Celebrating the DVD Pre-release: A Washington Crowd Comes Out For a Free Screening Event with Sponsors UDC, Howard Law School, and Israeli Embassy
With support from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Ciesla Foundation is proud to have offered a free screening of Rosenwald at UDC’s David A. Clarke Law School on November 7, 2017, in cooperation with Howard Law School and UDC. The panel discussion following the film screening, which included Director Aviva Kempner, Dean of UDC Law School Shelley Katherine Broderick, Dean of Howard Law Danielle Holley-Walker and Dr. Charlene Drew Jarvis, touched upon a range of issues and topics brought up in the film.
(Left to Right) UDC board member Dr. Charlene Drew Jarvis, Dean of UDC Law Shelley Katherine Broderick, Dean of Howard Law Danielle Holley-Walker and Director Aviva Kempner Photo: Bruce Guthrie
Kempner and Holley-Walker spoke about the legacy of Charles Hamilton Houston, his important work as a lawyer and the footage he filmed at segregated schools in the Jim Crow South. His footage was used in Rosenwald.
Dr. Charlene Drew Jarvis spoke about the Rosenwald Fund and the impact it had on her father, Dr. Charles Drew. Thanks to the Fund, he was able to finish medical school and later save thousands of lives by pioneering the blood bank during WWII.
As with most Rosenwald screenings, audience members found resonance with the film and were surprised by how unknown Rosenwald’s story is despite his continuing relevance. Many were unfamiliar with the historical alliance between the Jewish and African-American communities. One audience member was named after Julius Rosenwald himself and was enlightened to hear about the legacy of his father’s name and his own. Another audience member had attended a Rosenwald School, while another remembered his family giving their property to build such a school. It is inspiring to see the continuing legacy of Rosenwald’s work to this day, and to experience how this documentary helps inform viewers about their own histories.
(Left to Right) Dr. DeMaurice Moses, Dr. Charlene Drew Jarvis, Student of Rosenwald School, Deputy Ambassador for Israel Reuven Azar, Director Aviva Kempner Photo: Bruce Guthrie
The reception after the screening took place at the Israeli Embassy, where cultural attaché Delphine Gamburg welcomed guests. Gamburg also initiated the planning of this event. Following Gamburg, Deputy Ambassador Reuven Azar spoke on the long standing support the Jewish community has had for the equal rights of African Americans and his pleasure in hosting an event that coincides with Jewish values.
Washington D.C. Councilwoman Mary Cheh gave an appreciative and warm appraisal of Kempner’s Rosenwald, saying “Each time I see it, it’s even better than the last. … [F]rom all your films, Rosenwald has to be one of your best.”
Aviva Kempner concluded the night by thanking all those involved in helping coordinate the event. Having a family connection to Israel, Kempner was touched the Embassy extended a hand to host the reception. Kempner announced she is excited to bring Rosenwald to Israel in January to the Diaspora Museum and knows that the film will have resonance with Jewish and black communities there.
The Ciesla Foundation plans to continue forming partnerships with institutions that value the preservation of history, furthering of education, as well as ensuring that if we all continue to work together, we can repair the world.
Julius Rosenwald Ware II (Named after JR) and Israeli Cultural Attache Delphine Gamburg Photo: Bruce Guthrie
The Ciesla Foundation
Screening at the 44th Annual Conference on D.C. History November 3, 2017
Julius Rosenwald’s Philanthropy in Washington, D.C.
Philanthropist Julius Rosenwald, who headed Sears over 100 years ago, lived in Chicago but his generosity extended all over the United States, including to Washington, D.C.
In 1911, Rosenwald answered a request by President William Howard Taft to provide the final donation needed to finish the building of the African-American YMCA on 12th Street in D.C., known today as the Thurgood Marshall Center. Tonight’s screening features the bonus feature, “Building the 12th Street YMCA,” which is one of the 39 bonus features on the recently released Rosenwald DVD.
This bonus feature focuses on the construction of the 12th Street Y in Washington, D.C., thanks to fundraising in the African-American community and generous grants from the Rockefeller family and Julius Rosenwald, as well as the Y’s impact on the local community. Professors and students from Howard University, athletes, and artists frequented the 12th Street YMCA. They included poet Langston Hughes, basketball player and coach John Thompson, and musician Duke Ellington.
