The UWM Libraries are excited to announce that we have reached our campaign goal of $150,000 to endow the Morris Fromkin Memorial Research Grant and Lecture, thanks in large measure to a major gift and a multi-year pledge totaling $135,000, given by Dan Soyer in memory of his grandfather Morris Fromkin. We also greatly appreciate the support of other donors who helped make this possible. The endowment permits the Libraries to award an annual grant of $6,000 and sustains the program in perpetuity.
“My grandfather often said that practicing law gave him the opportunity to do good in the world,” says Soyer. “With the support of this endowment, I hope the Fromkin Grant and Lecture program will preserve his legacy by exploring and promoting social justice.”
Morris Fromkin, who practiced law first in Milwaukee and later in New York, was a lifelong friend and supporter of people and movements seeking social justice in the twentieth century. After his death in 1969, his immediate family established the Morris Fromkin Memorial Collection, as well as a research grant and lecture, which was inaugurated in 1970.
Director of Libraries Michael Doylen shared his appreciation for Mr. Soyer’s gift: “I’m thrilled that Dan has chosen to honor the memory of his grandfather by helping us to sustain this great lecture series for future generations and increase the amount of the annual grant.”
The Fromkin Grant is the only UWM Libraries grant that supports original research and scholarship by UWM faculty and staff. Grant recipients have come from history, art and design, economics, geography, African and African diaspora studies, communication, architecture, criminal justice, and many other departments and units at UWM.