Joseph Meyerhoff - Biography

Biography

Meyerhoff was born in Ukraine and was brought to the United States as a young boy in 1906, where he eventually made his fortune in residential and commercial development and construction. He grew up in Baltimore and graduated from Baltimore City College (which, despite its name, is a public high school); he then attended and completed his law degree at the University of Maryland in the mid 1930s. Meyerhoff married in the 1930s to Rebecca Witten and they had three children, Harvey, Eleanor and Peggy, whom they raised in Baltimore.

Meyerhoff practiced law for some years upon graduation from the UM School of Law until he opened a construction company with his brother called Monumental Properties Inc. This firm thrived for nearly 40 years until it was sold for about $180M (making Meyerhoff and his family one of the wealthiest in Baltimore). Monumental Properties was responsible for many buildings in the city, including various shopping centers throughout the west side. In the early 1950s Meyerhoff and other prominent Jewish-American businessmen were chosen to assist Israel during its initial establishment crises. He retired in 1965.

Meyerhoff continued his career as an avid philanthropist serving as president of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in the 1970s, where he personally contributed money and helped raise millions of dollars. He is credited, along with music director Sergiu Comissiona, with re-organizing and revitalizing the group. The BSO's primary home, the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, is named after him. Meyerhoff also supported many other Jewish charities and art museums throughout Baltimore and was eventually inducted into the Baltimore Business Hall of Fame along with Robert Merrick.