FacT-A-DaY 6. JOEL SPRINGARN (1875-1971) was a literary critic, poet and pro- fessor. In 1905, he helped found the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. NAACP president from 1940- 1965, Springarn throughout World War II advocated the creation of a training program for black officers. He also established the Springarn Medal, for African-Americans who gave extraordinary service to other blacks within the U.S. 7. NATHAN BARNERT (1838- 1927) was a native of Prussia who came in 1849 to the United States. Settling in Paterson, N.J., he opened a clothing store, then later invested in real estate. A successful businessman, Barnert put all his money back into Paterson, where he created various mills and donat- ed money for the establishment of a nonsectarian hospital, a nurses' home and the town synagogue B'nai Jeshurun. President William McKinley was among the guests at the opening of the new synagogue. Barnert, who also funded a Hebrew school and a home for orphans in Jerusalem, was a politi- cian, a Democrat and an observant Jew who never worked on Shabbat or holidays. 8. JANUSZ KORCZAK (c1878- 1942) was the pen name of Hen- ryk Goldszmidt, who was the son of wealthy, assimilated Polish-Jewish parents. From his earliest days, Kor- czak was committed to improving the lives of children; in 1901, he wrote Children of the Street, which detailed the horrible existence of orphans forced to live on city streets. Later, Korczak became director of a Jewish orphanage in Warsaw and saw to the establish- ment of a gentile orphanage, as well. Korczak established a nation- al reputation as an author and advocate for children. He believed children should be constantly nur- 10/22 1999 tured and encouraged to think for themselves. In 1940, with the rise of Hitler, Korczak's orphanage for Jewish children was moved to the Warsaw Ghetto. Two years later, all 200 children were sent to Tre- blinka. Because of his fame, Kor- czak was offered the chance to live. But he would not abandon the children and went with them to the gas chambers. 9. EDITH ROSENWALD STERN was the daughter of Julius Rosen- wald (a founder of Sears, Roebuck). She spent her considerable fortune not on herself, but toward improv- ing the world. Together with her husband, Edgar, she donated mil- lions of dollars toward such causes as scholarships for black students, voter registration and studying the effects of nuclear energy. She also supported numerous arts organiza- tions, including the New Orleans Symphony and the New Orleans Museum of Art, and helped estab- lish the Fund for Investigative Jour- nalism. In 1961, President John Kennedy appointed her to serve on the National Cultural Center Adviso- ry Committee on the Arts. 10. ERNESTINE LOUISE ROSE (1810-1892), the feminist daughter of a rabbi, moved from her native Poland to the Uni.ted States in the 1 840s. A friend of Susan B. Antho- ny, she wrote a series of articles not only on feminism, but also in sup- port of Judaism and denouncing slavery. (Even a slave treated extra- ordinarily well would never be happy, she said, because as a slave he did not have the God- given right to belong to himself.) Rose died 28 years before passage of the 19th Amendment, which granted voting rights to women. 11. FELIX WARBURG (1871-1937) spent much of his fortune to help New Yorkers (and Jews everywhere) at the turn of the century. He used his funds to create a babies' and children's tuberculosis center in New York, helped found the Feder- ation for the Support of Jewish Phil- anthropic Societies, generously donated to the New York Philhar- monic Orchestra and the Juilliard School of Music, and raised funds to help Jews in Nazi Germany. 12. YOCHANAN BEN-ZAKKAI (1st century C.E.) was a student of Hillel and head of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. He was so revered as a teacher that he couldn't even conduct his classes indoors; there wasn't enough room. Instead, he gave lessons outside the plaza at the Holy Temple. In 66 C.E., ben-Zakkai set- tled in Yavneh, where he established a school. During the Jewish revolt of 70 C.E., Emperor Titus destroyed much of the country, including the Holy Temple. Yet ben-Zakkai and his fellow scholars stood strong and sur- vived. After the revolt, ben-Zakkai — virtually singlehandedly — reestab- lished the Sanhedrin and rebuilt Jew- ish life in Palestine. 13. REBECCA GRATZ (1781- 1869) is today best known as the inspiration for the "Rebecca" char- acter in Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe. In her time, she was noted both for her beauty and intelligence (among her close friends was Washington Irving, who probably told Scott about her). Among the philanthropic causes to which she was devoted were the Hebrew Sunday School Society, the Philadelphia Jewish Fos- ter Home and Orphan Asylum and the Female Hebrew Benevolent Society. 14. SIR MEYER ADAM SPIELMAN (1856-1936) was a descendant in a long line of British-Jewish educa- tors and supporters of the arts. He was active in child welfare, includ- ing the establishment of a reformato- ry school for Jewish boys, and was knighted in_1928 for his work to prevent juvenile delinquency. He and his wife, Lady Emily (the first woman elected to the Board of Deputies of British Jews), also sup- ported many Jewish charities. 15. HELEN SUZMAN (1917- ), a university lecturer in economics, was elected in 1953 to the parliament You can learn a lot by learning a little. In Fact-A-Day, AppleTree pro- vides you with fascinating tidbits about any Jewish subject, past or pre- sept, This month, we highlight 31 — one for each day of October — Jewish philanthropists, social activists and moral leaders. Do you have a suggestion for Fact-A-Day? If so, please drop us a line at AppleTree Facts, 27676 Franklin Road, Southfield, MI 48034; fax (248) 354-6069; call (248) 354-6060, ext. 308 (voice-mail only), or e-mail: philapple@earthlink.net. With special thanks to Eden Cooper Sage who suggested this topic for Fact-A-Day. Sage, who lives with her husband, Jeff, in Los Angeles, is a former West Bloomfield resident who appeared in several produc- tions on the JET, Attic and Purple Rose Theatre stages. A longtime mem- ber and teacher at Temple Israel, she supervised the temple's Shcrlach Mitzvot program for b'nai mitzvah candidates and established TIME (Temple Israel Musical Ensemble). Sage works today as an actress and teacher at Temple Israel of -ollywood. She looks forward to using this column to help a class project on Mitzvah Stars, saying, "We're plan- ning a brunch next spring to honor those in our own community [that] the students feel embody the mitzvot and Jewish values exemplified by those we have studied."