The Q&A after the screening will feature personal stories about the legacy of the 12th Street YMCA from Charlene Drew Jarvis, daughter of Dr. Charles Drew, and Norris Dodson, former board member of the Thurgood Marshall Center. Dr. Charles Drew and Norris Dodson both played basketball at the 12th Street YMCA as young men. Their stories speak specifically to the values the 12th Street YMCA imparted on the African-American community in Washington, D.C.
The other stirring bonus feature to be shown, “Dr. Charles Drew: His work saved thousands of lives,” focuses on the accomplished Dr. Charles Drew, a physician and medical researcher, who the Rosenwald Fund supported during his last year of medical school. His pioneering work on blood transfusions is still used today. Drew also fought segregationist policies in hospitals and the American Medical Association (AMA). Despite his many accomplishments, Dr. Drew was still subjected to the segregationist policies of the Jim Crow South.
His daughter, Dr. Charlene Drew Jarvis, former DC council woman, reminisces about her father.
Successful Celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the Rosenwald Fund and the DVD Release
October 16th 2017 marked the celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the Rosenwald Fund and the completion of the Rosenwald 2-disc DVD with 39 bonus features, a director’s commentary, and access to an online teaching guide. The event was held at the Eldavitch DC-JCC with contributors and supporters of the film in atendence
The Eldavitch DC-JCC’s theatre screened seven out of the 39 bonus features to be released on the Rosenwald DVD. The bonus features screened included “The Lynching of Leo Frank”, “Dr. Charles Drew”, “Rabbi Emil Hirsch leads Chicago Sinai Congregation”, “The 1919 Chicago Riots”, “Rosenwald and the NAACP”, “Rescued during WWII” and, “Langston Hughes.”
Each screened bonus feature was followed by panel discussions. Panelists included author Stephanie Deutsch; Ambassador Stuart E. Eizenstat; civil rights lawyer Leslie Harris; daughter of Dr. Charles Drew, Charlene Drew Jarvis; author Gary Krist; activist poet Ethelbert Miller; Chicago Tribune Columnist Clarence Page; Rabbi David Saperstein; and Julius Rosenwald’s great grandson, David Stern.
The discussions following each of the screenings allowed panelists to lend their expertise and personal experiences to these important stories. Ambassador Stuart E. Eizenstat spoke about his upbringing in Atlanta, where the story of Leo Frank was often discussed within the Jewish community, but the Holocaust was rarely mentioned. Eizenstat argued that the legacy of Leo Frank actually scared the Jewish community away from involving themselves in the fight for racial equality in the South. Lawyer Leslie Harris also grew up in Atlanta, but experienced a different reality in the Southern Jewish community. Harris, unlike Eizenstat, had not heard of Leo Frank’s legacy until much later in her life, and because of her personal encounters with anti-Semitism, she was inspired to become an ACLU lawyer.
Dr. Charlene Drew Jarvis spoke about the impact of the Rosenwald Fund on her father, Dr. Charles Drew, and his work. Dr. Jarvis brought a letter written by her father, expressing his grief upon hearing the Rosenwald Fund no longer exists and wrote “It is very doubtful I could have continued my studies in Medicine in 1932-1933 if I had not received a Rosenwald Fellowship”. Dr. Jarvis spoke about her father’s adamant resistance to the widely believed notion that African Americans could not donate blood to aid wounded WWII soldiers.
Rabbi David Saperstein, described as “America’s most influential Rabbi”, spoke about the influence Rabbi Emil Hirsch had on Reform Judaism. Rabbi Saperstein, much like Julius Rosenwald, was inspired by Hirsch’s social awareness and attributed Hirsch’s work to the foundation of Jewish Reform ethics. Hirsch’s legendary sermons encouraged the Jewish community to help in the fight for social and racial justice.
Author Gary Krist and Chicago Tribune Columnist Clarence Page weighed in on the impact of the 1919 Chicago Riots. Krist spoke of his fascination with the way cities were formed during the early 20th century and the consequences the great migration had on racial tensions in Chicago. Krist explained that during the First World War, African Americans from the South were scouted to replace the drafted men in the work force and once the soldiers returned, racial tensions sored.
Page spoke about how a lot of underlying racial tensions are still present today since the riots. Page recalls that in 20th century America, both the North and South were uniformly racist, the only difference being the blatant signage of racism in the south.
