"This is the first serious biography of the exuberant man whotransformed the Sears, Roebuck company into the country's most important retailer.He was also one of the early 20th century's notable philanthropists.... The richnessof primary evidence continually delights." -- Judith Sealander, author ofPrivate Wealth and Public Life

" No] mere philanthropist buta] subtle, stinging critic of our racial democracy." -- W. E. B. DuBois onJulius Rosenwald

In this richly revealing biography of a major, but little-known, American businessman and philanthropist, Peter Ascoli brings tolife a portrait of Julius Rosenwald, the man and his work. The son offirst-generation German Jewish immigrants, Julius Rosenwald, known to his friends as"JR," apprenticed for his uncles, who were major clothing manufacturers inNew York City. It would be as a men's clothing salesperson that JR would make hisfateful encounter with Sears, Roebuck and Company, which he eventually fashionedinto the greatest mail order firm in the world. He also founded Chicago's Museum ofScience and Industry. And in the American South Rosenwald helped support thebuilding of the more than 5,300 schools that bore his name. Yet the charitable fundhe created during World War I went out of existence in 1948 at his expressed wish.Ascoli provides a fascinating account of Rosenwald's meteoric rise in Americanbusiness, but he also portrays a man devoted to family and with a desire to help hiscommunity that led to a lifelong devotion to philanthropy. He tells aboutRosenwald's important philanthropic activities, especially those connected with theRosenwald schools and Booker T. Washington, and later through the RosenwaldFund.

Ascoli's account of Rosenwald is an inspiring story of hardwork and success, and of giving back to the nation in which he prospered.

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