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On December 4, the Jessie Ball duPont Fund and Ennis Davis of the Jaxson Magazine hosted a discussion about the contributions of Jacksonville’s Jewish community, our connections to renowned businessman and national philanthropist Julius Rosenwald, and in turn, his connections to Augusta Savage and James Weldon Johnson. Rosenwald, directed by Aviva Kempner, is the incredible true story of how Jewish businessman and philanthropist Julius Rosenwald joined with African-American communities in the South to build 5,000 schools during the Jim Crow era. His Rosenwald Fund granted fellowships to gifted African-Americans including Marian Anderson, Romare Bearden, Ralph Bunche, W. E. B. DuBois, Ralph Ellison, Zora Neale Hurston, Gordon Parks, James Baldwin, Jacob Lawrence, Claude MacKay, and Augusta Savage, sculptor of the groundbreaking work Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing (The Harp). Maya Angelou, Rep. John Lewis, and Eugene Robinson are interviewed in the film. This program is presented in partnership with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and The Ciesla Foundation.
Mari Kuraishi, President, Jessie Ball duPont Fund and Ennis Davis, Founder, The Jaxson Magazine
Aviva Kempner, director of Rosenwald; Adonnica Toler, Museum Administrator at the Ritz Theater and Museum; and Professor Stephen Whitfield, Max Richter Professor of American Civilization, Emeritus, Brandeis University
