Isidor and Ida Straus
Isidor Straus and Rosalie Ida Straus were an American couple who died in the [Sinking of the Titanic|sinking of the Titanic] in 1912. Isidor was a German-Jewish businessman, politician, U.S. congressman and co-owner of Macy's department store with his brother Nathan. He also served for just over a year as a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing the state of New York. He died with his wife, Ida, in the sinking of the Titanic.
Early lives
Isidor Straus was born on February 6, 1845, into a Jewish family in Otterberg in the former Palatinate, then ruled by the Kingdom of Bavaria. He was the first of five children of Lazarus Straus and his second wife and first cousin, Sara Straus. His siblings were Hermine, Nathan, Jakob Otto and Oscar Solomon Straus. In 1854 he and his family immigrated to the United States, following his father, Lazarus, who immigrated two years before. They settled first in Columbus, Georgia, and then lived in Talbotton, Georgia, where their house still exists today.Straus was preparing to go to the United States Military Academy at West Point when the outbreak of the American Civil War prevented him from doing so. In 1861, he was elected an officer in a Confederate military unit but was not allowed to serve because of his youth; in 1863, he went to England to secure ships for American Civil War|blockade running]. Straus worked as an aide to a London-based Confederate agent while living in England, as well as a Confederate bond salesman in both London and Amsterdam.
Rosalie Ida Blun was born in 1849 in Worms to Nathan Blün and his wife Wilhelmine "Mindel". She was the fifth of seven children. She emigrated to the United States with her family in 1850.
Career
After the Civil War, the Straus family moved to New York City, where Lazarus convinced Rowland Hussey Macy, founder of Macy's, to allow L. Straus & Sons to open a crockery department in the basement of his store.Isidor Straus worked at L. Straus & Sons, which became the glass and china department at Macy's. In 1888, he and Nathan Straus became partners of Macy's. In 1893 he and his brother bought a controlling interest in Wechsler & Straus, renamed Abraham & Straus. By 1896, Isidor and his brother Nathan had gained full ownership of R. H. Macy & Co.
Marriage and children
In 1871, Straus married Rosalie Ida Blun. They were parents to seven children :- Jesse Isidor Straus, who married Irma Nathan, and served as U.S. Ambassador to France, 1933–1936
- Clarence Elias Straus, who died in infancy
- Percy Selden Straus, who married Edith Abraham, daughter of Abraham Abraham
- Sara Straus, who married Dr. Alfred Fabian Hess
- Minnie Straus, who married Dr. Richard Weil
- Herbert Nathan Straus, who married Therese Kuhn in 1907
- Vivian Straus first married Herbert Adolph Scheftel with whom she had two of her three children and second, in 1917, married George A. Dixon Jr..
Congress
Straus served as a U.S. Congressman from January 30, 1894, to March 3, 1895, representing New York's 15th congressional district as a Democrat. He won a special election in 1894 [United States House of Representatives elections#Special elections|January 1894] to complete the term of Ashbel P. Fitch, who had resigned to become New York City Comptroller. During his one-year term, Straus was a champion of tariff reform, opposing the high rates of the McKinley Tariff and collaborating with West Virginia Congressman William Lyne Wilson on the Wilson–Gorman Tariff Act. Straus did not run for re-election in the general election of 1894 United States [House of Representatives elections|November 1894].Other political activities
Straus was president of The Educational Alliance and a prominent worker in charitable and educational movements, very much interested in civil service reform and the general extension of education. He declined the office of Postmaster General which was offered him by U.S. President Grover Cleveland.When the newly formed Mutual Alliance Trust Company opened for business in New York on the Tuesday after June 29, 1902, there were 13 directors, including Emanuel Lehman, William Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and Straus.
Death on the ''Titanic''
Isidor and his wife spent the winter of 1911/1912 in Europe. They originally planned to return home on a different ship, but switched to the Titanic due to a coal strike in England that caused the coal from other ships to be diverted to the Titanic.Traveling back from a winter in Europe, mostly spent at Cape Martin in southern France, they exchanged marconigrams with their son and his wife, who were passengers on Amerika as the ships passed near on its way to Europe. At about 11:40 p.m. on April 14, 1912, it hit an iceberg. Once it was clear the Titanic was sinking, Ida refused to leave Isidor and would not get into a lifeboat without him. According to friend and Titanic survivor Colonel Archibald Gracie IV, when he offered to ask an officer if Isidor could enter a lifeboat with Ida, Isidor refused to be made an exception while women and children were still on board, while Ida is reported to have said, "I will not be separated from my husband. As we have lived, so we will die, together." Ida gave her maid Ellen Bird her fur coat and insisted she get into a lifeboat. Isidor and Ida were seen on deck arm in arm; eyewitnesses described the scene as a "most remarkable exhibition of love and devotion". The ship sank at 2:20 am. on April 15. Isidor and Ida perished along with 1,495 others.
Isidor's body was recovered by CS Mackay-Bennett and taken to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and from there shipped to New York. He was first buried in the Straus-Kohns Mausoleum at Beth-El Cemetery in Brooklyn, and he was then moved to the Straus Mausoleum in Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx in 1928. Ida's body was never recovered, so the family collected water from the wreck site and placed it in an urn in the mausoleum. Isidor and Ida are memorialized on a cenotaph outside the mausoleum with a quote from the Song of Solomon : "Many waters cannot quench love—neither can the floods drown it."
An 18-karat gold trimmed pocket watch given to Straus for his 43rd birthday in 1888 and recovered from his body was sold for a record-breaking £1.78 million at an auction in England on November 23, 2025. The story of Ida's bravery and loyalty became much celebrated. Rabbis spoke to their congregations about her sacrifice; articles in Yiddish- and German-language newspapers extolled her courage; a popular song featuring the story, "The Titanic's Disaster", became popular among Jewish Americans.
Legacy
A cenotaph at the Straus Mausoleum at Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx is dedicated to Isidor and Ida together. The work was designed by James Gamble Rogers, with sculpture by Lee Lawrie.Memorials
In addition to the cenotaph at Woodlawn Cemetery, there are three other memorials to Isidor and Ida Straus in their adopted home of New York City. Straus Hall, one of Harvard's freshman residence halls in Harvard Yard, was given in honor of the Strauses by their three sons.- A memorial plaque can be seen on the main floor of Macy's Department Store in Manhattan.
- The Isidor and Ida Memorial is located in Straus Park, at the intersection of Broadway and West End Avenue at 106th Street in Manhattan. The park is one block from where they resided at 105th Street and West End Avenue. An inscription reads, "Lovely and pleasant they were in their lives, and in death they were not divided."
- New York City Public School P.S. 198, built in Manhattan in 1959, is named in memory of Isidor and Ida Straus. The building, at Third Avenue between East 95th and 96th Streets, shares space with another school, P.S. 77.
- The 34th Street main entrance to Macy's Department Store in Manhattan features two brass plaques — one commemorating the deaths of Ida and Isidor Straus, the other honoring employees who died in World War I.
- The Isidor and Ida Straus Memorial is located in Straus Park at the intersection of Broadway and West End Avenue at W. 106th Street in Manhattan.
- New York City public school P.S. 198 is the Isidor & Ida Straus School.