Lincoln-Inspired Philanthropist Up for Emmy

By Ed Epstein

Washington, D.C.

Monday, October 6, 2025

One of America's great 20th-century philanthropists, whose long life of giving was inspired by Abraham Lincoln's vision of equality and opportunity for all, is the subject of a new film documentary that has been nominated for an Emmy award.

Julius Rosenwald, who in the early 20th century built Sears Roebuck and Co., its stores, and its big, thick mail-order catalog into the Amazon of its time, is also remembered for his philanthropy, much of it done anonymously. That giving included building more than 5,000 schools for African American children across the segregated South between 1913 and Rosenwald's death in 1932. Those schools educated hundreds of thousands of children who otherwise might not have had much schooling.

The documentary was produced by two Lincoln-related organizations in Springfield, Ill. -- Looking for Lincoln and the Lincoln Presidential Foundation. They made the film with the help of a grant from the National Parks Foundation.

The reason for their interest? Rosenwald, the son of German-Jewish immigrants, was born in Springfield in 1862, just a year after President-elect Lincoln left his longtime home to travel to Washington for his inauguration, never to return alive. Rosenwald was 2 1/2 years old when Lincoln was assassinated, and not long after, he and his family moved into a house near the only home that Lincoln and his wife, Mary, had ever owned.

The example of Lincoln stayed with Rosenwald throughout his life. "Lincoln was a great influence on his life," Rosenwald's grandson Peter Ascoli says in the film. "He collected Lincolniana. He was really interested in Lincoln and what he had done for African Americans."

Young Rosenwald made his way to Chicago, where he started making men's suits. Eventually, he linked up with Richard Sears, and after a few years, became president and CEO of Sears Roebuck. As his fortune grew, Rosenwald became interested in philanthropy. He was active in Jewish charities, created Chicago's popular Museum of Science and Industry, and funded Black YMCAs in segregated cities.

In 1911, he met Booker T. Washington of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, whose autobiography, Up from Slavery, influenced Rosenwald. Together, they devised a formula for building schools for Black children. Rosenwald would give one-third of the cost, the local African American community would raise a third, and the local, white-led government would kick in another third. The idea took off.

"These life-changing institutions became informally known as 'Rosenwald schools," the producers of the film note. Their documentary is up for a Mid-American Emmy.

Lincoln's devotion to the idea of human equality, as embodied in the ideals propounded in the Declaration of Independence, is the focus of Lincoln250.org, a new website co-organized by the Lincoln Group. The site and the A.Lincoln250 Instagram account are aimed at ensuring that Lincoln's deeply held beliefs on the meaning of America's founding in 1776 play a role as the nation marks the 250th anniversary of its birth in 2026.

Rosenwald's Springfield home, a two-story frame structure, is now part of the Lincoln National Historic Site in Springfield, along with the Lincolns' home. It is managed by the National Park Service.

Photo from the National Park Service.