Back to Life

For longtime resident Andrew Fisher, retirement didn’t mean slowing down. Instead, it sparked a deep desire to research history, culminating in his new biography, “Nathan Straus: From Macy’s Magnate to International Humanitarian.”

Built in Ridgewood

Fisher and his wife, Lois, moved from Brooklyn to the Willard School district in 1985, shortly after they were married. Over the years, the Village became the backdrop for family life as they raised their children, Daniel and Julia, who are both graduates of the Ridgewood public school system.

Like many residents, Fisher says he was drawn to the community’s emphasis on education and civic life. That spirit of curiosity and engagement would later shape the project that would occupy his retirement.

Before becoming an author, Fisher spent 35 years working with charitable foundations in Manhattan. During the latter part of his career, he served as the founding executive director of the Lavelle Fund for the Blind, advancing the adaptive school and professional success of New York-based people who are blind. The organization also works to prevent or reverse blindness in the developing world. “An energizing mission,” as Fisher puts it, which led to his recognition as a recipient of the Helen Keller International Humanitarian Award.

After retiring in 2020, Fisher found himself looking for a project that would combine his lifelong interest in philanthropy with his experience as a writer. “I was seeking a story of a great American philanthropist whose story was untold,” says Fisher. I noticed that no one had written a book-length biography of Nathan Straus.”

He found exactly that in the story of a man most Americans have heard of—but rarely know.

The Man Behind the Name

Many people recognize the department store name Macy’s, but far fewer know the remarkable story of one of its former co-owners, Nathan Straus.

Straus, who lived from 1848 to 1931, was a German-Jewish immigrant who rose from modest beginnings to become a successful merchant and department store partner in both Macy’s and Brooklyn’s Abraham & Straus. But according to Fisher, Straus’s greatest achievements happened outside the retail world.

“He was something of a Renaissance man,” Fisher explains. “A nonstop dynamo who achieved in many realms.”

Straus’s philanthropy earned praise from leaders across the globe—including figures such as Albert Einstein—and when he died in 1931, thousands attended his funeral. Yet despite that prominence during his lifetime, his story faded from public memory.

That absence is what first intrigued Fisher, who felt that Straus deserved to be remembered.

Saving Lives

Straus became one of the first major businessmen to back the American Zionist movement’s Jewish homeland work to establish a sovereign Jewish state (eventually this became Israel). He served in high government offices in New York and was even once nominated for New York City mayor.

But Straus’s most historic efforts were in another realm: philanthropy. Inspired by both his Jewish golden-rule values and non-nonsense pragmatism, he designed, funded, and oversaw four large philanthropic initiatives. Three of these worked to advance public health, including the founding of America’s first tuberculosis preventorium for at-risk children; a model for 45 others that followed. However, Straus’s most important legacy came from an unlikely source: milk.

In the late 19th century, contaminated milk posed a deadly threat to infants and young children. Raw milk frequently carried diseases such as tuberculosis, cholera, and scarlet fever. The supply chain was lengthy and inconsistent. Milk traveled long distances through poorly refrigerated systems and passed through numerous handlers before reaching consumers. By the time city residents consumed it, the milk may have traveled 50 to 200 miles and be two to three days old. Risky delays for an organic liquid that decomposes faster than most foods!

Straus became convinced that pasteurization—the heating of milk to kill harmful bacteria—could save lives. The process had been pioneered only a generation earlier by French scientist Louis Pasteur, but many physicians were still skeptical of its value. Straus, however, was not.

In 1893, he began funding pasteurized milk depots in New York City that provided safe milk to families with infants. Eventually, he established 17 such stations in Manhattan alone, distributing thousands of bottles daily to 2500 needy families with infants.

Straus used his influence, resources, and business know-how to persuade governments across the United States and Europe to mandate milk pasteurization. The impact was enormous: infant mortality rates dropped dramatically as safer milk became standard. Public health historians today credit these efforts with saving countless lives.

During the same period of time, Straus also launched a food, fuel, and housing relief program that benefited tens of thousands of jobless New Yorkers during the 1890s depression, all while helping to lead Macy’s and acquiring a major stake in Abraham and Straus.

A Complex and Compelling Figure

While researching the biography, Fisher spent years examining archives, including the Nathan Straus papers at the New York Public Library and materials held by the Straus Historical Society Archives on Long Island. He also consulted records at the Library of Congress and the Center for Jewish History.

The deeper he dug, the more complex Straus became.

Despite his accomplishments, Straus struggled with emotional volatility and periods of exhaustion. The death of his brother, Isidor Straus, and sister-in-law, Ida, aboard the Titanic in 1912 deeply affected him. He was at odds with Isidor’s sons over control of Macy’s and suffered what his family referred to as “nervous breakdowns,” forcing him into months of secluded rest at home.

“I was astonished that a person with such emotional wiring could sustain high-octane careers in business, philanthropy, and Jewish leadership for decades,” says Fisher. “One indispensable support here was the devoted love and protection of his remarkable wife, Lina.”

Lessons for Today

What makes Straus’s story resonate today, Fisher believes, is his unwavering commitment to moral responsibility and belief in the evidence of science.

Straus believed wealth carried an obligation to help others—a principle rooted in his Jewish faith and belief in justice through charity. Much of his fortune was given away while he was still living, and he was actively involved in designing, overseeing, documenting, and promoting his philanthropic initiatives. “It was a bravura performance matched by few,” says Fisher.

Straus also relied heavily on proven science. His advocacy for pasteurization came at a time when many experts doubted the emerging field of bacteriology. By trusting scientific research and insisting on practical solutions, Straus helped transform public health policy.

“Those lessons feel especially relevant today,” Fisher says, “empathy paired with respect for science and facts.”

The Joy of Rediscovery

Early reactions to Fisher’s book have been enthusiastic. Readers have praised both its scholarship and storytelling. Scholars of Jewish history, public health, and philanthropy have welcomed the biography as a long-overdue recognition of a figure whose contributions shaped modern society.

For Fisher, the project has been deeply rewarding—not only as a historian but as a storyteller.

After years spent piecing together letters, records, and forgotten accounts, he feels a sense of satisfaction in helping restore Straus to the historical narrative.

“It’s astonishing,” he says, “that someone with substantial but not unlimited wealth could influence public health across so many cities and countries.”

For now, Fisher is focused on sharing the book with readers and speaking about Straus’s legacy. But the writing bug has clearly taken hold. He hopes to eventually take on another biographical project—ideally about someone equally fascinating within the world of philanthropy.

Local readers may look forward to other compelling biographies from their Ridgewood neighbor in the years to come!

For more information, visit andrewfisherwriter.com.