Rhoda Pritzker (née Goldberg; September 11, 1914 – December 23, 2007) was a British-born American philanthropist. She was a member of the

Pritzker family The Pritzker family is an American family engaged in various business enterprises and philanthropy, and one of the wealthiest families in the United States (staying in the top 10 of ''Forbes'' magazine's "America's Richest Families" list since th ...

, one of the wealthiest families in Chicago, through her marriage to lawyer and businessman, Jack Nicholas Pritzker. The Pritzker family founded the

Hyatt Hyatt Hotels Corporation, commonly known as Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, is an American multinational corporation, multinational hospitality company headquartered in the 150 North Riverside, Riverside Plaza area of Chicago that manages and franchise ...

hotel chain during the 1950s.

Personal life

Rhoda Pritzker was born Rhoda Goldberg in 1914 to

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

parents in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, England. Her parents were Morris Goldberg, a

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen com ...

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

performer, and Cissie Goldberg, a

concert pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz, blues, and popular music, including rock and roll. Most pianists can, to ...

. She did not begin her schooling until she was ten years old due to a case of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. She dropped out before completing high school in order to take a position with a newspaper in

Southport, Lancashire Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

. She also worked for a number of other British newspapers and the

British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public broadcasting, public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved in ...

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 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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 U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

attack. She initially took a job as a

blackjack Blackjack (formerly black jack or ''vingt-un'') is a casino banking game. It is the most widely played casino banking game in the world. It uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as " twenty-one ...

dealer in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

, as part of an assignment for a magazine before landing a position in New York City as a

foreign correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

for

The Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are distributed to its members, major ...

of Great Britain during World War II. Goldberg met her future husband, Jack Nicholas Pritzker, on a

blind date A blind date is a romantic meeting between two people who have never met before. Both parties arrange a date with little to no information about each other, hoping for the possibility of making a lasting impression. Typically, a family member or ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. The couple were married in 1943, shortly after Jack entered the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

as a lieutenant, junior grade during World War II. Rhoda and Jack resided in

Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...

, and

Key West, Florida Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Sigsbee Park, Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Islan ...

, during the war. Rhoda volunteered for the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

while living in Key West, beginning her career in philanthropy. She 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. She continued to work as a

freelance journalist ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

after her arrival in Chicago. However, she also became deeply interested in philanthropy. The couple bought a winter home in

Casey Key, Florida Casey Key is a barrier island off the coast of Southwest Florida, located south of Siesta Key. Casey Key is part of the North Port—Sarasota—Bradenton Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, United Stat ...

, in 1970. Rhoda and Jack Pritzker had one son,

Nicholas J. Pritzker Nicholas J. Pritzker (born October 16, 1945) is an American real estate and venture entrepreneur in San Francisco, California. He served as the Chairman of the board and CEO of the Hyatt Development Corporation. He is a member of the wealthy Prit ...

. She was widowed in 1979.

Other interests

She was known to be a passionate contemporary

British art The art of the United Kingdom refers to all forms of visual art in or associated with the country since the formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707 and encompasses English art, Scottish art, Welsh art and Irish art, and forms part ...

collector. She was a leading supporter of works by such artists as

Barbara Hepworth Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (10 January 1903 – 20 May 1975) was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture. Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a leadin ...

Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi-abstract art, abstract monumental Bronze sculpture, bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. Moore ...

and

L.S. Lowry Laurence Stephen Lowry ( ; 1 November 1887 – 23 February 1976) was an English artist. His drawings and paintings mainly depict Pendlebury, Greater Manchester (where he lived and worked for more than 40 years) as well as Salford and its ...

Philanthropy

Rhoda Pritzker supported a wide array of causes and organizations as a philanthropist throughout her life. Many of the causes which she championed involved animals, education and the arts.

Education and Art

Pritzker served on the board of directors of the

Goodman School of Drama The Theatre School at DePaul University, previously the Goodman School of Drama (also known as TTS and GSD, respectively) is the drama school of DePaul University. Originally associated with the Goodman Theatre, its first class was conducted at ...

(now called the Theater School at DePaul University) for many years. She was a founding board member of the

New College of Florida New College of Florida is a public university, public liberal arts college in Sarasota, Florida, United States. The college is a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. New College has the smallest student enrollment in the State U ...

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

Marine Biology Marine biology is the scientific study of the biology of marine life, organisms that inhabit the sea. Given that in biology many scientific classification, phyla, family (biology), families and genera have some species that live in the sea and ...

Research Center, which opened in the late 1990s. In the mid-2000s, an endowment fund and college

dormitory A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm), also known as a hall of residence, a residence hall (often abbreviated to halls), or a hostel, is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential qu ...

were named for Rhoda Pritzker after the Pritzker family's

philanthropic foundation A foundation (also referred to as a charitable foundation) is a type of nonprofit organization or charitable trust that usually provides funding and support to other charitable organizations through grants, while also potentially participating di ...

gave the college $2 million in her Rhoda's name. Additionally, Pritzker served on the

board of trustees A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

of the

John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art is the official state art museum of Florida, located in Sarasota, Florida. It was established in 1927 as the legacy of Mable Burton Ringling and John Ringling for the people of Florida. Florida State Uni ...

Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers, Florida, Fort Myers and Punta Gorda, Florida, Punta Gord ...

, during the 1980s.

Animal and environmental causes

Pritzker helped to establish the Chicago area Animal Protective Association, an

animal shelter An animal shelter or pound is a place where stray, lost, abandoned or surrendered animals – mostly dogs and cats – are housed. The word "pound" has its origins in the animal pounds of the agricultural communities, where stray livestock w ...

and adoption service. She also actively supported a number of animal shelters and rescue centers in Florida. She was reported to be close friends with

Cleveland Amory Cleveland Amory (September 2, 1917 – October 14, 1998) was an American author, reporter, television critic, commentator and animal rights activist. He wrote a series of popular books poking fun at the pretensions and customs of society, start ...

, a well-known animal rights activist. Pritzker was personally known to take in and adopt stray animals. She never collected or wore

fur coats Fur clothing is clothing made from the preserved skins of mammals. Fur is one of the oldest forms of clothing and is thought to have been widely used by people for at least 120,000 years. The term 'fur' is often used to refer to a specific item ...

Death

Rhoda Pritzker died at her winter home in

, on December 23, 2007, at the age of 93. She had reportedly been in declining health for several months. Her funeral was held in Chicago.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pritzker, Rhoda 1914 births 2007 deaths American reporters and correspondents American people of German-Jewish descent Jewish American journalists English Jews English people of German-Jewish descent Philanthropists from Chicago Philanthropists from Greater Manchester New College of Florida Rhoda Goldberg BBC newsreaders and journalists British emigrants to the United States English journalists DePaul University people American women television journalists American women radio hosts 20th-century American philanthropists 20th-century American women 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women