‘Rosenwald’ scheduled at Falmouth Congregation

Julius Rosenwald with students from a Rosenwald school. /Fisk University

Falmouth Jewish Congregation is screening the film “Rosenwald” on Jan. 14 to mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This feature-length historical documentary, directed by award-winning director Aviva Kempner, is about businessman and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald’s funding of African American education. The screening will begin at 7 p.m. and be followed by a discussion, led by Pamela Rothstein, director of lifelong learning for the congregation. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. No reservation is required and the public is welcome.

Aviva Kempner’s “Rosenwald” is the story of Julius Rosenwald, the son of an immigrant peddler, who never finished high school but rose to become the president of Sears. Influenced by the writings of the educator Booker T. Washington, this Jewish philanthropist joined forces with African American communities during the time of the Jim Crow South to build over 5,300 schools in the early part of the 20th century.

“Rosenwald” sheds light on this silent partner of the pre-civil rights movement. Rosenwald awarded fellowship grants to a who’s who of African American intellectuals and artists of his day so that they could pursue scholarship and art. They included: Marian Anderson, James Baldwin, the father and uncle of civil rights leader Julian Bond, Ralph Bunche, W. E. B. DuBois, Katherine Dunham, Ralph Ellison, John Hope Franklin, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Gordon Parks, Jacob Lawrence and Augusta Savage, along with Woody Guthrie.

Inspired by the Jewish ideals of tzedakah and tikkun olam and a deep concern over racial inequality in America, Julius Rosenwald used his wealth to become one of America’s most effective philanthropists. Rosenwald also built YMCAs and housing for African Americans to address the pressing needs of the Great Migration. Because of his modesty, Rosenwald’s philanthropy and social activism are not well known today. He gave away $62 million in his lifetime.

The list of prominent alumni and educators who attended the Rosenwald schools include Tony Award winning playwright George Wolfe, poet Maya Angelou, U.S. Representative John Lewis, Pulitzer Prize winner Eugene Robinson of The Washington Post and the ancestors of Loretta Lynch (U.S. Attorney General) and law professor Anita Hill. 

The film’s director, Aviva Kempner, has devoted her work to films that investigate non-stereotypical images of Jews in history and celebrate the untold stories of Jewish heroes.  She conceived of and produced “Partisans of Vilna,” a documentary on Jewish resistance against the Nazis, produced and directed Peabody-winning and Emmy nominated “The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg,” about the Jewish slugger who fought anti-Semitism in the 1930s and ’40s, and produced and directed “Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg,” the humorous and eye-opening story of television pioneer Gertrude Berg. Kempner lives in Washington, DC, where she started the Washington Jewish Film Festival in 1990 and is an activist for voting rights for the District of Columbia. She also writes film criticism and feature articles for numerous publications, including The Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Crystal City Magazine, The Forward, Baltimore Jewish Times, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Legal Times, The Wrap, Washington Jewish Week and The Washington Post.

Falmouth Jewish Congregation is at 7 Hatchville Road in East Falmouth.For further information call 508-540-0602 or visit falmouthjewish.org.