II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1863 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study 

of the sites associated with the life and legacy of the noted American 

philanthropist and business executive Julius Rosenwald, with a special 

focus on the Rosenwald Schools, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 13, 2019 

Mr. DURBIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special 

resource study of the sites associated with the life and 

legacy of the noted American philanthropist and business 

executive Julius Rosenwald, with a special focus on the 

Rosenwald Schools, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Julius Rosenwald and 

5 Rosenwald Schools Study Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) Julius Rosenwald was born in 1862 in 

2 Springfield, Illinois, to Samuel Rosenwald and his 

3 wife, Augusta Hammerslough, a Jewish immigrant 

4 couple from Germany; 

5 (2) in 1868, Samuel Rosenwald purchased the 

6 Lyon House, where Julius grew up and lived with 

7 his family until the 1880s, which— 

8 (A) was diagonally across the street from 

9 the home where Abraham Lincoln lived prior to 

10 becoming president; and 

11 (B)(i) was restored recently before the date 

12 of enactment of this Act; and 

13 (ii) as of that date of enactment, was with14 in the boundary of the Lincoln Home National 

15 Historic Site, a unit of the National Park Sys16 tem; 

17 (3) Julius Rosenwald— 

18 (A) learned the clothing trade with rel19 atives in New York City; and 

20 (B) used that knowledge on moving to Chi21 cago, where he became part-owner and presi22 dent of Sears, Roebuck & Company, which— 

23 (i) he transformed into a retailing 

24 powerhouse in the early 20th century; and 


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1 (ii) could be considered the Amazon of 

2 its day; 

3 (4) the embodiment of the Jewish concept of 

4 ‘‘tzedakah’’, righteousness and charity, Rosenwald 

5 used his fortune for numerous philanthropic activi6 ties, particularly to enhance the lives of African 

7 Americans, including by— 

8 (A) providing $25,000 for the construction 

9 of Young Men’s Christian Associations (com10 monly known as ‘‘YMCAs’’) for African Ameri11 cans during the Jim Crow era in cities that 

12 raised $75,000; and 

13 (B) eventually, supporting the construction 

14 of YMCAs in 24 cities across the United States; 

15 (5)(A) after his introduction to Booker T. 

16 Washington in 1911, Julius Rosenwald— 

17 (i) joined the Board of Trustees of the 

18 Tuskegee Institute; and 

19 (ii) financially contributed to a pilot pro20 gram to build 6 schools in rural Alabama for 

21 African-American children who were receiving 

22 little to no education; and 

23 (B) the donations by Rosenwald described in 

24 subparagraph (A) were matched by the local AfriVerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Jun 16, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1863.IS S1863

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1 can-American communities that were committed to 

2 providing education for their children; 

3 (6)(A) the success of the pilot program referred 

4 to in paragraph (5)(A)(ii) led to the construction of 

5 more than 5,300 Rosenwald Schools and related 

6 buildings over a 20-year period in 15 southern 

7 States under the direction of the Julius Rosenwald 

8 Fund; 

9 (B) the schools described in subparagraph 

10 (A)— 

11 (i) were the result of a 3-way partnership 

12 among the Julius Rosenwald Fund, local com13 munities that, although generally poor, contrib14 uted land, labor, materials, and money to build 

15 and maintain the schools, and local govern16 ments that were required by law to provide pub17 lic schools for all children but divided funds un18 equally between Black and White systems; and 

19 (ii) often became the focus of great pride 

20 and affection among the applicable commu21 nities; 

(C) during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, 1 22 ⁄3 of 

23 all African-American children in the South were edu24 cated in Rosenwald Schools; 


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1 (D) a 2011 study by 2 Federal Reserve econo2 mists concluded that the schools played a significant 

3 role in narrowing the gap between the educational 

4 levels of Black and White students in the South; and 

5 (E) Members of Congress and poet Maya 

6 Angelou are among prominent graduates of Rosen7 wald Schools; 

8 (7) the Julius Rosenwald Fund— 

9 (A) supported early National Association 

10 for the Advancement of Colored People cases 

11 that eventually led to the Supreme Court deci12 sion in Brown v. Board of Education of To13 peka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), which outlawed 

