Billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad will give $1 million to the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia.
Broad, 74, the founder of the homebuilder KB Home and the insurer SunAmerica, has donated $2 billion to charitable causes in the past five years, Bloomberg News reported. Among them, $26 million to Michigan State University to build a new art museum on the campus.
“It’s good to remember the Holocaust and to say never again, but you also want to show the positive,” said Broad, who is Jewish. “I don’t think a lot of Americans realize the total contribution American Jews have made since the founding of the republic.”
The new Museum of American Jewish History will be built a block from its current location across the street from the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. Broad’s gift brings the total fundraising for the project to $102 million, en route to a total of $150 million. The museum is set to break ground on Sept. 30 and is expected to open on July 4, 2010.
