Victor Rosewater (February 13, 1871 – 1940) was a politician from the

U. S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

. Rosewater was born in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest ...

, to Edward and Leah Rosewater . His father was the founder of the

Omaha Bee The ''Omaha Daily Bee'' was a leading Republican newspaper that was active in the late 19th and early 20th century. The paper's editorial slant frequently pitted it against the ''Omaha Herald'', the '' Omaha Republican'' and other local papers. ...

, which ran its first issue the year Victor was born. He was educated at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

in 1888 and then attended

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

, earning a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

in 1893. He returned to Omaha to work with his father and became managing editor in 1895. He then served as a member of

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United State ...

board of regents 1896–97. He served as a director of the Omaha Public Library 1894–1905 and the Omaha Board of Review in 1903. Rosewater married Katie and had two children, Harriet and Edward Rosewater Jr. In 1906, Rosewater helped his father run for the U.S. Senate as a Republican, yet unsuccessful against

Norris Brown Norris Brown (May 2, 1863January 5, 1960) was a Senator from Nebraska. Brown was born in Maquoketa, Iowa. The son of William Henry Harrison and Eliza Ann Phelps Brown, he attended Jefferson Iowa Academy and graduated with a law degree from the U ...

, who was also a Republican. His father died on August 31, 1906 and he took over as managing editor of the ''

'', becoming editor the following year. At the time of his death, Rosewater senior had been involved in plans for launching the

American Jewish Committee The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the dean of American Jewish o ...

, and Victor assumed his father's role, becoming a founder of the AJC. He was a Nebraska delegate to the

1908 Republican National Convention The 1908 Republican National Convention was held in Chicago Coliseum, Chicago, Illinois on June 16 to June 19, 1908. It convened to nominate successors to President Theodore Roosevelt and Vice President Charles W. Fairbanks. U.S. Secretary of ...

and a member of

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. political committee that assists the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in ...

, 1908–12, serving as its chairman in 1912 and planning its convention that year. Rosewater later moved to

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, where he became involved in planning the

Sesquicentennial Exposition The Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition of 1926 was a world's fair in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its purpose was to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence, and the 50th anniversary o ...

, which celebrated the 150th anniversary of the signing of the

Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of th ...

. He continued his newspaper career writing columns for various papers and wrote an unpublished biography on his father. He died aged 69.

External links

*
Rosewater Family Papers
*

1871 births 1940 deaths American people of Czech-Jewish descent Nebraska Republicans Republican National Committee chairs Jews and Judaism in Omaha, Nebraska Pennsylvania Republicans Politicians from Omaha, Nebraska {{Nebraska-politician-stub