Nathan Straus: Loving Cup

Return to The Straus Family: A History of Public Service and Philanthropy

From the New York Times, August 6th, 1911

“Honor for Nathan Straus – Six Hundred Guests Give Him a Loving Cup at Hotel Kaaterskill.

Six hundred admirers of the philanthropic work of Nathan Straus of New York presented him with a silver loving cup at a surprise farewell dinner held in his honor at the Kaaterskill Hotel tonight. Mr. Straus starts Monday for Europe on a philanthropic mission.

The entertainment began when Mr. and Mrs. Straus entered the big dining room, which was decorated with American flags and greens. Immediately after them came fifty small children carrying dolls and signing…

A large silver loving cup on which was inscribed: ‘To Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Straus as a token of esteem and love by the guests of the Kaaterskill Hotel, Aug. 5, 1911,’ was then presented. The presentation was made by Moe H. Grossman, who paid a warm tribute to Mr. Straus’s work.

In responding, Mr. Straus said: ‘When I came here I should have called you ladies and gentlemen. Now I call you friends. Anything I may say won’t show how deeply I feel your kindness. I cannot help turning to the Rev. Madison C. Peters, who has done so much for our cause. If there were forty more like him then there would be justice to the Jew. But remember, if you are suffering injustice, there is a power above that will stand for our cause.’

The Rev. Madison C. Peters, who was the next person to speak, said in part: ‘The first man to give me encouragement when I first preached my sermon ‘Justice to the Jew,’ was Nathan Straus. There are many millionaires in the world today, but any one of them would give a million of it to see as Mr. Straus may see tonight, the happy faces of children all about him. He does good while he is alive and he has the pleasure of seeing the results of his good. He has saved millions of helpless and innocent babies.’”

Links:

“Surprise to Nathan Straus” Straus Historical Society Newsletter Vol. 2 No. 1 (New York: August 2000); p. 15.