Edith Rosenwald Stern, 1895-1980

Born in Chicago as the daughter of Julius Rosenwald of the Sears, Roebuck retail empire, Edith adopted New Orleans as her home upon her marriage to Edgar Bloom Stern, a native. As with many of the women in this exhibit, Edith was interested in improving New Orleans. Her first interest was education, an influence of her parents, and she was one of many who helped to create Newcomb Nursery School and Metairie Park Country Day. The arts, in all forms, were part of the Stern family. Edgar’s mother, Hannah, worked with starting the first orchestra for the city and Edith’s collection of contemporary art, starting in the 1960s, was the beginning of a lifelong relationship with NOMA.

The photo at the right was taken when the Stern family traveled in Europe in 1937. Photographer Dorothy Wilding was the official photographer for the English royal family.

Edith Stern also supported the civil rights of all Americans and registering African Americans to vote was a priority for her. The Voter’s Registration League joined with the League of Women Voters, the Independent Women’s Organization, and the New Orleans Civil Council to reform political corruption at the polls. The photo on the far right marks her part in the discovery of more than 9,000 registered voters who had been incorrectly listed as disabled or illiterate. Following the League’s demands to recount each registration, approximately one half of these 9,000 could vote.