[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1863 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1863

To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource 
  study of the sites associated with the life and legacy of the noted 
American philanthropist and business executive Julius Rosenwald, with a 
    special focus on the Rosenwald Schools, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 13, 2019

  Mr. Durbin introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource 
  study of the sites associated with the life and legacy of the noted 
American philanthropist and business executive Julius Rosenwald, with a 
    special focus on the Rosenwald Schools, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Julius Rosenwald and Rosenwald 
Schools Study Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) Julius Rosenwald was born in 1862 in Springfield, 
        Illinois, to Samuel Rosenwald and his wife, Augusta 
        Hammerslough, a Jewish immigrant couple from Germany;
            (2) in 1868, Samuel Rosenwald purchased the Lyon House, 
        where Julius grew up and lived with his family until the 1880s, 
        which--
                    (A) was diagonally across the street from the home 
                where Abraham Lincoln lived prior to becoming 
                president; and
                    (B)(i) was restored recently before the date of 
                enactment of this Act; and
                    (ii) as of that date of enactment, was within the 
                boundary of the Lincoln Home National Historic Site, a 
                unit of the National Park System;
            (3) Julius Rosenwald--
                    (A) learned the clothing trade with relatives in 
                New York City; and
                    (B) used that knowledge on moving to Chicago, where 
                he became part-owner and president of Sears, Roebuck & 
                Company, which--
                            (i) he transformed into a retailing 
                        powerhouse in the early 20th century; and
                            (ii) could be considered the Amazon of its 
                        day;
            (4) the embodiment of the Jewish concept of ``tzedakah'', 
        righteousness and charity, Rosenwald used his fortune for 
        numerous philanthropic activities, particularly to enhance the 
        lives of African Americans, including by--
                    (A) providing $25,000 for the construction of Young 
                Men's Christian Associations (commonly known as 
                ``YMCAs'') for African Americans during the Jim Crow 
                era in cities that raised $75,000; and
                    (B) eventually, supporting the construction of 
                YMCAs in 24 cities across the United States;
            (5)(A) after his introduction to Booker T. Washington in 
        1911, Julius Rosenwald--
                    (i) joined the Board of Trustees of the Tuskegee 
                Institute; and
                    (ii) financially contributed to a pilot program to 
                build 6 schools in rural Alabama for African-American 
                children who were receiving little to no education; and
            (B) the donations by Rosenwald described in subparagraph 
        (A) were matched by the local African-American communities that 
        were committed to providing education for their children;
            (6)(A) the success of the pilot program referred to in 
        paragraph (5)(A)(ii) led to the construction of more than 5,300 
        Rosenwald Schools and related buildings over a 20-year period 
        in 15 southern States under the direction of the Julius 
        Rosenwald Fund;
            (B) the schools described in subparagraph (A)--
                    (i) were the result of a 3-way partnership among 
                the Julius Rosenwald Fund, local communities that, 
                although generally poor, contributed land, labor, 
                materials, and money to build and maintain the schools, 
                and local governments that were required by law to 
                provide public schools for all children but divided 
                funds unequally between Black and White systems; and
                    (ii) often became the focus of great pride and 
                affection among the applicable communities;
            (C) during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, \1/3\ of all 
        African-American children in the South were educated in 
        Rosenwald Schools;
            (D) a 2011 study by 2 Federal Reserve economists concluded 
        that the schools played a significant role in narrowing the gap 
        between the educational levels of Black and White students in 
        the South; and
            (E) Members of Congress and poet Maya Angelou are among 
        prominent graduates of Rosenwald Schools;
            (7) the Julius Rosenwald Fund--
                    (A) supported early National Association for the 
                Advancement of Colored People cases that eventually led 
                to the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of 
                Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), which 
                outlawed segregation in public education; and
                    (B) provided fellowships to talented African 
                Americans in the arts and sciences--
                            (i) including the acclaimed historian John 
                        Hope Franklin, noted writer and civil rights 
                        activist W.E.B. Du Bois, artist Jacob Lawrence, 
                        singer Marian Anderson, diplomat Ralph Bunche, 
                        and many others; and
                            (ii) some of whom worked under Thurgood 
                        Marshall on the Supreme Court case referred to 
                        in subparagraph (A);
            (8) Rosenwald also--
                    (A) provided support for a number of Historically 
                Black Colleges and Universities, including Fisk, 
                Dillard, and Howard Universities; and
                    (B) used his wealth for other worthy causes, 
                including the creation of the Jewish United Fund of 
                Metropolitan Chicago and the Museum of Science and 
                Industry in Chicago; and
            (9) the contributions of Julius Rosenwald to improving the 
        lives of African Americans, as well as the lives of those who 
        reside in Chicago and throughout the United States, are worthy 
        of recognition and further examination.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Rosenwald school.--The term ``Rosenwald School'' means 
        any of the 5,357 schools and related buildings constructed in 
        15 southern States during the period of 1912 through 1932 by 
        the philanthropy of Julius Rosenwald.
            (2) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of the Interior.
            (3) SHPO.--The term ``SHPO'' means the State Historic 
        Preservation Officer of any of the 14 States in which Rosenwald 
        Schools exist as of the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 4. SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary shall conduct a special resource 
study of the sites associated with the life and legacy of Julius 
Rosenwald, with special focus on the Rosenwald Schools.
    (b) Contents.--In conducting the study under subsection (a), the 
Secretary shall--
            (1) determine the sites of national significance associated 
        with the life and legacy of businessman and noted 
        philanthropist Julius Rosenwald, with special focus on the 
        Rosenwald Schools;
            (2) give priority to studying any Rosenwald School 
        recommended to the Secretary by an SHPO;
            (3) determine the suitability and feasibility of 
        designating 1 or more new units of the National Park System to 
        include representative Rosenwald Schools and other sites 
        associated with the life and legacy of Julius Rosenwald, 
        including an interpretive center in or near Chicago, Illinois--
                    (A) to commemorate the career and overall 
                philanthropic activities of Rosenwald; and
                    (B) to address the scope and significance of the 
                Rosenwald Schools initiative;
            (4) take into consideration other alternatives for 
        preservation, protection, and interpretation of the legacy of 
        Julius Rosenwald and the Rosenwald Schools by--
                    (A) Federal, State, or local governmental entities; 
                or
                    (B) private and nonprofit organizations;
            (5) consult with, as determined appropriate by the 
        Secretary, relevant--
                    (A) Federal, State, and local governmental 
                entities;
                    (B) private and nonprofit organizations; or
                    (C) any other interested individuals; and
            (6) identify costs associated with any potential Federal 
        acquisition, development, interpretation, operation, and 
        maintenance associated with the alternatives described in 
        paragraph (4).
    (c) Applicable Law.--The study under subsection (a) shall be 
conducted in accordance with section 100507 of title 54, United States 
Code.
    (d) Results.--Not later than 3 years after the date on which funds 
are first made available for the study under subsection (a), the 
Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Natural Resources of the 
House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural 
Resources of the Senate a report describing--
            (1) the results of the study; and
            (2) any conclusions and recommendations of the Secretary 
        relating to the study.
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