Jesse Isidor Straus
<h4><a href="https://vmps.omeka.net/exhibits/show/straus-family/straus-family">Return to The Straus Family: A History of Public Service and Philanthropy</a></h4>
<p style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#000000;">Jesse Isidor Straus (1872-1936) was born in June 25th, 1872 at 28 West 38th Street in New York City. He attended Harvard and graduated in 1893 with an A.B. degree. Jesse married Irma Nathan (1874-1970) on November 20th, 1895. After graduation, Jesse began work as a clerk at Hanover National Bank and then went on to work for Abraham and Straus in Brooklyn. In 1896, he joined R.H. Macy & Co. Jesse and his brothers Percy and Herbert assumed sole senior partnership at Macy’s in 1912. They were called a “triumvirate” and “Merchant Princes” by the press. He was a Macy’s partner until 1919 at which time he was elected the President.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#000000;">Jesse was active in the Democratic Club. He also was a member of the Founders’ Committee of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation. Jesse was elected president of the National Retail Dry Goods Association for 1922. He was elected to the Board of Trustees of the United Hospital Fund on February 1, 1924 and to the active committee to raise funds for the Hampton-Tuskegee Institute in March 1925. The same month he gifted the Atlanta Art Museum 5,000 annotated photographs of paintings, mostly by old masters of the Italian Renaissance School.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#000000;">Jesse was part of a delegation of the New York State Chamber of Commerce that went to Cuba as guests of Cuba’s President Machado in January 1928. He was a member of the New York State Commission for the Revision of Tax Laws. The commission became operative April 23, 1930. Jesse was also the chairman of the notification committee of the Independent Citizens’ Committee for the re-election of Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lieut. Governor Herbert Lehman of New York in October 1930. Jesse was elected to the Board of Overseers of Harvard University in 1925 and chairman of the Visiting Committee in 1930. He was a director of the New York County National Bank, the Lincoln Trust Company and the New York Life Insurance Company. He was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, the Educational Association of New York, the National Economic League and the Business Historical Society to name just a few of his affiliations.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#000000;">He took his appointments seriously, learning everything he could about each organization and its purpose and then acted accordingly. He personally gave the award to graduates of the Brooklyn Junior High School No. 109. He supported the Isidor and Ida Straus Scholarship at the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Hampton, VA. He gave generously to the American Red Cross, the National Committee on Prisons and Prison-Labor, the Lenox Hill Neighborhood Association, Mt. Kisco Police Department, the Boy Scout Fund and countless other causes. With all of his business, civic and philanthropic activities, Jesse Isidor Straus was a devoted family man. He tried to be home each evening for dinner. Although he couldn't prevent his mind from wandering to the problems of the day, he was always available to his wife and children. He was a serious man who still found it possible to bring humor and music into his world. Jesse Isidor Straus was a merchant, public servant and philanthropist. And in each he excelled.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#000000;">In 1931, Jesse was appointed as head of New York State Temporary Emergency Relief Administration (T.E.R.A.). He left that position in 1932 after realizing it had become a full time position. Although he resigned as chair of T.E.R.A., Jesse continued his civic work. He was a member of the executive committee of the Chamber of Commerce. Jesse also served on the Salvation Army United Appeal general committee. In 1933, he was nominated and appointed the United States Ambassador to France, a position he held until 1936. He died on October 4th, 1936 surrounded by family.</span></p>
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The Straus Historical Society
http://www.straushistoricalsociety.org/uploads/1/1/8/1/11810298/5392781_orig.jpg
The Straus Historical Society
Circa 1930s
The Straus Historical Society
Jesse Isidor Straus (1872-1936) <br /><br />Source: <a href="http://www.straushistoricalsociety.org">The Straus Historical Society</a>
<p style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#000000;">Links:</span></p>
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<p style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#000000;">“Jesse Isidor Straus 1872-1936” Straus Historical Society Newsletter Vol. 6 No. 1 (New York: August 2004); pp. 3-7.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align:justify;"><a href="http://www.straushistoricalsociety.org/uploads/1/1/8/1/11810298/____________nwsltr804.pdf"><b><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#c51b35;">http://www.straushistoricalsociety.org/uploads/1/1/8/1/11810298/____________nwsltr804.pdf</span></b></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#000000;"></span></p>
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<p style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#000000;">“Jesse Isidor Straus 1872-1936: Part Two” Straus Historical Society Newsletter Vol. 6 No. 2 (New York: February 2005); pp. 1-7.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align:justify;"><a href="http://www.straushistoricalsociety.org/uploads/1/1/8/1/11810298/____________nwsltr205.pdf"><b><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#c51b35;">http://www.straushistoricalsociety.org/uploads/1/1/8/1/11810298/____________nwsltr205.pdf</span></b></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#000000;"></span></p>
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<p style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#000000;">“Jesse I. Straus ‘Businessman for Roosevelt’ and Ambassador in Paris” Straus Historical Society Newsletter Vol. 14 No. 2 (New York: February 2013); pp. 8-9.</span></p>
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<p style="text-align:justify;"><a href="http://www.straushistoricalsociety.org/uploads/1/1/8/1/11810298/____nwsltr213.pdf"><b><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#c51b35;">http://www.straushistoricalsociety.org/uploads/1/1/8/1/11810298/____nwsltr213.pdf</span></b></a><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#000000;"></span></p>
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Medium: Photograph
English
Figures
Jesse Isidor Straus, Macy's, Woodrow Wilson, Retail, United Hospital Fund, Tuskegee, Atlanta, Cuba, NYC
Historic
Congress, Wilson before War Tax Message, 1914
<h4><a href="https://vmps.omeka.net/exhibits/show/financing-common-purposes-gall/financing-common-purposes-gall">Returning to Financing our Common Purposes</a></h4>
None given
Harris & Ewing, photographer
https://cdn.loc.gov/service/pnp/hec/04600/04662v.jpg
Library of Congress
1914
Library of Congress
Congress, Wilson before War Tax Message. <br /><br />Source: Harris & Ewing CollectionDigital Id. hec 04662, <a href="http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print">Library of Congress</a> Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.
