Max C. Rosenfeld Foundation Records

The Max C. Rosenfeld Foundation is an organization that grants non-interest loans to young Jewish women in the Boston area who need financial help in receiving an education or vocation. The Foundation was established by the will of Max C. Rosenfeld, a Boston bottle supply dealer and owner of the M.C. Rosenfeld Company. In his will, dated September 25, 1923 and attested to in the Suffolk Probate Court on June 12, 1933, Rosenfeld left over $200,000 of his estate to charities (both Jewish and non-Jewish) and created the Max C. Rosenfeld Foundation. He described the Foundation as “for the benefit of needy Jewish women living in the City of Boston or its suburbs. It is my desire in making this bequest to relieve a situation which my observations leads me to believe exists, the result largely of the inability of young Jewish women to secure adequate training or education to enable themselves to be self-supporting.”

He named Louis E. Kirstein, Lee M. Friedman, Louis Baer, Harry Liebmann, Carl Dreyfus, and Edward S. Goulston, all of Boston, and Ludwig Eisemann, of Swampscott, as the trustees of the Foundation.

Rosenfeld died on February 9, 1925, and the Foundation’s first loans were granted in 1935. Initially, the loans were granted exclusively for vocational training, rather than academic schooling, but the rules were eventually relaxed to include loans for undergraduate and graduate studies. In 1947, the administration of the scholarship fund was turned over to the Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Boston, but the trustees still had final say over all dispersed funds.

Applicants were eligible for loans if they were young Jewish women living in the Greater Boston Area, could prove their need for financial assistance in order to commence or continue education or vocational training, demonstrated their ability and aptitude (through grades and other school records) to likely succeed in their educational endeavors, and agreed to repay the loan when self-supporting. Typically, applicants filled out an application and met with a scholarship counselor, who then wrote an assessment with such notes as family history, counselor’s impressions, student expenses and income, and a recommended loan amount. After the application process, the trustees made decisions on all loans.

In 2014, the Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Greater Boston took over all remaining management duties of the Max C. Rosenfeld Foundation. Eligible applicants may receive up to $4,000 per year to pursue their education. In 2013, the Foundation loaned more than $50,000 to over 80 women.

September 25, 1923

Max C. Rosenfeld signs his will, in which he established the Max C. Rosenfeld Foundation.

February 9, 1925

Max C. Rosenfeld dies.

1935

The Max C. Rosenfeld Foundation begins granting its first loans.

1947

The Max C. Rosenfeld Foundation turns over the adminstration of its scholarship funs to the Jewish Family and Children's Service (JF&CS) of Greater Boston.

2014

JF&CS takes over remaining management duties of the Max C. Rosenfeld Foundation.