Louis Bamberger (15 May 1855 – 11 March 1944) was the leading citizen of

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...

, from the early 1900s until his death in 1944. He and his sister Caroline Bamberger Fuld co-founded the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent schola ...

in Princeton, New Jersey. He was a businessman and philanthropist and at his death all flags in Newark were flown at

half-staff Half-mast or half-staff (American English) refers to a flag flying below the summit of a ship mast, a pole on land, or a pole on a building. In many countries this is seen as a symbol of respect, mourning, distress, or, in some cases, a salu ...

for three days, and his large department store closed for a day.

Early life

Louis Bamberger was born in 1855 to a

German Jewish The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (''circa'' 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish ...

family in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore wa ...

, the son of Theresa (née Hutzler) and Elkan Bamberger. His mother belonged to the family that ran Hutzler Brothers in Baltimore. His grandfather was Moses Hutzler. He had six siblings: Caroline Bamberger Fuld; Clara "Lavinia" Bamberger; Rosa Bamberger; Julius Bamberger; Pauline Bamberger; and Julia Bamberger.

Bamberger's

He came to Newark in 1892 and bought at auction a failing general goods store on Market Street, renaming it L. Bamberger & Company, with his partners, brothers-in-law

Felix Fuld Felix Fuld (19 July 1868 – 20 January 1929) built one of America's well-known department stores – L. Bamberger & Company with his partner, Louis Bamberger. He was an early 20th century philanthropist contributing to many local, regional, and ...

and Louis M. Frank,. The store was an immediate success, and Bamberger was able to open an ornate chateauesque building in 1912 that covered a whole city block. For decades, Bamberger’s clock was the downtown meeting place for Newarkers. In 1928, the store's sales were $28 million (equivalent to $ million in ), making it the fourth highest grossing store in the United States. In 1929, Bamberger sold his department store to R.H. Macy and Company, which kept the original Bamberger name. Bamberger knew that he owed his success to hundreds of able employees, and split $1 million among 240 employees. The Bamberger name remained in use for the stores in the New Jersey division of Macy's until 1986.

Charitable work

Bamberger supported both secular and Jewish charities. Bamberger personally funded the buildings for Newark’s YMHA, the

Newark Museum The Newark Museum of Art (formerly known as the Newark Museum), in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States, is the state's largest museum. It holds major collections of American art, decorative arts, contemporary art, and arts of Asia, A ...

, and the New Jersey Historical Society. He worked to help persecuted Jews escape from Germany's

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

. Bamberger was also a major contributor to the Community Chest and Beth Israel Hospital.

Institute for Advanced Study

Bamberger and his sister Caroline Bamberger Fuld worked with

Abraham Flexner Abraham Flexner (November 13, 1866 – September 21, 1959) was an American educator, best known for his role in the 20th century reform of medical and higher education in the United States and Canada. After founding and directing a college-prep ...

to found the

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of w ...

. They gave a $5 million endowment to the Institute. Upon Bamberger's death the bulk of his estate was left to the Institute.

Personal life

Bamberger was a shy man who never married and focused on running his store. His partner

was the more outgoing of the two, and his sister Caroline Bamberger Fuld was most involved in the charity activities of the family.

Legacy and honors

*The

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Liberty Ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Ma ...

was named in his honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bamberger, Louis 1855 births 1944 deaths Jewish American philanthropists Institute for Advanced Study people American people of German-Jewish descent Businesspeople from Baltimore Businesspeople from Newark, New Jersey Hutzler family