John D. Rockefeller, Jr., has contributed $500,000 toward the fund being raised in this country for the further development of Jewish farm settlements in Russia, according to an announcement made yesterday by James N. Rosenberg, chairman of the American Jewish Joint Agricultural Corporation.
“Mr. Rockefeller’s splendid subscription,” said Mr. Rosenberg, “is particularly noteworthy as coming from a great citizen of non-sectarian, constructive work for social betterment the world over.”
Mr. Rockefeller, in a letter to Mr. Rosenberg announcing his contribution, stated that after studying the work of the Agro-Joint, he and his associates have been “impressed with the value of this activity as a notable and creative example of social engineering.”
Mr. Rosenberg gave out copies of Mr. Rockefeller’s letter, stating that he had permission so to do. This notable contribution follows a letter from Herbert Hoover to Mr. Rosenberg. in which Mr. Hoover characterized this activity as “one of the outstanding pieces of human engineering in the world today. The settlement of over 100,000 Jews on a million acres of land is a tribute to the practical idealism of the Jewish people.”
Mr. Rosenberg commented that the sympathy with this work thus evidenced on the part of two distinguished American citizens. Herbert Hoover and John D. Rockefeller, Jr., bears striking testimony not only to the soundness of the undertaking but to the encouraging interest of leading American citizens in the plight of the impoverished and unhappy Jews in Russia and in their rehabilitation.
Mr. Rockefeller’s letter to Mr. Rosenberg read: “The Russian Jewish agricultural activities of your organization have had my consideration for some months. The matter is one lying somewhat outside of the general scope of my philanthropies, but I am glad to follow the leadership of my friends, Mr. Julius Rosenwald and Mr. Felix M. Warburg, who have contributed so liberally to this cause. I am therefore enclosing my check for $500,000.
“The studies which my associates have made of the various statistics and data which your organization has submitted to us have impressed us all with the value of this activity as a notable and creative example of social engineering, and I hope that the effort which your colleagues and you are making will assure a continuance of the success which has attended the work up to this time.”
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A best of Mayer Walker by Mr. ## will be ## on that ##.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
