Isaac Wolfe Bernheim - Community Activity

Community Activity

Isaac Bernheim was known as a notable philanthropist in Louisville. He established the Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest on 14,000 acres (57 km²) in Bullitt County, 25 miles (40 km) south of Louisville and 5 miles (8 km) from Shepherdsville in 1929. He purchased the land in 1928 at $1 an acre ($247/km²) because most of it had been stripped for mining iron ore. The Frederick Law Olmsted landscape architecture firm started work on designing the park in 1931 and it opened in 1950. Bernheim Forest was given to the people of Kentucky in trust and it is the largest privately owned natural area in the state. Mr. Bernheim, his wife, Amanda are buried at the Bernheim Forest. The memorial "Let there Be Light" by George Bernard Grey graces over their final resting place. Mr. Bernheim's daughter and son-in-law were buried in the forest as well as several other family members.

Bernheim was a prominent member of the Jewish community active in the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and the American Jewish Committee. He donated to establish the first library at the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati. In Louisville, he funded the first home for the Young Men's Hebrew Association and funded an addition to the Jewish Hospital. Mr. Bernheim, a member of the Reform Movement, continues to have great grand children who follow in his footsteps of the Reform Movement. In 2007 in his honor, his Granddaughter Amanda Roth Block, who resides in Torrance, California, donated to the Hebrew Union College in New York City to President Rabbi David Elinsion a lithograph, "Moses and the Burning Bush", which was inspired by her grandfather's dedication to the Reform movement. Mr. Bernheim's library at the Hebrew Union College was renovated to be the home of priceless documents and rare Torah scrolls.

Mr. Bernheim also financed two Kentucky statues in the statuary hall of the U.S. Capitol, making them the only two statues there to be privately purchased. In addition, he financed a statue of Abraham Lincoln outside the Louisville Free Public Library and the statue of Thomas Jefferson outside the Jefferson County courthouse.

Upon visiting his hometown of Schmieheim Germany in the early 20th Century, he discovered the village had no running water. He made an extremely large contribution, enabling the town to install its first plumbing system. He also built a home for the elderly and a home for children.

A new book will be published soon about the works and the history of the Bernheim Family.