14 segregation in public education; and 

15 (B) provided fellowships to talented Afri16 can Americans in the arts and sciences— 

17 (i) including the acclaimed historian 

18 John Hope Franklin, noted writer and civil 

19 rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois, artist 

20 Jacob Lawrence, singer Marian Anderson, 

21 diplomat Ralph Bunche, and many others; 

22 and 

23 (ii) some of whom worked under 

24 Thurgood Marshall on the Supreme Court 

25 case referred to in subparagraph (A); 


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1 (8) Rosenwald also— 

2 (A) provided support for a number of His3 torically Black Colleges and Universities, in4 cluding Fisk, Dillard, and Howard Universities; 

5 and 

6 (B) used his wealth for other worthy 

7 causes, including the creation of the Jewish 

8 United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago and the 

9 Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago; 

10 and 

11 (9) the contributions of Julius Rosenwald to 

12 improving the lives of African Americans, as well as 

13 the lives of those who reside in Chicago and 

14 throughout the United States, are worthy of recogni15 tion and further examination. 

16 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

17 In this Act: 

18 (1) ROSENWALD SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘Rosen19 wald School’’ means any of the 5,357 schools and 

20 related buildings constructed in 15 southern States 

21 during the period of 1912 through 1932 by the phi22 lanthropy of Julius Rosenwald. 

23 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

24 the Secretary of the Interior. 


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1 (3) SHPO.—The term ‘‘SHPO’’ means the 

2 State Historic Preservation Officer of any of the 14 

3 States in which Rosenwald Schools exist as of the 

4 date of enactment of this Act. 

5 SEC. 4. SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct a 

7 special resource study of the sites associated with the life 

8 and legacy of Julius Rosenwald, with special focus on the 

9 Rosenwald Schools. 

10 (b) CONTENTS.—In conducting the study under sub11 section (a), the Secretary shall— 

12 (1) determine the sites of national significance 

13 associated with the life and legacy of businessman 

14 and noted philanthropist Julius Rosenwald, with 

15 special focus on the Rosenwald Schools; 

16 (2) give priority to studying any Rosenwald 

17 School recommended to the Secretary by an SHPO; 

18 (3) determine the suitability and feasibility of 

19 designating 1 or more new units of the National 

20 Park System to include representative Rosenwald 

21 Schools and other sites associated with the life and 

22 legacy of Julius Rosenwald, including an interpretive 

23 center in or near Chicago, Illinois— 

24 (A) to commemorate the career and overall 

25 philanthropic activities of Rosenwald; and 


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1 (B) to address the scope and significance 

2 of the Rosenwald Schools initiative; 

3 (4) take into consideration other alternatives 

4 for preservation, protection, and interpretation of 

5 the legacy of Julius Rosenwald and the Rosenwald 

6 Schools by— 

7 (A) Federal, State, or local governmental 

8 entities; or 

9 (B) private and nonprofit organizations; 

10 (5) consult with, as determined appropriate by 

11 the Secretary, relevant— 

12 (A) Federal, State, and local governmental 

13 entities; 

14 (B) private and nonprofit organizations; or 

15 (C) any other interested individuals; and 

16 (6) identify costs associated with any potential 

17 Federal acquisition, development, interpretation, op18 eration, and maintenance associated with the alter19 natives described in paragraph (4). 

20 (c) APPLICABLE LAW.—The study under subsection 

21 (a) shall be conducted in accordance with section 100507 

22 of title 54, United States Code. 

23 (d) RESULTS.—Not later than 3 years after the date 

24 on which funds are first made available for the study 

25 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to the 


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1 Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Rep2 resentatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural 

3 Resources of the Senate a report describing— 

4 (1) the results of the study; and 

5 (2) any conclusions and recommendations of the 

6 Secretary relating to the study. 

Æ 


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