Brother Nathan Straus (1848-1931) was best known as a philanthropist. It is not generally known that Nathan was also a public servant. He was the Commissioner of Parks in New York City, President of the Department of Health, a member of the Forestry Board of New York State and Forest Commissioner. He was an independent Democrat who ran for the office of Mayor of New York City and was proposed as the nominee of the Democratic Party for the Senate of New York State.
On Nathan's 75th birthday in 1923, congratulatory messages were sent from around the world. Theodore Roosevelt wrote, "There are no two men for whom I have a greater respect than Nathan Straus and his brother Oscar. Both of them have given the best that lay in them to the public service. Both of them have been ready at all times to contribute not only money, but more important still, their untiring devotion and work to the service of their fellow citizens." President Harding sent his greetings, "Mr. Straus's public service and private and public philanthropies have deserved [sic] much of his fellow-citizens and I hope that he may live many more years of similar usefulness."
]]>When we think of public service and the Straus family, we usually think of Oscar S. Straus (1850-1926). A few of his positions include Minister to Constantinople, Ambassador to Turkey and Secretary of Commerce and Labor. But Oscar and Isidor were not the only Straus siblings to serve.
Brother Nathan Straus (1848-1931) was best known as a philanthropist. It is not generally known that Nathan was also a public servant. He was the Commissioner of Parks in New York City, President of the Department of Health, a member of the Forestry Board of New York State and Forest Commissioner. He was an independent Democrat who ran for the office of Mayor of New York City and was proposed as the nominee of the Democratic Party for the Senate of New York State.
On Nathan's 75th birthday in 1923, congratulatory messages were sent from around the world. Theodore Roosevelt wrote, "There are no two men for whom I have a greater respect than Nathan Straus and his brother Oscar. Both of them have given the best that lay in them to the public service. Both of them have been ready at all times to contribute not only money, but more important still, their untiring devotion and work to the service of their fellow citizens." President Harding sent his greetings, "Mr. Straus's public service and private and public philanthropies have deserved [sic] much of his fellow-citizens and I hope that he may live many more years of similar usefulness."
Links:
“Nathan Straus 1848-1931” Straus Historical Society Newsletter Vol. 6 No. 1 (New York: February 1998); pp. 4-8.
http://www.straushistoricalsociety.org/uploads/1/1/8/1/11810298/________nwsltr298.pdf
“Nathan Straus 1848-1931” Straus Historical Society Newsletter Vol. 6 No. 2 (New York: August 1998); pp. 4-7.
http://www.straushistoricalsociety.org/uploads/1/1/8/1/11810298/________nwsltr898.pdf
“Nathan Straus Pasteurized Milk Laboratory” Straus Historical Society Newsletter Vol. 4 No. 2 (New York: February 2002); pp. 4-9.
http://www.straushistoricalsociety.org/uploads/1/1/8/1/11810298/____nwsltr202.pdf
“Nathan Straus, Public Servant” Straus Historical Society Newsletter Vol. 4 No. 2 (New York: February 2003); pp. 4-8.
http://www.straushistoricalsociety.org/uploads/1/1/8/1/11810298/________nwsltr203.pdf
“The Nathan Straus Soup Kitchens in Palestine” Straus Historical Society Newsletter Vol. 16 No. 1 (New York: August 2014); pp. 1-5.
http://www.straushistoricalsociety.org/uploads/1/1/8/1/11810298/nwslttr814.pdf
By 1920, with a wife and four sons to support, Nathan Jr. began thinking about public service. He ran for, and won, a seat in the New York State Legislature in 1920 and was reelected in 1922 and 1924. The Citizen's Union, a non-partisan organization, reported that Nathan Straus Jr. was the member with the best record on votes in either House.
Nathan Jr. inherited a 24 acre tract of land on the Boston Post Road in the Bronx following his parent's death. In 1934 he turned it into the country's first housing project, Hillside Homes. As a result of his involvement in this project, he became interested in housing. People in the United States knew little about modern housing techniques as practiced in many countries in Europe. He created a report for Mayor LaGuardia of New York on the housing practices in England. As a result of his interest and increasing expertise in this area, LaGuardia appointed him to the New York City Housing Authority. Nathan Jr. felt this experience prepared him for his later role as administrator of the United States Housing Authority in Franklin Delano Roosevelt's administration. He served with distinction from 1937 until February 1942.
]]>Nathan Straus Jr. (1889-1961) was the son of Nathan and Lina Gutherz Straus. He was not interested in going into the family's business of merchandising. He graduated from Princeton University in New Jersey in 1910 and, with his father's help, secured a position on the newspaper, New York Globe, where he learned everything from compositing to reporting. In 1913 he bought the periodical Puck, which he envisioned could become similar to today's New Yorker Magazine. Puck published articles about women's suffrage, financial and social assistance, and medical science.
