Stuart Weitzman Gift Allows National Museum of American Jewish History to Buy Back Building After Emerging From Bankruptcy

The National Museum of American Jewish History has received a large donation that will enable the institution, which recently emerged from bankruptcy, to buy back its Old City building and establish an eight-figure endowment, the Philadelphia Business Journal reports.

The funds come from famed shoe designer and philanthropist Stuart Weitzman, who is also an alumnus of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. As a result of the donation the 101 S. Independence Mall E. museum is renaming itself the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, a title change that will be formally announced on Monday, the last day of Hanukkah.

Weitzman similarly made an undisclosed donation to the University of Pennsylvania in 2019 that prompted the institution to change the name of its design school to the University of Pennsylvania Stuart Weitzman School of Design. The National Museum of American Jewish History is also not disclosing the exact amount of Weitzman’s donation.