Julius Rosenwald and Rosenwald Schools Study Act of 2019

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. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Julius Rosenwald and 4 Rosenwald Schools Study Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds that— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Jun 16, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1863.IS S1863 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1863 IS (1) Julius Rosenwald was born in 1862 in 1 Springfield, Illinois, to Samuel Rosenwald and his 2 wife, Augusta Hammerslough, a Jewish immigrant 3 couple from Germany; 4 (2) in 1868, Samuel Rosenwald purchased the 5 Lyon House, where Julius grew up and lived with 6 his family until the 1880s, which— 7 (A) was diagonally across the street from 8 the home where Abraham Lincoln lived prior to 9 becoming president; and 10 (B)(i) was restored recently before the date 11 of enactment of this Act; and 12 (ii) as of that date of enactment, was with- 13 in the boundary of the Lincoln Home National 14 Historic Site, a unit of the National Park Sys- 15 tem; 16 (3) Julius Rosenwald— 17 (A) learned the clothing trade with rel- 18 atives in New York City; and 19 (B) used that knowledge on moving to Chi- 20 cago, where he became part-owner and presi- 21 dent of Sears, Roebuck & Company, which— 22 (i) he transformed into a retailing 23 powerhouse in the early 20th century; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Jun 16, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1863.IS S1863 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1863 IS (ii) could be considered the Amazon of 1 its day; 2 (4) the embodiment of the Jewish concept of 3 ‘‘tzedakah’’, righteousness and charity, Rosenwald 4 used his fortune for numerous philanthropic activi- 5 ties, particularly to enhance the lives of African 6 Americans, including by— 7 (A) providing $25,000 for the construction 8 of Young Men’s Christian Associations (com- 9 monly known as ‘‘YMCAs’’) for African Ameri- 10 cans during the Jim Crow era in cities that 11 raised $75,000; and 12 (B) eventually, supporting the construction 13 of YMCAs in 24 cities across the United States; 14 (5)(A) after his introduction to Booker T. 15 Washington in 1911, Julius Rosenwald— 16 (i) joined the Board of Trustees of the 17 Tuskegee Institute; and 18 (ii) financially contributed to a pilot pro- 19 gram to build 6 schools in rural Alabama for 20 African-American children who were receiving 21 little to no education; and 22 (B) the donations by Rosenwald described in 23 subparagraph (A) were matched by the local Afri- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Jun 16, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1863.IS S1863 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1863 IS can-American communities that were committed to 1 providing education for their children; 2 (6)(A) the success of the pilot program referred 3 to in paragraph (5)(A)(ii) led to the construction of 4 more than 5,300 Rosenwald Schools and related 5 buildings over a 20-year period in 15 southern 6 States under the direction of the Julius Rosenwald 7 Fund; 8 (B) the schools described in subparagraph 9 (A)— 10 (i) were the result of a 3-way partnership 11 among the Julius Rosenwald Fund, local com- 12 munities that, although generally poor, contrib- 13 uted land, labor, materials, and money to build 14 and maintain the schools, and local govern- 15 ments that were required by law to provide pub- 16 lic schools for all children but divided funds un- 17 equally between Black and White systems; and 18 (ii) often became the focus of great pride 19 and affection among the applicable commu- 20 nities; 21 (C) during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, 1⁄3 of 22 all African-American children in the South were edu- 23 cated in Rosenwald Schools; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Jun 16, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1863.IS S1863 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1863 IS (D) a 2011 study by 2 Federal Reserve econo- 1 mists concluded that the schools played a significant 2 role in narrowing the gap between the educational 3 levels of Black and White students in the South; and 4 (E) Members of Congress and poet Maya 5 Angelou are among prominent graduates of Rosen- 6 wald Schools; 7 (7) the Julius Rosenwald Fund— 8 (A) supported early National Association 9 for the Advancement of Colored People cases 10 that eventually led to the Supreme Court deci- 11 sion in Brown v. Board of Education of To- 12 peka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), which outlawed 13 segregation in public education; and 14 (B) provided fellowships to talented Afri- 15 can Americans in the arts and sciences— 16 (i) including the