Following the bonus feature on “Rosenwald and NAACP”, Rabbi Saperstein spoke about the Jewish Community as being an integral part of the fight for racial justice from the beginning. Saperstein mentioned that Jews felt that if they could be persecuted similarly to African Americans, then they were “in the fight together”. Clarence Page spoke about the remarkable relationship the African-American and Jewish communities have had historically and the inspiration it gave many African-American leaders, including Martin Luther King.
(Below) Stephanie Deutsch and David Stern
Author Stephanie Deutsch and great grandson of Julius Rosenwald David Stern spoke following the bonus feature on how the Rosenwald family helped rescue 300 family members from Nazi Germany. Stephanie Deutsch, married to David Deutsch, another great grandson of Julius Rosenwald, spoke on her experience at a recent family reunion. Deutsch recalled her disbelief at the amount of family members present that were decedents of the German family rescued during WWII.
David Stern, spoke about upholding his family’s legacy of philanthropy. Stern recalls even as a child listening into this parents’ discussions and debates over which causes were best to place their donations towards. Currently executive director of Equal Justice Works, David Stern has dedicated his life towards mobilizing the next generation of lawyers committed to equal justice.
Mr. Ethlebert Miller, a poet and activist, concluded the night after the showing of the bonus feature on Langston Hughes. Mr. Miller spoke about the impact of the Rosenwald Fund on Langston Hughes and highlighted how Hughes’s work inspired the African-American community to embrace their own beauty and ingenuity in the face of their oppression.
Overall, the night was a tremendous success and served as a dedicated thank you to all the supporters and contributors who made the film possible as well introducing audiences to the upcoming bonus features. The Ciesla Foundation is planning many more events of this nature all over the country to celebrate the release of the DVD and to continue to educate the public on the important issues raised in the film.
Free Rosenwald Film Screening at University of District of Columbia
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington, DC – November 7, 2017 – In honor of the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Rosenwald Fund, the Ciesla Foundation, the University of the District of Columbia (UDC), and the Israeli Embassy will present a FREE screening and discussion of Aviva Kempner’s ROSENWALD on November 7th at 4:30pm. The screening at UDC’s David A. Clarke School of Law will be followed by a 7:00pm reception at the Israeli Embassy. This event also celebrates the Rosenwald two-disc DVD release, available for purchase November 7, 2017. The documentary focuses on Julius Rosenwald, a businessman and visionary whose “legacy of correcting society’s ills during the Jim Crow period is sadly pertinent today as America still needs to address racial inequalities in our society,” says award-winning filmmaker Kempner, also a graduate of the UDC David A. Clarke School of Law’s predecessor, the Antioch School of Law
Acknowledging Kempner’s contributions to social justice, Dean of UDC Law Katherine “Shelley” Broderick says, “UDC Law is now, as it was when Kempner attended it during its founding years, the nation’s law school most committed to training lawyers through the provision of legal services to low-income people.”
A panel discussion will follow the Rosenwald screening with honored guests: Danielle Holley-Walker, dean of Howard University School of Law, Dr. Charlene Drew Jarvis, daughter of Dr. Charles Drew, and filmmaker Kempner. Dean Broderick will moderate the discussion. Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh will welcome guests at the Israeli embassy.
Dr. Drew Jarvis, whose father Dr. Charles Drew received a Rosenwald Fund grant and pioneered blood storage methods used by the American Red Cross, is also a member of the UDC Board of Trustees. She notes, “Julius Rosenwald recognized the enormous potential, strength of character and unparalleled talent existing in the African-American community. That’s why when Booker T. Washington asked, he gave his time and treasure to help build 5,000 schools for black children in the south.”
Dean Holley-Walker and Kempner will shed light on the legacy of Charles Hamilton Houston, whose film footage of Southern segregated schools supported legal arguments in desegregation cases, like the 1954 Brown vs. the Board of Education decision. This historical footage can be found in Rosenwald. Houston, who was a dean of Howard University School of Law from 1929-1935, was also a mentor to civil rights lawyer Thurgood Marshall and is known as the “man who killed Jim Crow.”
