10.16.2018

Old Bridge, NJ –Oct. 16, 2018 – The Old Bridge Public Library will host a screening of the documentary “Rosenwald” on Sunday, November 4th at 2pm. The screening will be sponsored by Gary Matoren in memory of his daughter Debbie Lynn Matoren; Mr. Matoren will lead a post-film discussion as well.

The 2015 documentary by Aviva Kempner examines the life of Chicago businessman Julius Rosenwald, who rose to head Sears Roebuck, and partnered with Booker T. Washington to build nearly 5,400 schools in African American communities in the Jim Crow South in the early 1900s.  The son of an immigrant peddler, Rosenwald also built YMCAs and housing for African Americans to address the needs of the Great Northern Migration. He gave away $62 million in his lifetime, but because of his modesty, his philanthropy and social activism are not well known today. The Rosenwald Fund helped support great artists including Marian Anderson, Woody Guthrie, Langston Hughes and Gordon Parks.

“We are pleased for the opportunity to screen this important film which demonstrates Mr. Rosenwald’s desire to use his enormous wealth to reduce racial inequality,” noted Library Director Nancy Cohen. “And we are grateful for Mr. Matoren’s generosity to help raise awareness about this little-known philanthropist.”

Washington-DC based filmmaker and author Kempner is also the award-winning director of The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg and Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg; she is currently working on a film about baseball player Moe Berg.  She started the Washington Jewish Film Festival in 1990, is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a recipient of the 1996 Guggenheim Fellowship, the 2000 DC Mayor’s Art Award and numerous others.

The Old Bridge Public Library has consistently been voted one of the three Best Public Libraries in Middlesex County by the readers of the Home News Tribune. The Library is open seven-days-a-week and is located at 1 Old Bridge Plaza at the corner of Rt. 516 and Cottrell Road in the Municipal Center. More information about this and other Library programs is available at www.oldbridgelibrary.org or by calling 732-721-5600 x5033. The satellite Laurence Harbor branch is located at 277 Shoreland Circle; phone: 732-566-2227.

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