Etta Wedell Mastbaum (September 6, 1886 – November 1, 1953) was an American philanthropist, department store executive, art collector, and director of a national chain of motion picture theaters.

Biography

Born Etta Lit Wedell to a

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 ...

family on September 6, 1886, in Philadelphia, the daughter of Rachel Lit and Philip M. Wedell. Her mother founded the original store that became

Lit Brothers Lit Brothers was a moderately-priced department store based in Philadelphia. Samuel and Jacob Lit opened the first store at Market Street (Philadelphia), Market and N. 8th streets in 1891. Lits positioned itself well as a more affordable alterna ...

in 1891. Etta attended the Philadelphia Seminary for Women. In 1904, she married theatre owner Jules Mastbaum.

Collecting Rodin’s works

While traveling in Europe in the 1920s, Etta and her husband were intrigued by sculptor

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (; ; 12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a u ...

. That led to a lifetime of collecting his works and eventually amassing the largest collection — after Rodin’s own — of Rodin’s sculptures, bas-reliefs, drawings, books, and letters. The French government permitted them to remove the artworks from France, provided they be exhibited in a permanent structure open to the public. The Mastbaums built the

Jacques Gréber Jacques-Henri-Auguste Gréber (10 September 1882 – 5 June 1962) was a French architect specializing in landscape architecture and urban design. He was a strong proponent of the Beaux-Arts style and a contributor to the City Beautiful movement ...

and

Paul Cret Paul Philippe Cret (October 23, 1876 – September 8, 1945) was a French-born Philadelphia architect and industrial designer. For more than thirty years, he taught at a design studio in the Department of Architecture at the University of Pennsylv ...

designed

Rodin Museum The Rodin Museum is an art museum located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that contains one of the largest collections of sculptor Auguste Rodin's works outside Paris. Opened in 1929, the museum is administered by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. After the death of her husband in 1926, Etta donated the collection to the people of Philadelphia in his honor. She also donated a bronze cast by Rodin,

The Gates of Hell ''The Gates of Hell'' () is a monumental bronze sculptural group work by French artist Auguste Rodin that depicts a scene from the '' Inferno'', the first section of Dante Alighieri's ''Divine Comedy''. It stands at 6 metres high, 4&nb ...

, to France — which resulted in her being decorated by the government of France. She assumed control of her husband's company Stanley Company of America and served as an executive of her family's company

. She served as a second vice president of the Mastbaum Loan System, a not-for profit dedicated to providing financial assistance to the poor. She was also an active donor to the

American Red Cross The American National Red Cross is a Nonprofit organization, nonprofit Humanitarianism, humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Clara Barton founded ...

and Emergency Aid of Philadelphia.

Family life

Etta and Jules Mastbaum had three daughters: Louisette "Billie" Mastbaum Wolf Dickson, Margery "Peggy" Mastbaum Solomon, and Elizabeth Mastbaum. Etta was a member of

Congregation Mikveh Israel Congregation Mikveh Israel (), is a Sephardic Orthodox Jewish synagogue located at 44 North Fourth Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The congregation traces its history from 1740. Mikveh Israel is a Spanish and Portu ...

in Philadelphia. She died at age 67 in 1953, in

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mastbaum, Etta Wedell 1886 births 1953 deaths American philanthropists Mastbaum family 19th-century American Jews 20th-century American Jews