page_title: Lessing J. Rosenwald
section_title: Biography
hierarchical_section_title: Lessing J. Rosenwald / Biography
context_page_description: Lessing Julius Rosenwald was an American businessman, a collector of rare books and art, a chess patron, and a philanthropist.
context_section_description: Born in Chicago, Lessing J. Rosenwald was the eldest son of Julius Rosenwald, a clothier who became part-owner and was president of Sears, Roebuck and Company from 1908 to 1923, and chairman from 1923 to 1932. Lessing left Cornell University and went to work for Sears in 1911 as a shipping clerk, and in 1920, was given the responsibility of opening a catalog supply center for the growing mail-order company in Philadelphia. He resided for many years in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania. In 1913 he married Edith Goodkind and together they had five children: Julius "Dooley" Rosenwald II, Robert L. Rosenwald, Helen Rosenwald Snellenburg, Joan Rosenwald Scott, and Janet Rosenwald Becker.
  Succeeding his father, he was chairman of Sears from 1932 until 1939, when he dedicated himself full-time to collecting rare books and art, as well as managing the family charities, chiefly the Julius Rosenwald Fund, which made fellowship grants directly to hundreds of African-American artists, writers, researchers and intellectuals. In 1943, he pledged to donate his collections of rare books and art. After his death, 2,600 rare books which trace the illustrated book through the last six centuries and 5,000 reference books to the Library of Congress, which remains one of the most distinguished collections in the Rare Books and Special Collections division. Additionally, 27,000 prints and drawings were donated to the National Gallery of Art, both located in Washington, D.C. He was one of the founding donors of the National Gallery of Art when it opened in 1941. The "Giant Bible of Mainz" has been on permanent display in the great entrance hall of the Library of Congress since Rosenwald donated it in 1952, when it was 500 years old. Rosenwald held his collection at his private gallery, the Alverthorpe Gallery, within the Abington Art Center. 
  Rosenwald was also a chess enthusiast, and donated money to support American chess. He sponsored the U.S. Chess Championship from 1957 to 1969.
caption: Giant Bible of Mainz donated by Rosenwald to the Library of Congress
exif: {}