In the spirit of Rosenwald’s efforts to address systemic and social discrimination faced by African-American and Jewish communities, the Israeli Embassy will host a reception after the screening. The Israeli cultural attaché, Ms. Delphine Gamburg, initiated this partnership. “We need to continue the dialogue on the long-standing African-American and Jewish alliances. It is essential, particularly in the climate of tension as we know it today, to maintain and strengthen the ties between African- American and Jewish communities. More than ever, we must work hand in hand together for greater fraternity, solidarity and justice,” she said.
Contact:
Veronika Gajer
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Julian Bond Memorial Bench Installed on Connecticut Ave in Washington, DC
On June 26, 2017, in a moving ceremony in front of the Chevy Chase Community Center and Library, a bench honoring Civil Rights leader Julian Bond was unveiled. Its inscription reads:
In Memory of Julian Bond 1940 – 2015
“Race Man”
A Life Dedicated to Civil Rights
The dedication was attended by friends, family and city officials, including Mayor Muriel Bowser and Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh, who initiated the bench’s installation. Also in attendance were a dozen former members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which Bond co-founded in 1960. In her remarks, Cheh commented: “I know it might seem a bit modest for such a grand life, such a giant of a man, but he would be delighted to know that this bench was here.”
“I’m so happy, because Julian always talked about wanting a bench, and now he has a bench,” said Bond’s widow Pamela Horowitz. “We lived in this neighborhood. He walked in the neighborhood a lot, because he said it was his thinking time.” She said she hopes people sit on the bench and “think about how to make the world a better place.”
Julian Bond was the inspiration behind the making of Aviva Kempner’s film Rosenwald. Kempner first learned of Julius Rosenwald’s partnership with Booker T. Washington when she heard Bond give a talk 14 years ago. Bond served as chairman of the NAACP and in the Georgia legislature for 20 years. He advocated for DC statehood and gay rights. His father Horace Mann was the president of Lincoln University and had received a Rosenwald grant.
Some of those attending the ceremony wondered what was meant by “Race Man.” In a Washington Post article, Mark Anthony Neal wrote that “Race man” is a term from the beginning of the 20th century that describes Black men of stature and integrity who represented the best that African Americans had to offer in the face of Jim Crow segregation. It remains an unspoken measure of commitment to uplifting the race. “Race men” inspire pride in their work, their actions and their speech. Biographer Will Haygood wrote of Thurgood Marshall: “He was ‘a race man.’ He was consistently for his race, first and last.” Had the plaque been double-sided, Bond would have liked the back to say, “Easily Amused,” Horowitz said, in recognition of the need to have a sense of humor while doing serious work. Watch an NBC news report here.
Pamela Horowitz, widow of Julian Bond, (standing, center) and veterans of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) gathered to dedicate a bench in honor of Bond.
Councilmember Mary Cheh spoke about Civil Rights Leader Julian Bond.
Northampton County, NC, Once Home to 21 Rosenwald Schools
Dennis Babb from the Northampton County Museum in Jackson has researched the history of Rosenwald schools in the county. “When consolidation and integration began, the Rosenwald Schools closed,” Babb said.
The schools were all built on similar floor plans making them easy to identify and there were 21 of them. Only a few remain, but some have found new life in their communities as a community center or as center rented out for events. Read the article in The Daily Herald here.
The Potecasi Rosenwald school building (above) reopened as a community center last year with the support of alumni and community leaders. Photo by Cal Bryant, The Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald
Proposed Rosenwald School Design Featured in MoMA’s Frank Lloyd Wright at 150: Unpacking the Archive
A Frank Lloyd Wright proposed design for a Rosenwald School for African American children will be presented by Mabel O. Wilson, Columbia University and the Society of Architectural Historians, during a special study day at MoMA on June 2.
A sketch by architect Frank Lloyd Wright envisions the Rosenwald Foundation School. It will be presented along with many other items from the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives in a major retrospective planned by New York’s Museum of Modern Art in 2017. – Original Credit: Handout (Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation / HANDOUT)
The MoMA Exhibit: Frank Lloyd Wright at 150: Unpacking the Archive will run from June 12 – Oct. 1, 2017. It marks the 150th anniversary of the American Architect’s birth and the fifth anniversary of the transferof the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives to the joint stewardship of MoMA and the Avery Architecture and Fine Arts Library at Columbia University.