<a href="https://vmps.omeka.net/exhibits/show/financing-common-purposes-gall">Library of Congress</a>
Medium: Photograph
English
Event
Congress, Woodrow Wilson, War Tax, World War I, 1914, War
United States
American Library Association United War Work Campaign Poster
<h4><a href="https://vmps.omeka.net/exhibits/show/civic-engagement-gallery/civic-engagement-gallery">Return to Civic Engagement</a></h4>
<p style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#000000;">This poster for the American Library Association was created under the United War Work Campaign. It reads, "'Hey Fellows!' Your Money Brings the Book We Need When We Want It" Through public contributions, the ALA was able to provide library service to soldiers and sailors during World War I.<br /> <br />President Woodrow Wilson created the United War Work Campaign to raise money for war relief efforts both in the United States and abroad. Originally, eleven organizations participated, but that number settled at seven. The final agencies involved were the "National War Work Council of the Young Men's Christian Associations, War Work Council of the National Board of the Young Women's Christian Associations, National Catholic War Council (Knights of Columbus), Jewish Welfare Board, War Camp Community Service, American Library Association, and the Salvation Army.”</span></p>
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John E. Shreridan
https://cdn.loc.gov/service/pnp/ppmsca/40800/40830r.jpg
Library of Congress
1918
Library of Congress
Source: YWCA of the U.S.A. Records. (n.d.). Five College Archives & Manuscript Collections. Retrieved October 12, 2012, from <a href="https://findingaids.smith.edu/repositories/2/resources/661">http://bit.ly/UVl3yq</a>
Link: <a href="http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002722568/">Library of Congress </a>
Medium: Poster.
English
Poster
American Library Association, United War Work Campaign, Posters, War, World War I, Woodrow Wilson
Historic
United War Work Campaign Poster
<h4><a href="https://vmps.omeka.net/exhibits/show/civic-engagement-gallery/civic-engagement-gallery">Return to Civic Engagement</a></h4>
<p style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#000000;">Poster advertising the United War Work Campaign. It reads, "If you only knew! How much joy your dollars bring 'over there' you'd GIVE and GIVE and GIVE!!!!" To illustrate this joy, a smiling soldier is shown enjoying a piece of pie and a hot beverage. The emblems from the seven organizations of the United War Work Campaign are also featured on the poster.<br /> <br />President Woodrow Wilson created the United War Work Campaign to raise money for war relief efforts both in the United States and abroad. Originally, eleven organizations participated, but that number settled at seven. The final agencies involved were the "National War Work Council of the Young Men's Christian Associations, War Work Council of the National Board of the Young Women's Christian Associations, National Catholic War Council (Knights of Columbus), Jewish Welfare Board, War Camp Community Service, American Library Association, and the Salvation Army.”</span></p>
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YWCA
https://cdn.loc.gov/service/pnp/cph/3g00000/3g07000/3g07400/3g07462r.jpg
Library of Congress
1917 or 1918
Library of Congress
Source: YWCA of the U.S.A. Records. (n.d.). Five College Archives & Manuscript Collections. Retrieved October 12, 2012, from <a href="https://findingaids.smith.edu/repositories/2/resources/661">http://bit.ly/UVl3yq</a>
Link: <a href="http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/00651562/">Library of Congress</a>
Medium: Poster.
English
Poster
United War Work Campaign, Posters, War, Woodrow Wilson, War Relief, World War I
Historic