Jacob R. Schiff, who immigrated to the United States from Lithuania as a penniless boy and died in New York on Jan. 10, 1949, at the age of 69, bequeathed his residuary estate estimated at $2,250,000 to a committee of three who are to disburse it within 23 years to institutions that “further the ideals of American democracy,” it was announced here today.
The three men who will allocate the money are Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, president of Columbia University; Dr. Harry Noble Wright, president of the City College of New York, and Judge Louis Levinthal, president of the Jewish Publication Society of America. Mr. Schiff was graduated from City College in 1901 and from New York University Law School in 1902. He was the founder of the Standard Factors Corporation which specializes in commercial banking. He left a gross estate of $4,000,000 when he died.
Mr. Schiff, who was a teacher in an elementary school prior to becoming a lawyer and entering the field of finance, was a generous contributor to the Federation of Jewish Philatihropies for many years. He was also a patron of the Yiddish theatre and served for many years as treasurer of the Lebanon Hospital Association and of the Jewish Conciliation Court of America.
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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.
