First Hit: I love when I get to learn something new, and to have it be about a humble yet an amazing person, sublime perfection.
Julius Rosenwald did something that had me absolutely amazed. As the CEO of Sears Roebuck company, he founded a way to build over 5,300 all black schools throughout the South.
In the early part of the 20th Century Afro-Americans were not allowed to attend the white only schools in the South. The schools they were attending were in poor run down, left to die, buildings and the people who taught the kids were either barely or not educated themselves.
Working with Booker T. Washington of Tuskegee University, Rosenwald devised a plan to create a way that prompted communities to build new schools using financing from Rosenwald.
This film also talked about Rosenwald’s other philanthropy efforts through grants and other organizations. The filmmakers used archival footage, scenes from films that represented the time, and recent interviews to create an amazing tale of giving. However for me the coup de grace was short footage of him giving a talk about his success – beautifully humble.
Aviva Kempner wrote and directed this amazing biographical documentary of an amazing man.
Overall: This was a great, humbling, and honorable story of a very benevolent man.