Mrs. Edgar Bloom Stern (Edith Rosenwald)

Edith Rosenwald Stern (1895-1980) was the third child of Julius Rosenwald (1862-1932), who became president of Sears, Roebuck and Co. in 1908 and piloted the company to unparalleled merchandising power. In 1921 she married Edgar Bloom Stern (1886-1959), a businessman and philanthropist from a prominent New Orleans family. They raised their family in New Orleans at Longue Vue House and Gardens, a Greek Revival--style mansion with extensive gardens. Edith Stern founded the Metairie Park Country Day School, was a trustee of the Julius Rosenwald Fund, which funded libraries in southern communities open to all races during the early 1930s, and served as president of the board of Dillard University.