Presented jointly by the National Building Museum, the Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum, and March On!, this program is anchored in the National Building Museum’s exhibition A Better Life for Their Children and connects to the earlier same-day screenings at the Capital Jewish Museum. A moderated conversation and audience Q&A reflect on the enduring relevance of this partnership — underscoring the power of shared purpose and leadership in advancing a more just society. A reception follows.
- 1 pm and 4 pm: Screenings of Aviva Kempner’s documentary Rosenwald (1 hour, 40 minutes) at the Capital Jewish Museum
- 5 to 6 pm and 7:30 to 8:30 pm: Viewing of the National Building Museum exhibition A Better Life for Their Children: Julius Rosenwald, Booker T. Washington, and the 4,978 Schools that Changed America
- 6 to 7:30 pm: A moderated conversation and audience Q&A at the National Building Museum featuring leaders in history, education, film, and social impact
- 7:30 pm: An evening reception
Kwesi Daniels, PhD
Department Head of the Architecture Department at Tuskegee University — Moderator
Click Here To View Bio
Dr. Kwesi Daniels is an educator and cultural preservationist whose work explores the intersection of African American cultural heritage, architecture, sustainability, and community development. He is Department Head of Architecture and Associate Professor at Tuskegee University, where he developed the university’s historic preservation program and leads initiatives documenting and conserving significant African American and civil rights sites. Daniels holds degrees in architecture, sustainability management, and urban geography. His work has received support from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, National Endowment for the Humanities, Mellon Foundation, and others. He has lectured nationally and internationally and collaborated with institutions including MIT and the University of Pennsylvania.
Stephanie Deutsch
Author
Click Here To View Bio
Stephanie Deutsch is the author of You Need a Schoolhouse, Booker T. Washington, Julius Rosenwald and the Building of Schools for the Segregated South, published by Northwestern University Press. Since the book came out in 2011 she has been a frequent speaker at Rosenwald school alumni gatherings and other events. She serves on the board of the Campaign to Create the Julius Rosenwald and Rosenwald Schools National Historical Park, editing its newsletter and speaking at events promoting creation of the park which would be the first to honor a Jewish American. She lives in Washington, D.C. and is married to retired television director David Deutsch, a great grandson of Julius Rosenwald. They have four grown children and eight grandchildren.
Aviva Kempner
Film Director
Click Here To View Bio
Washington, D.C.-based filmmaker Aviva Kempner creates successful and critically acclaimed documentaries about under-known Jewish heroes and social justice for the past 45 years. A Pocketful of Miracles: A Tale of Two Siblings chronicles her family’s survival during the Holocaust. The Spy Behind Home Plate is about catcher and OSS spy Moe Berg. Rosenwald is about philanthropist Julius Rosenwald who established 5,000 African American schools in the Jim Crow South. She also made Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg, about Gertrude Berg who created the first television sitcom. and the Peabody winning The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg, which was remastered in 4K for the film’s 25th anniversary, and is about the Hall Famer slugger who faced anti-Semitism. Kempner produced Partisans of Vilna, about Jews fighting the Nazis.
Kempner also co-directed and co-produced Imagining the Indians, a documentary about the movement to remove Native American names, logos and mascots from the world of sports. She is finishing a documentary about Hollywood screenwriter and activist Ben Hecht, who tried to save European Jewry, and a short film entitled Pissed Off, which explores the struggles faced by female lawmakers in Congress who advocated for “potty parity” in the United States Capitol.
A member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Kempner is an activist for statehood for the District of Columbia.
Eugene Robinson
Author, Alumnus, Rosenwald School
Click Here To View Bio
Eugene Robinson is a Pulitzer Prize–winning American journalist, former columnist, and associate editor of The Washington Post, author, and political analyst. His prior positions included foreign editor, London correspondent, and South American correspondent. Born in Orangeburg, South Carolina, he graduated from the University of Michigan and worked at the San Francisco Chronicle before joining The Washington Post. Robinson's latest book, Freedom Lost, Freedom Won: A Personal History of America traces the arc of his familial lineage toward freedom and opportunity.
National Building Museum
401 F St NW, Washington, DC 20001
