The boyhood home of Julius Rosenwald, which sits in the Lincoln Home National Historic Site, has been renamed in his honor. The legacy of the late Jewish philanthropist and Sears executive, who funded thousands of schools throughout the segregated south between 1917 and 1948, endures in Springfield.
On Wednesday, members of the Springfield Rosenwald Initiative, a coalition of groups and citizens dedicated to telling his story, celebrated the unveiling of a plaque commemorating Rosenwald’s work.
The group is supporting a nationwide push to establish a National Park in his honor, with an interpretive center in Chicago and sites in Springfield and a few of the school buildings that are still standing. A bill is before Congress to study the proposal.
Listen to NPR Illinois’ story here.
This post will be updated.
