The Sidney Hollander Award is an award for work towards obtaining equal rights for African Americans, given by the Sidney Hollander Foundation, in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, Maryland, USA, and named in honor of Sidney Hollander.

The Sidney Hollander Foundation

In December 1941, a foundation was set up in order to honor Sidney Hollander. Hollander was an influential humanitarian living in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

during the mid-20th century. Being a

humanitarian Humanitarianism is an active belief in the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotional ...

, Hollander was an avid believer that all people should be afforded justice, civil rights, and equal opportunity for education, employment and housing.

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

s, especially, should be treated in the same way as any other American. Hollander wanted to create a place to live where everybody would be treated equally.Maryland Historical Society: Sidney Hollander Collection 1926-1972
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The Sidney Hollander Award

The Sidney Hollander Foundation created the Sidney Hollander Award after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. This award was given to a person who had worked diligently towards obtaining equal rights for African Americans in Maryland. Segregation was a huge issue that both African Americans and whites were forced to deal with during this time period. While African Americans had gained many rights, including the

right to vote Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

, they were still treated very unfairly. They were forced to use different entrances to stores, different bathrooms, and many were not given proper job opportunities in fields in which they were well qualified.Howard University, Preserving the Legacy of the Black Experience
However, Sidney Hollander saw this and knew it was wrong. As a result, his family set up an award to give to any person who had helped to erase any signs of segregation in Maryland and help to achieve equal rights for all citizens of the United States. This award was handed out every year for about sixteen years (1947 – around 1964). Many recipients include organizations such as the Sun Paper, the Baltimore City Medical Society, and Loyola College. These organizations all helped to spread the word that African Americans should be treated as equal human beings in Maryland. While several awards went to organizations, there were also a few that went to individuals. These individuals include Robert Freedman,

Theodore R. McKeldin Theodore Roosevelt McKeldin (November 20, 1900August 10, 1974) was an American politician. He was a member of the Republican Party, served as mayor of Baltimore twice, from 1943 to 1947 and again from 1963 to 1967. McKeldin was the 53rd Govern ...

and Thomas J. S. Waxter. These men were very important men in Maryland during this time period and they were all dedicated to desegregation in the state. In 1964, the foundation realized that the government, religious organizations, and political parties were all dealing with the issue of desegregation in Maryland. Finally the issue of desegregation was seen on a higher level that could hopefully help to get it resolved. The Sidney Hollander Foundation announced that the award given the previous year would be the last. In the approximate sixteen years in which the award was handed out, many important advances were made in ending

segregation Segregation may refer to: Separation of people * Geographical segregation, rates of two or more populations which are not homogenous throughout a defined space * School segregation * Housing segregation * Racial segregation, separation of humans ...

in Maryland. Many people believe the Hollander Award was responsible for many of the acts of

desegregation Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...

because it helped to show people what was being done in Maryland to help end segregation."The Hollander Award," Evening Sun (Baltimore,) December 4, 1964

Sidney Hollander

Sidney Hollander (1881–1972) was a Baltimore, Maryland, businessman who devoted time and resources to advocacy and social action in the fields of civil rights, social welfare and social reform. He served numerous private and public philanthropic organizations as an officer and board member and gained prominence in both local and national forums as a social activist and reformer, principally from 1938 to 1971.

References

{{reflist Awards established in 1947 Humanitarian and service awards 1947 establishments in Maryland History of African-American civil rights