Nathan Straus

Andrew Fisher, an independent scholar, is the retired founding executive director of the Lavelle Fund for the Blind. A New Jersey resident, he has 35 years of experience in New York City charitable foundations and is a winner of Helen Keller International’s Humanitarian Award.

• ContentsPrologueChapter One: From Bavaria to GeorgiaChapter Two: Retailing in Gilded Age New YorkChapter Three: The Public ManChapter Four: The Private ManChapter Five: "Pasteurization Is Positive Prevention"Chapter Six: From Philanthropy to Public PolicyChapter Seven: European Prevention and ReliefChapter Eight: Saving Tenement Children from TBChapter Nine: A Family in TransitionChapter Ten: Dreaming of ZionChapter Eleven: Uplifting PalestineChapter Twelve: LegaciesA Note on SourcesAcknowledgmentsIndex

"Finally, Nathan Straus receives his due. His life would have merited a biography, like this excellent one by Andrew Fisher, even if not for his transformative involvement in growing the nation's public health system, but this book offers a fine way to see that as well as the fuller breadth of his public service." - Hasia R. Diner, author of A New Promised Land: A History of Jews in America"Nathan Straus, philanthropist, public health advocate, department store magnate, and a founding father of Mandate Palestine's public health system, has finally been memorialized in a full-length biography. Fisher has done a superb job of deftly piecing together the fabulous adventures of a remarkable man." - Howard Markel, author of The Secret of Life: Rosalind Franklin, James Watson, Francis Crick, and the Discovery of DNA's Double Helix"At last, a full-length biography of one of the greatest Jewish philanthropists that history forgot. Nathan Straus's contribution to public health—especially by championing pasteurized milk for children—saved countless lives in the U.S. and Palestine and demonstrated how strategic philanthropy can improve the world. Brimming with lessons for our time." - Jonathan D. Sarna, author of Amer­i­can Ju­daism: A His­to­ry"A compelling and highly engaging story of a largely forgotten philanthropist and entrepreneur whose efforts helped shape the twentieth century, this book fills gaps in diverse historical subfields such as medicine, economics, childhood, and religion. This inspiring story is a must-read for anyone interested in philanthropic innovation." - Cynthia Connolly, professor emerita, University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing"Finally, we have a comprehensive biography of Nathan Straus that does the great man justice. Fisher has crafted a scholarly, deeply referenced, and eminently readable book that tells the story of the legendary Straus family. Highly recommended to readers of Jewish history, philanthropy, commerce, politics, and public health." - Jeff Levin, author of Religion and Medicine: A History of the Encounter Between Humanity's Two Greatest Institutions"Among his many accomplishments, Straus's adoption and promotion of pasteurization of milk, and his philanthropic support providing clean, "pasteurized" milk for children of poor families, stand as a major public health triumph." - Alfred Sommer, professor and dean emeritus, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health"Finally, a biography of a figure whose business acumen and relentless philanthropic initiative, like a Jewish Carnegie or Rockefeller, changed the structure of the modern world and saved countless children's lives! Fisher's compelling and deeply researched telling of Straus's world spans three continents, all classes of people, two wars, and Jewish and mainstream society—completing our understanding of the remarkable Straus family." - Jaclyn Granick, author of International Jewish Humanitarianism in the Age of the Great War