Rhoda Pritzker
Encyclopedia
Rhoda Pritzker was a British
-American
philanthropist
. She was a member of the Pritzker family
, one of the wealthiest families in Chicago
, through her marriage to lawyer
and businessman, Jack Pritzker. The Pritzker family founded the Hyatt
hotel chain during the 1950s.
, England
. Her parents were Morris Goldberg, a Gilbert and Sullivan
circus
performer, and Cissie Goldberg, a concert pianist. She did not begin her schooling until she was ten years old due to a case of tuberculosis
. She dropped out before completing high school
in order to take a position with a newspaper
in Southport, Lancashire. She also worked for a number of other British newspapers and the British Broadcasting Corporation at a young age.
Goldberg immigrated to the United States
in 1939 on one of the last trans-Atlantic passenger ship convoys before the full outbreak of World War II
. Pritzker family lore claims that she wore her life preserver
throughout the entire length of the voyage due to the constant threat of German
U-boat
attack.
She initially took a job as a blackjack
dealer in Reno, Nevada
, as part of an assignment for a magazine
before landing a position in New York City
as a foreign correspondent
for The Associated Press of Great Britain
during World War II.
Goldberg met her future husband, Jack Pritzker, on a blind date in Manhattan
. The couple were married in 1943, shortly after Jack entered the U.S. Navy as a lieutenant, junior grade during World War II. Rhoda and Jack resided in Princeton, New Jersey
, and Key West, Florida
, during the war. Rhoda volunteered for the Red Cross while living in Key West, beginning her career in philanthropy.
Rhoda moved to Chicago
with her husband following the end of World War II. Jack Pritzker resumed his career as a lawyer at his law firm, Pritzker and Pritzker. Rhoda continued to work as a freelance journalist after her arrival in Chicago. However, she also became deeply interested in philanthropy. The couple bought a winter home in Casey Key, Florida, in 1970.
Rhoda and Jack Pritzker had one son, Nick Pritzker. Her husband, Jack, died in 1979.
Pritzker was known to be a passionate contemporary British art
collector. She was a leading supporter of works by such artists as Barbara Hepworth
, Henry Moore
and L.S. Lowry.
throughout her life. Many of the causes which she championed involved animal
s, education
and the arts
. She took a particular interest in philanthropic topics in the Chicago area and the west coast of Florida
, where she had her winter home.
of the Goodman School of Drama
(now called the Theater School at DePaul University
) for many years. She was a founding board member of the New College of Florida
and continued to serve on the school's board for more than 20 years. Pritzker was a major donor to the New College of Florida's $2.5 million dollar Marine Biology
Research Center, which opened in the late 1990s. In the mid-2000s, an endowment
fund and college dormitory
were named for Rhoda Pritzker after the Pritzker family's philanthropic foundation gave the college $2 million in her Rhoda's name.
Additionally, Pritzker served on the board of trustees of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art
in Sarasota, Florida
, during the 1980s.
and adoption service. She also actively supported a number of animal shleters and rescue centers in Florida. She was reported to be close friends with Cleveland Amory
, a well known animal rights activist. Pritzker was personally known to take in and adopt stray animals.
Pritzker never collected or wore fur coats.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
. She was a member of the Pritzker family
Pritzker family
The Pritzker family is one of America's wealthiest families, and has been near the top of Forbes magazine's "America's Richest Families" list since the magazine began in 1982....
, one of the wealthiest families in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, through her marriage to lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
and businessman, Jack Pritzker. The Pritzker family founded the Hyatt
Hyatt
Hyatt Hotels Corporation , is an international operator of hotels.Hyatt Center is the headquarters for Hyatt corporation...
hotel chain during the 1950s.
Personal life
Rhoda Pritzker was born Rhoda Goldberg in 1914 in ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Her parents were Morris Goldberg, a Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
circus
Circus
A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...
performer, and Cissie Goldberg, a concert pianist. She did not begin her schooling until she was ten years old due to a case of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
. She dropped out before completing high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
in order to take a position with a newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
in Southport, Lancashire. She also worked for a number of other British newspapers and the British Broadcasting Corporation at a young age.
Goldberg immigrated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1939 on one of the last trans-Atlantic passenger ship convoys before the full outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Pritzker family lore claims that she wore her life preserver
Life preserver
Life preserver or Life-preserver may refer to:*Personal flotation device*Lifebuoy, a ring-shaped flotation device*A kind of club...
throughout the entire length of the voyage due to the constant threat of German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
attack.
She initially took a job as a blackjack
Blackjack
Blackjack, also known as Twenty-one or Vingt-et-un , is the most widely played casino banking game in the world...
dealer in Reno, Nevada
Reno, Nevada
Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...
, as part of an assignment for a magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
before landing a position in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
as a foreign correspondent
Foreign correspondent
Foreign Correspondent may refer to:*Foreign correspondent *Foreign Correspondent , an Alfred Hitchcock film*Foreign Correspondent , an Australian current affairs programme...
for The Associated Press of Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
during World War II.
