watson in her daily life for about a month, and many of the pictures in his series for the Farm Security Administration were taken in her home at 1433 11th Street NW.
1433 11th Street NW, Washington: Ella Watson’s home in 1942
Photo credit: The Ciesla Foundation, July 18, 2013
The building Watson lived in with her family still stands but is currently vacant – increasingly rare for Logan Circle, an area that has seen rapid renovation in recent history. Below you can see a picture Parks took out the front window of Watson’s second floor apartment, showing two rowhomes across the street that are also still standing at the corner of P Street NW. Click here to browse the rest of the Library of Congress’s collection of Parks’ Ella Watson photographs.
Washington, D.C. View from the bedroom window of Mrs. Ella Watson, a government worker
Photo credit: Gordon Parks, August 1942, OWI/FSA (LOC)
Another notable site on the new Logan Circle Heritage Walk is St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, designed by Calvin T.S. Brent, an early African American architect from the District of Columbia. His son, John Edmondson Brent, who designed the Rosenwald YMCA in Buffalo, was the subject of a post on this blog earlier this month.
By Michael Rose
by datdudejbal | Jul 19, 2013 | Rosenwald Fund
Wednesday night, the building that houses the Environmental Protection Agency was officially renamed for Bill Clinton, in honor of what he and his administration (including vice president Al Gore and EPA administrator Carol Browner) accomplished during his two terms as president. Darryl Fears reports in the Washington Post that Clinton requested Woody Guthrie’s famous folk song “This Land is Your Land” be performed by a youth choir at the renaming ceremony. The song’s lyrics are very appropriate for such an occasion as they proclaim common ownership over the natural beauty of the USA.
Woody Guthrie playing guitar in 1943
Photo credit: New York World Telegram & Sun Collection, Library of Congress
Guthrie was granted a Rosenwald fellowship in 1943 to create works in a variety of mediums. We previously reported on this blog about a recently rediscovered novel that was potentially written during his Rosenwald grant period. Although it was written in 1940, “This Land is Your Land” was first recorded in 1944, soon after Guthrie had received his Rosenwald fellowship. Although neither House of Earth (Guthrie’s novel) or “This Land is Your Land” were immediately heralded as masterpieces upon their release, today it’s clear that they’re among the best products of a Rosenwald fellowship.
by datdudejbal | Jul 18, 2013 | Rosenwald Fund
It seems that every one of the Rosenwald YMCAs has a story behind it.
We first learned the background of the Buffalo YMCA from Buffalo Research, the website of a local historian in the city named Cynthia Van Ness. The “Michigan Avenue YMCA” was part of the third wave of Rosenwald-supported African American YMCAs. In the early 1910s, Rosenwald offered $25,000 towards the construction of a new building for any city’s African American YMCA that could raise an additional $75,000 within their community. This offer was renewed twice, in 1915 and 1924.
The very first Rosenwald YMCA, built in Washington D.C., was designed by Tuskegee graduate William Sidney Pittman. However, by most accounts, it was not until 1924 in Buffalo, New York, that another of the Rosenwald YMCAs would be designed by an African American architect. John E. Brent, the architect of the Michigan Ave YMCA, was a native of Washington D.C. and actually was a student of Pittman’s at Tuskegee.
Van Ness’s website lead us to an excellent work of local history by University at Buffalo’s Lillian Serece Williams, entitled Strangers in the Land of Paradise: Creation of an African American Community in Buffalo, New York, 1900-1940. Williams includes a lengthy section on the Michigan Ave YMCA. After Brent arrived in Buffalo, he worked for a series of architecture firms (notably contributing to the Art Deco Hutchinson High School, still in use and known today as Hutch Tech). In 1926, he formed his own firm and designed the YMCA as his first commission.
As with the other YMCA building campaigns, Rosenwald’s challenge grant was successful in spurring the local community into contributing. A meter that tracked the fundraising efforts was placed in the center of city at Lafayette Square. White citizens of the city also contributed, including the owner of the Buffalo Courier George Matthews. Matthews was the biggest single contributer to the YMCA, and his $100,000 investment allowed the building to be larger than planned.
Buffalo’s citizens raised the necessary funds in a short time, and according to Williams’ book, Rosenwald’s check arrived Dec 24th, 1924. As with his gift to the Washington D.C. YMCA, the date of the check recognized the Christian spirit of the YMCA by appearing as a kind of Christmas present. While this may seem ironic given that Rosenwald was Jewish, his support of the YMCA speaks to his pragmatism and open-mindedness.
The Michigan Ave YMCA opened on April 15, 1928. Williams recounts the opening ceremonies, which Rosenwald attended, in her book. Rosenwald personally lauded Brent on “the completeness and architectural beauty of the building both inside and out,” then called Brent to the podium to congratulate him on the “beautiful and successful building he had created for the colored group of Buffalo.” Indeed, the Michigan Ave YMCA was a center of the African American community for many years, with people like Brent and Matthews staying involved in its administration. Like the Senate Avenue YMCA in Indianapolis, it hosted public forums with prestigious speakers like W.E.B. Du Bois, Mary Mcleod Bethune and Walter White of the NAACP. However, as the black population of Buffalo shifted progressively eastward, the YMCA fell victim to the disinvestment of the near East Side and was ultimately demolished in 1977.
Because of population decline and large-scale abandonment, Buffalo as a city presents unique challenges to historic preservationists. Its citizens are, however, uniquely dedicated to preserving whatever possible from Buffalo’s huge stock of architectural treasures. While some of these treasures are lost to history (such as Frank Lloyd Wright’s Larkin Administration Building), others (like the gargantuan Art Deco Central Terminal) have been preserved through the sheer will of passionate citizens. Unfortunately Brent’s YMCA belongs to that former category, but its memory lives on.
Brent’s name was in the air in Buffalo recently for a different commission. After painstaking research, Everett Fly and Ellen Hunt produced a successful nomination of his “Entrance Court at the Buffalo Zoo” to the New York State Register of Historic Places (which will potentially lead to its listing on the National Register of Historic Places). The nomination was interesting because the gate, which is no longer in active use by the zoo is basically unknown, and Brent’s contribution to the historic zoo (one of the oldest in the country, nestled in a Frederick Law Olmsted-designed park) was seemingly forgotten. You can read more at Fly’s blog, which also includes a picture of Brent at work and a signed drawing of his Michigan Ave YMCA.
By Michael Rose
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