Nathan Eckstein (January 10, 1873 – October 21, 1945) was a German-born

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

businessman, associated in business and by marriage with the

Schwabacher Brothers The Schwabacher Brothers—Louis Schwabacher (1837 – June 3, 1900), Abraham (Abe) Schwabacher (c. 1838 – September 7, 1909), and Sigmund (Sig) Schwabacher (May 14, 1841 – March 20, 1917)Jean RothPart 2: The Schwabacher Family Tree Accessed on ...

firm and family.Lee Micklin
Eckstein, Nathan (1873-1945)
HistoryLink, August 26, 1999. Accessed online 2009-10-20.Biography of Nathan Eckstein
Eckstein Middle School (Seattle). Accessed online 2009-10-20. In 1926 he received the honor of being named " Seattle's Most Useful Citizen", an honor sponsored by the '' Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' and chosen by service clubs and community organizations. At that time, Seattle's '' Jewish Transcript'' called him "the man who has brought the greatest amount of respect and prestige to the Jewish people of Seattle." Seattle's

Nathan Eckstein Middle School The Nathan Eckstein Middle School (originally Nathan Eckstein Junior High School) is an American middle school located in Seattle, Washington, and is part of Seattle Public Schools. History Eckstein Middle School is part of the Seattle Public Scho ...

is named in his honor.

Life and career

Eckstein was born to Lazarus Eckstein and Johanna HaasJean Roth
Part 2: The Schwabacher Family Tree
The ''Seattle Genealogical Society Bulletin'', Summer 1997, reprinted on the site of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington. Accessed online 2009-10-20. in Bavaria in 1873. After a gymnasium education in Munich, he emigrated to New York City, where he spent a decade in the wholesale grocery business beginning in 1888.Jean Roth
Part 3: Schwabacher Family Biographies
The ''Seattle Genealogical Society Bulletin'', Summer 1997, reprinted on the site of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington. Accessed online 2009-10-20. He came to Seattle in 1898, where he went to work for Seattle wholesaler Schwabachers and Co. and in 1902 married Mina Alice Schwabacher daughter of Abraham Schwabacher, one of the original Schwabacher Brothers. Eckstein became vice president and later chief executive officer of Schwabachers, guiding the company through both World Wars and the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. Besides being a member of numerous organizations ranging from the Rainier Club to B'nai B'rith to both the Shrine and Scottish Rite

Masons Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cutt ...

, and a trustee of organizations such as Goodwill Industries and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, he served on a volunteer basis in numerous public capacities, including on the Seattle School Board (1913–1920), as chair of the Washington State Tax Commission (1921–1922), chair of the Seattle Community Fund (1924, 1925; this was the forerunner of the city's United Way), and as a member of a commission to revise the City Charter (1925). The last resulted in a proposed charter that was defeated by the city's voters. In 1931 there was talk of him running as a Republican for the U.S. Senate, but he declined to do so. Seattle - 1000 14th E

Eckstein's years on the School Board were controversial. This was during a period of great confrontation between labor and capital in Seattle—the Seattle General Strike of 1919 was the first such action in the United States—and Schwabachers' support for the open shop put Eckstein firmly on capital's side of the divide. The

labor union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

s strongly opposed his candidacy. Eckstein, a

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

American citizen of German birth, stood with most businessmen in supporting U.S. entry into World War I and even bowed to pressure to drop

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...

courses from the Seattle Public Schools curriculum. Eckstein was a proudly believing Jew, and served as president and trustee of Seattle's Temple De Hirsch, now

Temple De Hirsch Sinai Temple De Hirsch Sinai is a Reform Jewish congregation with campuses in Seattle and nearby Bellevue, Washington, USA. It was formed as a 1971 merger between the earlier Temple De Hirsch (Seattle, founded 1899) and Temple Sinai (Bellevue, founded 1 ...

. "The prejudice under which the Jew is suffering is not due to his religion," he said on one occasion. "The greatest criticism of the Jew is that he is irreligious. If every Jew belonged to a temple or synagogue there would not be one percent of the prejudice that exists today"The ''Jewish Transcript'', May 6, 1924, quoted by Lee Micklin
Eckstein, Nathan (1873-1945)
HistoryLink, August 26, 1999. Accessed online 2009-10-20. By the late 1930s, Eckstein, though still running Schwabachers', had a much-improved relationship with

organized labor A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...

. In 1937 and 1938, he was part of a citizen's committee that successfully arbitrated in a jurisdictional dispute between the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) under

Harry Bridges Harry Bridges (28 July 1901 – 30 March 1990) was an Australian-born American union leader, first with the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA). In 1937, he led several chapters in forming a new union, the International Longshore and W ...

and the Teamsters under Dave Beck over organizing inland warehouse workers. Nathan and Mina Eckstein had two daughters, Johanna—a noted Seattle philanthropist and patron of the arts—and Babette.

Notes

External links

Preliminary Guide to the Nathan Eckstein Papers 1880-1943
University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.
Photo of Eckstein marching in a 1915 Shriners' parade
University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections
Photo of Mina and Nathan Eckstein circa 1930
University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections {{DEFAULTSORT:Eckstein, Nathan 1873 births 1945 deaths 19th-century German Jews Businesspeople from Seattle German emigrants to the United States