The Jews of the United States contributed the huge sum of $72,836,610 to Jewish philanthropies here and abroad and to various non-Jewish causes for the year beginning October 1, 1929 and ending September 15, 1930, according to a survey made by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency for its annual Honor Roll of American Jewry. The figures are based on individual gifts of $50,000 or more given to various causes, and on the funds raised and expended by the various national Jewish religious, educational, philanthropic, health and relief organizations together with their local units.
The sum of $37,135,000 was raised for specifically Jewish causes by the several national organizations while $35,701,610 was given for Jewish and non-Jewish causes in individual benefactions, of which $28,962,000, or 39 per cent of the total for the year, was contributed by Jews to non-Jewish causes.
The $43,874, 610 given by Jews for Jewish causes only was divided as follows:
Jewish Federations and Jewish Com-Chest Funds… $18,000,000
Jewish Welfare Board (Including Local Y. M. & Y. W. H. A.’s and Jewish Centers)… 5,000,000
B’nai B’rith and Fraternal Orders… 2,000,000
Tuberculosis Hospitals… 1,325,000
National Council of Jewish Women (including local branches)… 500,000
Jewish Agricultural Society… 135,000
Individual Gifts of $50,000 or more… 5,564,610
Total Contributed to Jewish Philanthropic Organizations in America… $32,524,610
Palestine Emergency Fund… $2,500,000
For Palestine (Exclusive of Emergency Fund)… 2,500,00
American Society for Jewish Farm Settlement in Russia… 1,450,000
Joint Distribution Committee… 1,225,000
Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society… 400,000
The Ort… 400,000
People’s Tool Campaign… 200,000
Individual Gifts of $50,000 or more… 575,000
Total Contributed for Jewish Causes Causes in Foreign Lands… $9,250,000
National Religious Organizations and Seminaries (Exclusive of Local Synagogues, Temples and Religious Educational Organizations… $1,500,000
Individual Gifts of $50,000 or more… 600,000
Total Contributed for Religious and Education Work in America… $2,100,000
Among the individual gifts to both Jewish and general causes there was one of $10,000,000, one of $6,000,000, one of $5,000,000, one of $2,500,000, one of $2,000,000, four of $1,000,000, one of $750,000, two of $500,000, one of $325,000, two of $300,000, one of $250,000, one of $200,000, four of $150,000, one of $140,000, eleven of $100,000, one of $75,000, one of $68,000, and seven of $50,000. Only 19 percent or $6,739,610, of this total of $35,710,610 in individual gifts by individuals was exclusively for Jewish causes, and only $800,000 of the $6,000,000 bequest was apportioned to Jewish charities. Of the individual gifts assigned to Jewish causes, 76 percent or $5,179,610 was in the form of bequests, while of the individual gifts to non-Jewish causes, only 17 percent, or $5,400,000, was bequeathed.
The following is the list of philanthropic contributions by American Jews to Jewish and non-Jewish causes in individual gifts of $50,000 or more, as announced by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency for the year beginning October 1, 1929 and ending September 15, 1930:
$10,000,000 by Maurice Falk of Pittsburgh for a charitable and philanthropic foundation to be known as the Falk Foundation.
$6,000,000 estate of late Conrad Hubert, immigrant Jew who made a fortune in manufacture of flashlight batteries, left to charities of Jews, Catholics and Protestants, selected by ex-Governor Smith, Julius Rosenwald and former President Calvin Coolidge.
$5,000,000 for institute of advanced learning in Newark, by Louis Bamberger, millionaire merchant and philanthropist, together with his sister, Mrs. Felix Fuld.
$2,500,000 bequest by Irving Bloomingdale to Federation of Jewish Philanthropies and Cathedral of St. John the Divine conditioned on his son not having any issue.
$2,000,000 Rodin Museum to city of Philadelphia by Mrs. Jules Mastbaum.
$1,239,610 willed to Montefiore Hospital in New York by Harry H. Meyer, stock broker.
$1,000,000 planetarium presented to the city of Chicago by Max Adler, Chicago business man.
$1,000,000 art museum presented to University of Chicago by Max Epstein, Chicago business man and art lover.
$1,000,000 given by Ralph Jonas, New York and Brooklyn banker, for the merger of the New York and Brooklyn Federations of Jewish philanthropy.
$750,000 bequest by Alfred Heinsheimer to Hospital for Joint Diseases.
$500,000 to Jewish Theological Seminary by Julius Rosenwald.
$500,000 to various Jewish charities from estate of M. Samuel Stern, late vice-president of the New York City Board of Education.
$325,000 to the University of Pittsburgh by Mrs. Marjorie Falk and brother, Leon Falk.
$300,000 aviation school to Emory University by Daniel Guggenheim, millionaire aviation enthusiast.
$300,000 planetarium to the Franklin Institute Museum in Philadelphia by Samuel Fels, Philadelphia manufacturer and philanthropist.
$250,000 by Mortimer Schiff to Boy Scouts of America.
$200,000 Kirstein Memorial Library to Boston by Louis Kirstein, Boston merchant and philanthropist.
$150,000 to the Allied Jewish Campaign by Felix M. Warburg.
$150,000 to the Hebrew University in Jerusalem from the estate of Dr. Benedict Weissman, Brooklyn physician.
$150,000 for the metabolic unit of the Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago from the estate of late Judge Hugo Pam.
$140,000 for books on aviation in the Library of Congress by Daniel Guggenheim.
$107,000 by Mrs. Paul Epstein of St. Louis for orthodox Jewish hospital wing.
$100,000 to Universities of California and Leland Stanford from the estate of Abraham Rosenberg, San Francisco business man.
$100,000 to Philadelphia Jewish charities from the estate of late Jacob Mastbaum.
$100,000 to Philadelphia Jewish charities from the estate of late Mrs. Fannie Daniel.
$100,000 for course in journalism at Yale University by Paul Block, noted newspaper publisher.
$100,000 by Claribel Cone for Baltimore Art Museum.
$100,000 from family of Jacob and Rose Stern of San Francisco to provide income for Ernest Bloch, famous composer, for creative work.
$100,000 for Jewish charities from the estate of late Morris Schinasi, millionaire cigarette manufacturer.
$100,000 to Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York from Louis N. Kramer.
$100,000 to Jewish community center in Gloversville, N. Y., by Lucius N. Littauer, glove manufacturer.
$100,000 to Allied Jewish Campaign by Paul Baerwald, banker and philanthropist.
$75,000 to the Jewish National Fund by will of Isaac Manella of Yonkers, N. Y.
$68,000 to Jewish Charities by Julius Weil of St. Louis.
$50,000 by Mrs. Felix M. Warburg to Allied Jewish Campaign.
$50,000 to the Boy Scouts of America by Mrs. Sigmund Eisner, Red Bank, N. J.
$50,000 for Hebrew Books in the Library of Congress by Julius Rosenwald.
$50,000 to the Allied Jewish Campaign by Paul Warburg.
$50,000 to Negro hospital in Chicago by Max Epstein.
$50,000 to Montefiore Hospital in Pittsburgh by Mrs. Edgar J. Kaufmann.
$50,000 to Yeshivah College Endowment Fund by Isaac Tuchman.
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.
