Edith Rosenwald Stern

Edith Rosenwald Stern (1895–1980) was an American philanthropist and champion of educational causes in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. She was instrumental in formation of the Stern Family Fund and was recognized as being willing to support causes for which she had conviction even if the causes were controversial at the time. Examples of her philanthropy included supporting voter registration of African-Americans in the American South, the anti-nuclear movement, public-interest law firms, organizing union and tenant groups, and initiation of challenges by shareholders who wanted corporations to become more socially responsible. Additionally, as political causes, Stern stood for anti-corruption, political fairness at the voting polls, and higher education for African-Americans. She was a patron of the arts including for the New Orleans Philharmonic Orchestra and for promising young artists, especially musicians. Personal life Early life and education Stern was born Edith Rosenwald in Chicago, Illinois, on May 31, 1895, as the third of five children of parents Julius Rosenwald and Augusta Nusbaum Rosenwald. Her family was wealthy, Julius Rosenwald being part-owner and president of the Sears, Roebuck and Company. She grew up with her family in the affluent Kenwood neighborhood of Chicago. As a child, she was known to her family and close friends as Ede. Starting in early childhood, Stern's parents instilled in her a strong sense of charity, commitment to the social and economic well-being of society, and noblesse oblige. Through childhood, her family annually visited Tuskegee, Alabama, because her father had admiration for Tuskegee resident and scholar Booker T. Washington, who was a prominent African-American. The Rosenwald family and Washington frequently visited each other's homes, and Julius Rosenwald was a benefactor of Washington and the Tuskegee Institute.