BJI 2025 - “You Need A Schoolhouse” with Stephanie Deutsch
Author Stephanie Deutsch featured guest (by Zoom) for the second session of the 2025 “Let’s Go Shopping” Series
Introductory remarks by host and moderator Gail Robinson:
It is my pleasure to introduce Stephanie Deutsch, a distinguished author, historian, and advocate for education and social justice.
Stephanie 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 its release in 2011, she has become a prominent voice in preserving and sharing the legacy of the Rosenwald Schools. She has spoken widely—at alumni gatherings, schools, and documentary screenings—and is deeply involved in the effort to establish the Julius Rosenwald and Rosenwald Schools National Historical Park, which would be the first to honor a Jewish American. She serves on the board of the campaign and edits its newsletter.
A native of Washington, D.C., Stephanie spent her childhood in Virginia, New Zealand, and France, thanks to her father’s work in the Foreign Service. She studied Russian at Brown University, lived in Moscow, and earned a master’s degree in Soviet Union Area Studies from Harvard. But it was during her years raising a family that she found her calling as a writer with a passion for American history.
Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Millions blog, and her local community newspaper. For twenty years, she chaired the grants committee of the Capitol Hill Community Foundation, helping to distribute over $350,000 annually in small but impactful grants.
Stephanie lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband David Deutsch, a retired television director and great-grandson of Julius Rosenwald. Together they have four children and eight grandchildren.
About “You Need a Schoolhouse”, moderator notes:
In a compelling presentation, Stephanie Deutsch—author of You Need a Schoolhouse—illuminated the enduring impact of Julius Rosenwald, a man whose name remains synonymous with one of the most significant philanthropic efforts in American educational history. Despite his immense success as part-owner and president of Sears, Roebuck and Company, Rosenwald dedicated his wealth and energy to addressing racial inequality in education through a pioneering partnership with African American communities in the segregated South.
