On 18 March 1943 both the Washington Post and The New York Times carried small pieces, overshadowed by the many articles of war news, reporting that the nation had received a most generous gift. Lessing Julius Rosenwald, a Philadelphia businessman and philanthropist, had donated his collections of prints and drawings to the National Gallery of Art and his collection of illustrated books to the Library of Congress. This was the beginning of a long relationship between Rosenwald and two national cultural institutions.

Rosenwald was born in Chicago on 10 February 1891. He was the son of Julius and Augusta Nusbaum Rosenwald. In 1895 Julius Rosenwald had purchased an interest in Sears, Roebuck and Company and was a main force in developing the company into one of the country's leading mail-order businesses. His son Lessing attended Cornell University (1909-1911). He then began work in the Sears stockroom and gradually made his way through the...