“Rosenwald” by Aviva Kempner, a documentary film about Jewish Chicago businessman Julius Rosenwald, will be shown at 2 p.m. on Nov. 4 at the Old Bridge Library, 1 Municipal Plaza, corner of Route 516 and Cottrell Road, Old Bridge.
Rosenwald, who rose to head Sears, partnered with Booker T. Washington to build 5,400 Southern schools in African American communities in the early 1900s during the Jim Crow era. Rosenwald also built YMCAs and housing for African Americans to address the pressing needs of the Great Migration. He made significant contributions to many Jewish charities and organizations.
Among those interviewed in the film are civil rights leaders Julian Bond, Ben Jealous and Congressman John Lewis, columnists Eugene Robinson and Clarence Page, Cokie Roberts, Rabbi David Saperstein, Rosenwald school alumni writer Maya Angelou and director George C. Wolfe, and Rosenwald relatives.
The presentation is provided by New Jersey resident Gary Matoren in memory of his daughter Debbie Lynn Matoren. Matoren will introduce the film and lead a discussion afterwards.
Light refreshments will be served.
