Abraham Lincoln Filene
Abraham Lincoln Filene was an American businessman and philanthropist.
Biography
Born to a Jewish family in Boston, Massachusetts, he was one of 5 children of William Filene and Clara Ballin. His parents were German Jewish immigrants - his father from Posen, Prussia and mother was born in Segnitz, Bavaria - who immigrated to the United States in 1848. His father founded Filene's department stores.Known by his middle name, Lincoln, together with his older brother Edward, built his father's store into a highly successful business.
A social reformer, Lincoln Filene supported the History of women's suffrage in [the United States|American women's suffrage movement] and went against the position taken by most members of the American business community when he publicly supported President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal agenda.
Filene had a keen interest in educational issues and served as a member of the Executive Board of the National Committee for the United [States Department of Education|Department of Education]. A philanthropist, in 1937 he and his wife established the Lincoln and Therese Filene Foundation. They supported numerous educational endeavours including the "Lincoln Filene Center for Citizenship and Public Affairs" at Tufts University and in 1955 funded the first educational television station in the city of Boston.