Baron de Hirsch Fund (1891 - Present)

The death in 1887 of the only surviving child of Clara and Maurice de Hirsch, while a personal tragedy for the couple, turned out to be of the greatest benefit to world Jewry. With the death of their only heir, the Baron and Baroness de Hirsch decided to make humanity their heir. One such product of this largess was the Baron de Hirsch Fund, organized in New York City in 1891.

Like the Jewish Colonization Association (JCA), another major de Hirsch sponsored organization, the Baron de Hirsch Fund represented the Baron's belief the solution to Jewish suffering in Russia lay in emigration. The Fund's monies were expended not on encouraging emigration, however, but rather on supporting Jewish immigrants once they arrived in the United States and teaching them new trades and occupations. To that end, the Fund's Board of Directors, which included such prominent American Jews as Myer S. Isaacs, Jacob Schiff, and Oscar Straus, were given wide latitude in the selection of organizations and activities to support.

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