Morgenthau, Henry, Sr. (1856-1946)

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Written by (4)
Mentioned in (13)
Received by (11)
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American Red Cross

Jane Addams et al. to William Howard Taft, December 30, 1911

Henry and Josephine Morgenthau Sr. to Jane Addams, January 20, 1927

Josephine Sykes Morgenthau and Henry Morgenthau Sr. to Jane Addams, ca. September 6, 1930

Henry Morgenthau Sr. to Jane Addams, November 24, 1930

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Birth Date

1856-04-26

Death Date

1946-11-25

Birthplace

Mannheim, Germany

Biographical Text

Henry Morgenthau Sr. was a German lawyer and businessman. His father was a successful cigar manufacturer, but after the American Civil War, where there was a tobacco tariff, Morgenthau's family suffered financial difficulty. Because of this, they immigrated to New York in 1866. Morgenthau attended the City College of New York, and then Columbia Law School. He then worked as a lawyer but became wealthy due to investments in real estate. In 1912, he befriended Woodrow Wilson and contributed to his campaign, and in 1913 he was appointed the Ambassador of the Ottoman Empire. During the Armenian Genocide, Morgenthau urged the U.S. to intervene, but the U.S. government remained neutral. Morgenthau thus took it upon himself to meet with Ottoman leaders and attempt to end the genocide but met little success. He then created the Committee on Armenian Atrocities (later the Near East Relief) to raise funds for the Armenians and worked with the New York Times to constantly cover the genocide. In 1916, Morgenthau resigned due to the horrors of the genocide. In 1917, he went on a secret mission to persuade Turkey to abandon the Central Powers. After the war, Morgenthau attended the Paris Peace Conference and served as an advisor regarding Eastern Europe and the Middle East. He also worked with the Relief Committee for the Middle East, the Greek Refugee Settlement Commission, and the American Red Cross. In 1919 he led a fact-finding mission to Poland, which led to the Morgenthau Report. He was the American representative at the Geneva Conference in 1933.

Morgenthau married Josephine Sykes in 1882. They had four children, Helen, Alma, Henry Jr., and Ruth. Morgenthau died in 1946 after a cerebral hemorrhage.

Map

Edited By

DeLora, Renee

Sciancalepore, Victoria

Lichon, Sara Catherine

Bradley, Ed

Rights

Public domain

Gender

Male

First appears

1911

Bibliography and Links

SNAC

Wikipedia

Citation

“Morgenthau, Henry, Sr. (1856-1946),” Jane Addams Digital Edition, accessed September 13, 2026, https://digital.janeaddams.ramapo.edu/items/show/3724.

Morgenthau, Henry, Sr. (1856-1946)

Item Relations

American Red Cross

Jane Addams et al. to William Howard Taft, December 30, 1911

Henry and Josephine Morgenthau Sr. to Jane Addams, January 20, 1927

Josephine Sykes Morgenthau and Henry Morgenthau Sr. to Jane Addams, ca. September 6, 1930

Henry Morgenthau Sr. to Jane Addams, November 24, 1930

Paul Underwood Kellogg to Jane Addams, December 27, 1911

Jane Addams to Lillian D. Wald, March 6, 1912

Paul Underwood Kellogg to Jane Addams, March 9, 1916

Paul Underwood Kellogg to Jane Addams, February 9, 1917

Emily Greene Balch to Jane Addams, August 7, 1920

George Redington Montgomery to Jane Addams, January 19, 1921

Alice Stone Blackwell to Jane Addams, April 17, 1921

World Church Leaders Mobilize for March on Prague to End War , June 17, 1928

Celia Stone Hopkins to Josephine Sykes Morgenthau, August 16, 1930

Jane Addams to United Press, ca. September 4, 1930

Paul Underwood Kellogg to Jane Addams, September 5, 1930

Jane Addams Paid Birthday Tribune, September 7, 1930

Jane Addams to Esther Loeb Kohn, September 17, 1930

Announcement, Association pour la Sauvegarde du Droit es Gens, 1915

Emily Greene Balch to William Jennings Bryan, September 7, 1916

John Dewey et al. to Andrew Carnegie et al. January 31, 1917

Jane Addams to Henry Morgenthau Sr., August 11, 1930

William Tudor Gardiner to Henry Morgenthau Sr., August 14, 1930

Katharine F. Lenroot to Henry Morgenthau Sr., August 15, 1930

William Lawrence to Henry Morgenthau Sr., August 15, 1930

Julius Rosenwald to Henry Morgenthau Sr., August 16, 1930

Gerard Swope to Henry Morgenthau Sr. and Josephine Sykes Morgenthau, August 25, 1930

Julia Clifford Lathrop to Henry Morgenthau and Josephine Sykes Morgenthau, August 28, 1930

Jane Addams to Henry Morgenthau Sr., September 15, 1930

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