Michael Rich

One would think that a person who immigrated to the United States as a poor teenager and later played important roles in business, politics, social services, the arts, building up a major city, influenced the development of a religion and rabbinic college, was heavily involved in helping the Union during the Civil War, and became one of the richest men in the United States would be remembered. But the clothing company he built eventually closed. While very influential in their construction, his name does not appear on any buildings, e.g., The Cincinnati Public Library, the Plum Street Temple and or The Cincinnati Music Hall, the latter two now National Historic Landmarks.
Henry Mack was such a man. His great-great-great-great-grandson Michael W. Rich, MD, associate professor of medicine in Akron Ohio, wrote A PRINCE IN THE QUEEN CITY to fill that gap.
Born in Bavaria in 1820, Henry Mack’s formal education ended at age 13. Soon thereafter, he apprenticed as a confectioner. He and a brother came to New York in 1839. Unable to find jobs, they sold a watch and ring for $15 and used that to buy goods which they peddled. By the following spring they had amassed $500. They then moved to Cincinnati.
The book provides the answers to many historical questions: Why did Cincinnati become a major city in the US? Why did Procter & Gamble and Jergen’s locate there? Why was it a center of the garment industry in the country? Why did the Jewish population exploded from 1000 to 7500 people between 1840 and 1860 with more than half them working the clothing industry?
During the Civil War, Mack’s company became one of the largest manufacturers of uniforms for the Union Army. While it didn’t apply to his uniforms, the word “shoddy” became part of the American vocabulary describing some of the others. At one time, he worked General Ulysses Grant’s father which resulted in Grant using Martial Law to issue Order Number 11, an extremely anti-Jewish act that was quickly revoked by President Lincoln. The entire operation changed the way people bought clothing. Instead of items being custom-made, mass production of ready-to-wear became popular.
Many of Mack’s actions helped shape what the US and Cincinnati were to become: He was involved in the care for dependents of Union soldiers and their families when they were injured or died as well as for former slaves after reconstruction. Mack played a role in the enactment of Sunday blue laws which had an effect on Jewish businesses.
Mack met with Abraham Lincoln and had a role in his election. Later, Benjamin Harrison’s campaign manager reached out to Mack to help Harrison win the 1868 election although the promise of a position in Harrison’s cabinet was broken.
In March 1863, Congress passed the False Claims Act. It included the whistle blower provision which encouraged private citizens to report fraud by rewarding them with a share of any recovered funds. Mack had a part in that.
The book explains how Conservative Judaism started as reaction to the graduation dinner of the first class at the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, the Reform Judaism theological college.
As a member of the Cincinnati school board in 1869, he was involved in a ruling that discontinued the practice of reading the King James Bible in the schools. The reasoning is not what one would expect.
He was involved with building roads and railways to make transportation more accommodating to serving public needs as well as being involved in the Chattanooga Choo Choo, made famous as the title of the Glenn Miller’s band 1941 hit song.
The short book, (ninety nine pages) skims the surface. Well-written and smooth flowing, it is filled with a lot of information about Mack’s achievements and, at times, motivations. Reading it made me want to learn a lot more because Henry Mack is worthy of much more study. But this book is an excellent entry point. The information provided opens a lot of windows. (Rich does provide 523 reference notes for more information.) A PRINCE IN THE QUEEN CITY is definitely worth reading.… (mehr)