acclaimed historian 17 John Hope Franklin, noted writer and civil 18 rights activist W.E.B. Du Bois, artist 19 Jacob Lawrence, singer Marian Anderson, 20 diplomat Ralph Bunche, and many others; 21 and 22 (ii) some of whom worked under 23 Thurgood Marshall on the Supreme Court 24 case referred to in subparagraph (A); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Jun 16, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1863.IS S1863 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1863 IS (8) Rosenwald also— 1 (A) provided support for a number of His- 2 torically Black Colleges and Universities, in- 3 cluding Fisk, Dillard, and Howard Universities; 4 and 5 (B) used his wealth for other worthy 6 causes, including the creation of the Jewish 7 United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago and the 8 Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago; 9 and 10 (9) the contributions of Julius Rosenwald to 11 improving the lives of African Americans, as well as 12 the lives of those who reside in Chicago and 13 throughout the United States, are worthy of recogni- 14 tion and further examination. 15 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 16 In this Act: 17 (1) ROSENWALD SCHOOL.—The term ‘‘Rosen- 18 wald School’’ means any of the 5,357 schools and 19 related buildings constructed in 15 southern States 20 during the period of 1912 through 1932 by the phi- 21 lanthropy of Julius Rosenwald. 22 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 23 the Secretary of the Interior. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Jun 16, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1863.IS S1863 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1863 IS (3) SHPO.—The term ‘‘SHPO’’ means the 1 State Historic Preservation Officer of any of the 14 2 States in which Rosenwald Schools exist as of the 3 date of enactment of this Act. 4 SEC. 4. SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct a 6 special resource study of the sites associated with the life 7 and legacy of Julius Rosenwald, with special focus on the 8 Rosenwald Schools. 9 (b) CONTENTS.—In conducting the study under sub- 10 section (a), the Secretary shall— 11 (1) determine the sites of national significance 12 associated with the life and legacy of businessman 13 and noted philanthropist Julius Rosenwald, with 14 special focus on the Rosenwald Schools; 15 (2) give priority to studying any Rosenwald 16 School recommended to the Secretary by an SHPO; 17 (3) determine the suitability and feasibility of 18 designating 1 or more new units of the National 19 Park System to include representative Rosenwald 20 Schools and other sites associated with the life and 21 legacy of Julius Rosenwald, including an interpretive 22 center in or near Chicago, Illinois— 23 (A) to commemorate the career and overall 24 philanthropic activities of Rosenwald; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Jun 16, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1863.IS S1863 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1863 IS (B) to address the scope and significance 1 of the Rosenwald Schools initiative; 2 (4) take into consideration other alternatives 3 for preservation, protection, and interpretation of 4 the legacy of Julius Rosenwald and the Rosenwald 5 Schools by— 6 (A) Federal, State, or local governmental 7 entities; or 8 (B) private and nonprofit organizations; 9 (5) consult with, as determined appropriate by 10 the Secretary, relevant— 11 (A) Federal, State, and local governmental 12 entities; 13 (B) private and nonprofit organizations; or 14 (C) any other interested individuals; and 15 (6) identify costs associated with any potential 16 Federal acquisition, development, interpretation, op- 17 eration, and maintenance associated with the alter- 18 natives described in paragraph (4). 19 (c) APPLICABLE LAW.—The study under subsection 20 (a) shall be conducted in accordance with section 100507 21 of title 54, United States Code. 22 (d) RESULTS.—Not later than 3 years after the date 23 on which funds are first made available for the study 24 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall submit to the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Jun 16, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1863.IS S1863 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1863 IS Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Rep- 1 resentatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural 2 Resources of the Senate a report describing— 3 (1) the results of the study; and 4 (2) any conclusions and recommendations of the 5 Secretary relating to the study. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 16:36 Jun 16, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1863.IS S1863 pbinns on DSK79D2C42PROD with BILLS