Deep Dive into Sachs Foundation History
A little over 92 years ago, the Sachs Foundation was established with the goal of providing educational opportunities for Black youth in Colorado. However, the more detailed version of our history paints an intriguing path that led to where we are today.
Originally from New York, Henry Sachs, a talented stockbroker with only a grade-school education, moved to Boston where he started the Boston Curb Market. His first stock-trading venture was a huge success and led him to connect with two men named Gillette and Nickerson. With Henry’s backing and investment knowledge, those men went on to form the Gillette Safety Razor Company which, in return, provided the basis of his fortune.
Unfortunately, like many others in the early 1900s, Henry eventually contracted tuberculosis. Since little was known about the deadly disease, the recommendation for recovery at the time was to be exposed to drier air, higher elevation, and a sunnier environment – all which Colorado offered year-round. Thanks to his prior investment in Gillette, Henry had the funds to relocate to Colorado Springs, which he did in 1903.
During his recovery, Henry noticed the mistreatment of the Black hospital staff who would contract tuberculosis caring for patients. With many becoming sick and no treatment available (due to segregated hospitals), the mortality rate of tuberculosis was even higher amongst the Black community. Once he recovered and resumed his talents as a stockbroker and real estate investor, tuberculosis recovery for Black individuals was a driving factor in the beginning stages of the Sachs Foundation.
With the change of residence and his health back, Henry focused his business on real estate development and collaborated with a new business partner, Morris Esmiol. Together they established the Three Eagles company. Thanks to his smart investments, vast knowledge of stockbroking and real estate development, and connections that helped him along the way, Sachs’ wealth grew. With no children of his own, he decided to use his fortune to support the Black Coloradans.
No stranger to discrimination Henry Sachs, who was Jewish, invested in the Black community in multiple ways. Sachs became good friends with the Stroud family of Colorado Springs and encouraged their exceptional children’s education. The fourth child of the Stroud family, Effie, was a top student at Colorado Springs High School (now Palmer High School) and had a mind that excelled within the field of chemistry. However, because she was Black, she found few educational opportunities available to her. Henry, wanting to see her succeed, offered to pay for her college education if she kept her grades up and studied hard. This led to Effie being the only Black woman to be enrolled in college at the time, and Sachs continued to support her studies at Colorado College.
The foundation was first thought of at a weekend picnic in 1927. KD Stroud, Effie’s father, mentioned the idea of an educational foundation to Henry. While Effie finished her schooling at Colorado College, KD suggested establishing a foundation that would inherit his estate and continue the mission of supporting and helping Black Coloradans facing economic and educational discrimination. Agreeing with KD, the Sachs Foundation was established on January 8th, 1931, and Dolphus Stroud, Effie’s brother, was named the first Sachs Scholar.
The mission of the Sachs Foundation since the beginning was to address the racial inequity that existed in the United States and particularly in Colorado. One of the ways Henry planned to achieve this mission was by building the National Lincoln Sanitorium. Ran by Black physicians, nurses, and technicians, this hospital would ensure that Black patients received safe treatment for tuberculosis at no cost. With the location approved (owned by the Three Eagles Company and “near 8th street and Brookside in Ivywild”) and Brookside Water Company’s attorney ensuring that they would supply water for the sanitorium, the idea looked like it would come to fruition. Instead, a year later, the idea was abandoned after an agreement was made for Black patients to be treated at the existing Beth El hospital with the Sachs Foundation investing into that program. The organization also began to focus on education more as the needs of the community shifted.
Henry went on to continue supporting Black Coloradans by increasing the number of scholarships given, increasing funding, and developing real estate to ensure his foundation would continue to make an impact long after he passed. On April 13th, 1952, Henry Sachs passed away leaving approximately $1.25 million dollars to his foundation. The foundation continued operating with his business partner, Morris Esmiol, leading their mission.
After Henry’s death, the Sachs Foundation continued to celebrate Black excellence by funding the first Black medical students at the University of Colorado, giving grants to fund emergency tuberculosis research in Black individuals when it was needed in the 1980s, increasing the number of students awarded scholarships, introducing and rotating programs to best address current issues faced by Black Coloradans, but most importantly, honoring Sachs’ vision of erasing racial inequity.
Since 1931, the Sachs Foundation has awarded 3,245 scholarships and given over $40,876,610 to support exceptional Black students. We constantly evaluate how we can make the biggest impact on improving the lives of Black Coloradans. Currently, we carry out Henry Sachs’ vision through three programs addressing educational inequities, quick adaptations to best suit the biggest needs of our community, supporting community events and other organizations who are working to address inequities the Black community faces, and funding educational opportunities beyond the classroom.
As Henry Sachs said, “I don’t think there’s any better way to spend money than by investing in people. If you want them to be successful, to contribute in some way to society, education is the key.” To this day, the Sachs Foundation fully believes there is no better way to spend money than by investing in the Black community of Colorado through education. Our scholars consistently prove this by going on to become individuals who win a Pulitzer prize, are named federal judges, teach at the Mayo Clinic, run the biggest Black-owned bookstore in America, pay off the student loans for an entire graduating class at HBCU’s, create change, invest in their communities, attend graduate schools, stand up for themselves, build their wealth, pursue art, dance, singing, and writing, have the freedom to choose what they want to become, and most importantly, grow into adults who understand the importance and value of their talents.