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Julius Rosenwald Gives Additional $2,000,000; States Views on Philanthropy

May 16, 1928
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(Jewish Daily Bulletin)

Julius Rosenwald, who has given away so many millions, admitted today he forgets how much they total when he explained the philosophy which guides him in his philanthropies.

Mr. Rosenwald, in giving an additional $2,000,000 to the Julius Rosenwald Fund, has requested that the entire fund, exceeding $20,000,000 be expended within twenty-five years after his death. Mr. Rosenwald said the reason for this stipulation is his belief that future generations should provide for their own philanthropic needs.

“Times are changing so rapidly it is impossible for us to predict what the need of future generations is going to be,” he said in announcing the $2,000,000 addition to the Fund.

“For that reason I have asked the trustees of the Rosenwald Fund to give away the entire fund of more than $20,000,000 within twenty-five years after my death.

“I realize that such a stipulation is contrary to current practice, but I believe that the greatest good can come through the use of the entire sum, both principal and interest, by the present generation. In keeping with that ideal I have refrained from establishing endowments for universities and other institutions to which I have given gifts apart from the fund. For all we know perhaps some day our universities may be self-supporting or State endowed and therefore not dependent upon individual gifts. To my mind, forcasting what the needs of society will be 100 years hence is foolhardy”

Mr. Rosenwald’s new $2,000,000 gift to the Fund is in the form of 20,000 shares of Sears, Rocbuck and Co. stock, at a per value of $100 a share.

“The express purpose of the fund is ‘welfare of mankind,'” Mr. Rosenwald explained. “Some of the money is being used to aid the Southern States in building rural schools for the negro. A sum has also been set aside for making higher education available to the negroes.

“Otherwise, the officers are free to do what they wish with the money providing it is all spent within the stipulated time limit. And by that I do not mean it cannot be spent before I die. As a matter of fact, the trustees may see fit to give it away within the next five years.”

The trustees, besides Mr. Rosenwald, who is chairman of the board, are Edwin R. Embree, president of the Fund, Alfred K. Stern, Lessing J. Rosenwald, Mrs. David M. Levy of New York dangloter of Ja##ns Rosenwald, Harold H. Saift. Frank L. Sulzberger, Harry W. Chase, president of the University of North Carolina, and Edgar B. Stem, president of the New Orleans Cotton Exchange. and chairman of the New Orleans Community Chest.

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