Prof. Wilson is the author of Negro Building: Black Americans in the World of Fairs and Museums, a runner-up for John Hope Franklin Prize for the best American Studies publication in 2012. Her scholarly essays have appeared in numerous journals and books on critical geography, memory studies, art and architecture. She has received awards, fellowships and residencies from Getty Research Institute, New York State Council for the Arts, and ID magazine. She is currently developing the manuscript Building Race and Nation: How Slavery Influenced Antebellum American Civic Architecture and collaborating on a collection of essays on race and modern architecture.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s proposed design in 1928 was probably never built because it would have been too expensive. His version was ambitious and included a courtyard with a swimming pool and a proscenium stage. Its construction would have included pioneering use of concrete and fieldstone that he would use on later buildings.
In total, there were 5,357 Rosenwald schools, shop houses, and teacher’s houses built. Most remained in use until the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling went into effect in 1954 and black schools were no longer a necessity. The National Trust for Historic Preservation is working to restore many of the school and many of the buildings have found new uses as town halls, community centers and more.
Read more on Prof. Wilson’s presentation here.
Read more on MoMA’s exhibition here.
Rosenwald Documentary Has Screening in Rockville, Maryland
On April 19th, a screening of the Rosenwald documentary in Rockville, Maryland—just outside Washington, DC—focused on the little-known but history changing connection between a Rosenwald school there and Thurgood Marshall’s long road to the 1954 Supreme Court decision overturning school segregation.
In 1936, William Gibbs, a teacher and acting principal of the Rockville Rosenwald elementary school, filed a lawsuit against the county school board over the unequal salaries paid to black teachers. Mr. Gibbs, who received $612 a year, compared to $1,175 paid to a similarly experienced white teacher, was represented by a young Thurgood Marshall—just a few years out of law school. The school board filed a motion to have the case dismissed outright, but the county judge, recognizing the significance of the case, asked two other judges from a neighboring county to join him; ultimately the three-judge panel rejected the county’s attempt to quash the case in June 1937.
William Gibbs – courtesy of Peerless Rockville
Thurgood Marshall in 1936 –
Courtesy of Library of Congress
“This landmark decision marked the first time that any court in the nation had found that black professionals with the same experience and credentials as white professionals had the right to equal pay,” said Larry Gibson, professor at the University of Maryland (UMD) School of Law and author of Young Thurgood, a biography of the future Supreme Court justice focusing on his early career. The case thus represents Thurgood Marshall’s first legal victory involving public school segregation (he had earlier succeeded in forcing the UMD law school to admit a black student—his first legal victory on the graduate school level). “It all began in Rockville, Maryland,” concluded Gibson, referring to the ensuing legal battle against public school segregation throughout the South.
Larry S. Gibson – courtesy of Larry S. Gibson (website)
Following the hearing in the teacher pay case, the county school board agreed to equalize salaries within two years, but William Gibbs was fired over his qualifications to serve as acting principal. Decades later, the county named one of its elementary schools for him.
Gibbs Elementary School today – courtesy of Montgomery County Public Schools
The April 19 Rosenwald screening was co-sponsored by Peerless Rockville, a nonprofit historic preservation organization, and the Universities at Shady Grove, a UMD branch campus. A total of 17 Rosenwald schools were built in Montgomery County, Maryland—including the first high school for African American students in 1927, next to the Rockville Rosenwald grade school where William Gibbs taught. Neither building remains, but 5 others in the county still stand, including the Smithville Rosenwald School which has been restored as a museum/community center.
Rockville Rosenwald school – courtesy of Peerless Rockville
MTSU’s Center for Historic Preservation Program Helps Save Historic Sites Like West Bemis Rosenwald School
Middle Tennessee State University’s (MTSU) Center for Historic Preservation is accepting proposals for its Professional Services Partnerships program. According to the Center, the partnership provides communities with an opportunity to take advantage of their staff and assistants’ knowledge and expertise at no cost. Proposals will be accepted annually, with the first deadline coming on June 1, 2017. Apply here.
The West Bemis Rosenwald School is a recipient of the CHP Partnerships. The school is considered the oldest Rosenwald School in Tennessee.
The West Bemis Rosenwald School in Jackson, Tennessee, built in 1916 to serve African-American students, stands tall after its supporters worked with the MTSU Center for Historic Preservation on a heritage preservation plan. (Photo courtesy of the Center for Historic Preservation)
Read the story by the Daily News Journal here.
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