By 1920, with a wife and four sons to support, Nathan Jr. began thinking about public service. He ran for, and won, a seat in the New York State Legislature in 1920 and was reelected in 1922 and 1924. The Citizen's Union, a non-partisan organization, reported that Nathan Straus Jr. was the member with the best record on votes in either House.
Nathan Jr. inherited a 24 acre tract of land on the Boston Post Road in the Bronx following his parent's death. In 1934 he turned it into the country's first housing project, Hillside Homes. As a result of his involvement in this project, he became interested in housing. People in the United States knew little about modern housing techniques as practiced in many countries in Europe. He created a report for Mayor LaGuardia of New York on the housing practices in England. As a result of his interest and increasing expertise in this area, LaGuardia appointed him to the New York City Housing Authority. Nathan Jr. felt this experience prepared him for his later role as administrator of the United States Housing Authority in Franklin Delano Roosevelt's administration. He served with distinction from 1937 until February 1942.
Links:
“Otto Frank and Nathan Straus, Jr.: Their Letters Discovered at New York’s YIVO” Straus Historical Society Newsletter Vol. 9 No. 1 (New York: August 2007); pp. 1-6.
http://www.straushistoricalsociety.org/uploads/1/1/8/1/11810298/____________nwsltr807.pdf
“For the Sake of the Children: The Letters between Otto Frank and Nathan Straus, Jr” Straus Historical Society Newsletter Vol. 14 No. 2 (New York: February 2013); p. 1.
http://www.straushistoricalsociety.org/uploads/1/1/8/1/11810298/____nwsltr213.pdf
Nathan traveled to Albany to present his opposition to the Brush Bill on February 15, 1898. "The principal provisions of the bill to which exception is taken are those depriving the board of the services of the President of the Board of Police Commissioners, prohibiting the production of vaccine virus, diphtheria antitoxin, and other antitoxins, and the work in the prevention of infectious diseases, and excluding from the list of "infectious, contagious, and pestilential diseases" a number of diseases which now are classed by the Health Department or by the Health Departments of other cities as dangerous to the public health."
]]>In 1897, Nathan Straus (1848-1931) became the President and Commissioner of the New York City Board of Health for a two year term. Nathan took his responsibilities seriously. One of his first duties as President of the Health Board was to announce that hotels and bath houses would be required to provide bathers with life lines. The board also contemplated appointing a life savings corps of officers in uniforms. On February 2, 1898 The Times reported, "The Woman's Health Protective Association is still interested in the subject of expectoration tracts, and Nathan Straus, President of the Health Board, is to co-operate with the society in the war it is to wage this winter against the great New York expectorator."
Nathan traveled to Albany to present his opposition to the Brush Bill on February 15, 1898. "The principal provisions of the bill to which exception is taken are those depriving the board of the services of the President of the Board of Police Commissioners, prohibiting the production of vaccine virus, diphtheria antitoxin, and other antitoxins, and the work in the prevention of infectious diseases, and excluding from the list of "infectious, contagious, and pestilential diseases" a number of diseases which now are classed by the Health Department or by the Health Departments of other cities as dangerous to the public health."
Links:
“Nathan Straus 1848-1931” Straus Historical Society Newsletter Vol. 6 No. 1 (New York: February 1998); pp. 4-8.
http://www.straushistoricalsociety.org/uploads/1/1/8/1/11810298/________nwsltr298.pdf
“Nathan Straus 1848-1931” Straus Historical Society Newsletter Vol. 6 No. 2 (New York: August 1998); pp. 4-7.
http://www.straushistoricalsociety.org/uploads/1/1/8/1/11810298/________nwsltr898.pdf
“Nathan Straus Pasteurized Milk Laboratory” Straus Historical Society Newsletter Vol. 4 No. 2 (New York: February 2002); pp. 4-9.
http://www.straushistoricalsociety.org/uploads/1/1/8/1/11810298/____nwsltr202.pdf
“Nathan Straus, Public Servant” Straus Historical Society Newsletter Vol. 4 No. 2 (New York: February 2003); pp. 4-8.
http://www.straushistoricalsociety.org/uploads/1/1/8/1/11810298/________nwsltr203.pdf
“The Nathan Straus Soup Kitchens in Palestine” Straus Historical Society Newsletter Vol. 16 No. 1 (New York: August 2014); pp. 1-5.
http://www.straushistoricalsociety.org/uploads/1/1/8/1/11810298/nwslttr814.pdf
State Motto of New Your "Excelsior" - Ever Upward.
This constitution was framed by a convention which assembled at White Plains, July 10, 1776, and, after repeated adjournments and changes of location, terminated its labors at Kingston, Sunday evening, April 20, 1777, when the constitution was adopted, with but one dissenting vote, It was not submitted to the people for ratification.