Goldberg met her future husband, Jack Pritzker, on a blind date in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. The couple were married in 1943, shortly after Jack entered the U.S. Navy as a lieutenant, junior grade during World War II. Rhoda and Jack resided in Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
, and Key West, Florida
Key West, Florida
Key West is a city in Monroe County, Florida, United States. The city encompasses the island of Key West, the part of Stock Island north of U.S. 1 , Sigsbee Park , Fleming Key , and Sunset Key...
, during the war. Rhoda volunteered for the Red Cross while living in Key West, beginning her career in philanthropy.
Rhoda moved to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
with her husband following the end of World War II. Jack Pritzker resumed his career as a lawyer at his law firm, Pritzker and Pritzker. Rhoda continued to work as a freelance journalist after her arrival in Chicago. However, she also became deeply interested in philanthropy. The couple bought a winter home in Casey Key, Florida, in 1970.
Rhoda and Jack Pritzker had one son, Nick Pritzker. Her husband, Jack, died in 1979.
Pritzker was known to be a passionate contemporary British art
British art
British art could refer to:* Art of the United Kingdom - post 1707* English art* Irish art* Scottish art* Welsh art...
collector. She was a leading supporter of works by such artists as Barbara Hepworth
Barbara Hepworth
Dame Barbara Hepworth DBE was an English sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism, and with such contemporaries as Ivon Hitchens, Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson, Naum Gabo she helped to develop modern art in Britain.-Life and work:Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth was born on 10 January 1903 in Wakefield,...
, Henry Moore
Henry Moore
Henry Spencer Moore OM CH FBA was an English sculptor and artist. He was best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art....
and L.S. Lowry.
Philanthropy
Rhoda Pritzker supported a wide array of causes and organizations as a philanthropistPhilanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
throughout her life. Many of the causes which she championed involved animal
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
s, education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
and the arts
ARts
aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....
. She took a particular interest in philanthropic topics in the Chicago area and the west coast of Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, where she had her winter home.
Education and Art
Pritzker served on the board of directorsBoard of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
of the Goodman School of Drama
Goodman School of Drama
The Goodman School of Drama is now renamed The Theatre School at DePaul University. Founded in 1925 in Chicago, Illinois, a city with a rich theatrical heritage, the Goodman School became part of DePaul University in 1978 and was renamed The Theatre School at DePaul University in 1982...
(now called the Theater School at DePaul University
DePaul University
DePaul University is a private institution of higher education and research in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th century French priest Saint Vincent de Paul...
) for many years. She was a founding board member of the New College of Florida
New College of Florida
New College of Florida is a public liberal arts college located in Sarasota, Florida. It was founded originally as a private institution and is now an autonomous honors college of the State University System of Florida.-History:...
and continued to serve on the school's board for more than 20 years. Pritzker was a major donor to the New College of Florida's $2.5 million dollar Marine Biology
Marine biology
Marine biology is the scientific study of organisms in the ocean or other marine or brackish bodies of water. Given that in biology many phyla, families and genera have some species that live in the sea and others that live on land, marine biology classifies species based on the environment rather...
Research Center, which opened in the late 1990s. In the mid-2000s, an endowment
Financial endowment
A financial endowment is a transfer of money or property donated to an institution. The total value of an institution's investments is often referred to as the institution's endowment and is typically organized as a public charity, private foundation, or trust....
fund and college dormitory
Dormitory
A dormitory, often shortened to dorm, in the United States is a residence hall consisting of sleeping quarters or entire buildings primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people, often boarding school, college or university students...
were named for Rhoda Pritzker after the Pritzker family's philanthropic foundation gave the college $2 million in her Rhoda's name.
Additionally, Pritzker served on the board of trustees of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art
John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art
The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art is the state art museum of Florida, located in Sarasota, Florida. It was established in 1927 as the legacy of Mable and John Ringling for the people of Florida...
in Sarasota, Florida
Sarasota, Florida
Sarasota is a city located in Sarasota County on the southwestern coast of the U.S. state of Florida. It is south of the Tampa Bay Area and north of Fort Myers...
, during the 1980s.
Animal and environmental causes
Pritzker helped to establish the Chicago area Animal Protective Association, an animal shelterAnimal shelter
An animal shelter is a facility that houses homeless, lost, or abandoned animals; primarily a large variety of dogs and cats.Parrots, for example, are the third most common pet owned by people...
and adoption service. She also actively supported a number of animal shleters and rescue centers in Florida. She was reported to be close friends with Cleveland Amory
Cleveland Amory
Cleveland Amory was an American author who devoted his life to promoting animal rights. He was perhaps best known for his books about his cat, named Polar Bear, whom he saved from the Manhattan streets on Christmas Eve 1977...
, a well known animal rights activist. Pritzker was personally known to take in and adopt stray animals.
Pritzker never collected or wore fur coats.