American hotel executive and philanthropist Jennie Grossinger (1892-1972) brought worldwide prominence to her family's 800-acre resort in New York State's Catskill Mountains.

Jennie Grossinger, the oldest of three children of Asher Selig and Malke Grumet Grossinger, was born June 16, 1892, in Baligrod, a town in the Bieszczady region of southeast Poland, part of the former Austro-Hungarian empire. The family, devout members of the Jewish religion, spoke Polish and Yiddish. To secure a better future for his family, Selig, an estate overseer, came to America in 1897. Malke, Jennie, and younger daughter Lottie joined him three years later.

A tenement in New York City's Lower East Side was their new home. Selig, who was in poor health, pressed coats in a factory and made several unsuccessful attempts to open a business. At this time a son, Harry, was born. A fever made the infant unable to hear or speak, and Malke...