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STRAUS, Nathan (1848-1931), German-American, merchant and philanthropist, born in Otterberg, Germany. Like his brother, Isidor Straus, he immigrated to the U.S. in 1854. He became a partner in the R. H. Macy firm in 1888, and co-owner of the store in 1896. Straus served as park commissioner of New York City from 1889 to 1893. After 1892 he engaged in organizing the campaign for compulsory pasteurization of milk, and he estab lished pasteurized-milk stations in New York and several other cities. His philanthropic activities included the maintenance of a system of lodging houses and relief stations distributing coal and food to the poor in New York City; the establishment in 1909 of the first tuberculosis sanitarium for children at Farmingdale, N.Y.; the contribution of large sums to aid persons rendered destitute by the ravages of World War I; and the provision of funds for the erection of two health and welfare centers for people of all races and creeds in Palestine. |
