Joseph Meyerhoff

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American lawyer (1899–1985)

title: "Joseph Meyerhoff" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1899-births", "1985-deaths", "20th-century-american-businesspeople", "20th-century-american-jews", "20th-century-american-lawyers", "20th-century-american-philanthropists", "american-businesspeople-in-construction", "american-people-of-russian-jewish-descent", "american-people-of-ukrainian-jewish-descent", "american-businesspeople-in-the-real-estate-industry", "american-zionists", "baltimore-city-college-alumni", "businesspeople-from-baltimore", "maryland-lawyers", "emigrants-from-the-russian-empire-to-the-united-states", "university-of-maryland-francis-king-carey-school-of-law-alumni"] description: "American lawyer (1899–1985)" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Meyerhoff" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American lawyer (1899–1985) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

FieldValue
nameJoseph Meyerhoff
birth_date
birth_placePoltava, Russian Empire (now Ukraine)
death_date
death_placeBaltimore, Maryland, United States
occupationEntrepreneur, investor, philanthropist
spouseRebecca Witten
childrenHarvey Meyerhoff
Eleanor Meyerhoff Katz
Peggy Meyerhoff Pearlstone
::

| name = Joseph Meyerhoff | image = | caption = | birth_date = | birth_place = Poltava, Russian Empire (now Ukraine) | death_date = | death_place = Baltimore, Maryland, United States | occupation = Entrepreneur, investor, philanthropist | spouse = Rebecca Witten | children = Harvey Meyerhoff Eleanor Meyerhoff Katz Peggy Meyerhoff Pearlstone | net_worth = ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Joseph_Meyerhoff_Symphony_Hall_(1982;_Pietro_Belluschi,_Inc._and_Jung_Brannen_Associates,_architects),_1212_Cathedral_Street,_Baltimore,MD_21201(32652274537).jpg"] ::

Joseph Meyerhoff (April 8, 1899 – February 2, 1985) was an American businessman, fundraiser, and philanthropist based in Baltimore, Maryland. His son was Harvey Meyerhoff.

Biography

Professional career

Meyerhoff was born in Poltava in what is now Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire, and was brought to the United States as a young boy in 1906. He grew up in Baltimore and graduated from Baltimore City College (which, despite its name, is a public high school); he then attended and completed his law degree at the University of Maryland in the mid-1930s. Meyerhoff practiced law for some years upon graduation from the UM School of Law until he opened a construction company with his brother called Monumental Properties Inc. This firm thrived for nearly 40 years until it was sold for about $180M (making Meyerhoff and his family one of the wealthiest in Baltimore). Monumental Properties was responsible for many buildings in Baltimore and Baltimore County, Maryland, including various housing developments and shopping centers throughout the west side. During the 1940s, Meyerhoff refused to rent or sell to fellow Jews in the affluent and predominantly white Christian neighborhood of Roland Park in Baltimore. In 1948, the Baltimore Jewish Council wrote Meyerhoff a formal letter denouncing his complicity in antisemitic real estate practices and requested that he show solidarity with the Jewish community, but Meyerhoff insisted that his career would be ruined if he sold or rented to Jews in non-Jewish neighborhoods. In the early 1950s, Meyerhoff and other prominent Jewish-American businessmen were chosen to assist Israel during its initial establishment crises. He retired in 1965.

Philanthropy

Meyerhoff continued his career as an avid philanthropist serving as president of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in the 1970s, where he personally contributed money and helped raise millions of dollars. He is credited, along with music director Sergiu Comissiona, with re-organizing and revitalizing the group. The BSO's primary home, the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, is named after him. Meyerhoff also supported many other Jewish charities and art museums throughout Baltimore and was eventually inducted into the Baltimore Business Hall of Fame along with Robert Merrick.

Personal life

Meyerhoff was married in the 1930s to Rebecca Witten and they had three children whom they raised in Baltimore:

References

References

  1. "New book on segregation and bigotry holds up a harsh mirror to Baltimore". [[Baltimore Brew]].
  2. [http://jwa.org/weremember/meyerhoff-lenore Jewish Women's Archive: "Lenore Pancoe Meyerhoff - Philanthropist, Republican Activist 1927 – 1988] retrieved August 22, 2014
  3. [https://web.archive.org/web/20140826113215/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1990-12-30/features/1990364214_1_married-whirlwind-down-the-aisle Baltimore Sun: "It Was A Good Year To Stroll Down The Aisle" By LAURA CHARLES] December 30, 1990
  4. [https://web.archive.org/web/20140826113649/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2014-02-21/news/fl-eleanor-katz-obituary-20140221_1_professional-volunteer-thomas-katz-broward-federation Sun Sentinel: "Philanthropic woman, a 'professional volunteer,' dies at 80" By Lisa J. Huriash] February 21, 2014
  5. She was married to Herb Katz, the first president of the Jewish Federation of Broward County.[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F07E0DF163AF936A1575AC0A9619C8B63 New York Times: "Paid Notice: Deaths - KATZ, HERBERT D"] September 25, 2007
  6. [https://web.archive.org/web/20160304043339/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1990-09-14/features/1990257031_1_downstairs-theater-pearlstone-upstairs-theater Baltimore Sun: "Theater plans open house" By J. Wynn Rousuck] September 14, 1990
  7. [http://pearlstonecenter.org/mission-history/history/ Pearlstone Center: "History of the Jack Pearlstone Institute for Living Judaism and The Pearlstone Conference and Retreat Center"] {{Webarchive. link. (2015-07-31 retrieved August 9, 2015)
  8. [https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1994-06-28-1994179008-story.html Baltimore Sun: "Pearlstone, in family tradition, takes helm of Jewish fund-raising effort" by Frank P. L. Somerville] June 28, 1994

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1899-births1985-deaths20th-century-american-businesspeople20th-century-american-jews20th-century-american-lawyers20th-century-american-philanthropistsamerican-businesspeople-in-constructionamerican-people-of-russian-jewish-descentamerican-people-of-ukrainian-jewish-descentamerican-businesspeople-in-the-real-estate-industryamerican-zionistsbaltimore-city-college-alumnibusinesspeople-from-baltimoremaryland-lawyersemigrants-from-the-russian-empire-to-the-united-statesuniversity-of-maryland-francis-king-carey-school-of-law-alumni