Joseph and Evelyn Rosenblatt photograph collection, 1920-2001

Joseph Rosenblatt (1903-1999) was born on January 13, 1903, in Salt Lake City, Utah to Nathan and Tillie Scheinbaum Rosenblatt. His parents were Jewish American immigrants who were both sent to America alone by their families to protect them from pogroms. Nathan Rosenblatt first settled in Colorado before moving to Salt Lake City, Utah, due to connections with the Auerbach family, owners of the Auerbach and Bros. department store chain, who gave him a job as a traveling salesman selling goods for their company. In 1888, Nathan Rosenblatt married Tillie Scheinbaum, who had also immigrated alone from Russia. Together, the couple had three children: Simon (1889-1948), Morris Samuel (1891-1965), and Joseph Rosenblatt. In 1893, Nathan Rosenblatt founded the Utah Junk Company, which he ran behind the family home on 800 South and State Street. This grew into the American Foundry and Machine Shop, a company that Nathan established and ran with his two eldest sons.

Joseph Rosenblatt, the youngest child, graduated from Salt Lake high school in 1921 before studying at the University of Utah, earning a BA in 1925 and a Bachelor of Law in 1926. While studying at the University of Utah, Joseph Rosenblatt was active in student politics and was involved in the fundraising for the construction of the student union building. On September 4, 1930, Joseph Rosenblatt married Evelyn Raye Benowitz (1910-2004). Evelyn Benowitz was born in Ogden, Utah on February 28, 1910, to William and Molly Liberman Benowitz. Evelyn graduated from Ogden high school in 1927. She studied at Mills College, California, and at the University of Utah. Evelyn was an avid pianist and lover of music. Together, Joseph and Evelyn Rosenblatt had four children.

In 1926, Nathan Rosenblatt gave Joseph ownership of the Eastern Iron and Metal Company (EIMCO), a business he had purchased. Initially, EIMCO was a salvage, repair, and recycling company for mining machinery. However, after several successful projects with the Arizona Hercules property, owned by Kennecott, and the adjoining Ray Mines, both in Arizona, Rosenblatt expanded into designing and building new equipment rather than repair and resale. Rosenblatt acquired patents for an underground mucking machine invented by John Finlay and Edwin Royle and changed the name of his company to the shorter EIMCO. By 1944, Rosenblatt built a new EIMCO plant, where the company developed additional technology for underground mining and hardrock mining, as well as vacuum filtration for smelting and uranium mining. Through EIMCO, Rosenblatt gained success selling equipment both domestically and internationally. Rosenblatt retired from the company in 1964; in 1997, he was inducted into the United States National Mining Hall of Fame in recognition of his work in the field. In addition to his work on EIMCO, Joseph Rosenblatt served as a director of the federal reserve bank initially located in Salt Lake City and subsequently in San Francisco, a position that he held from 1953 until 1975.

Joseph Rosenblatt was active in Utah politics beginning in 1955, when he advocated for a “Right to Work” state law. He chaired Governor Calvin Rampton’s 1965 “Little Hoover Commission” and was subsequently appointed by Rampton to work on committees related to Juvenile Courts, public funds, and malpractice evaluation. In 1976, Rosenblatt served on the Salt Lake City Airport Authority. While Rosenblatt kept his political leanings private for years, supporting both Democrat and Republican politicians financially, he was conservative, and in 1993 he chaired the Republican national finance committee. In addition to Joseph’s political work, both Evelyn and Joseph were involved in supporting the Jewish community of Salt Lake City. Evelyn Rosenblatt was active in the Temple Bnai Israel Sisterhood. Joseph Rosenblatt was an advocate for religious tolerance in Utah, building strong relationships with leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and donating to various denominational organizations including: the construction of a Federal Heights ward chapel (1962), the renovation of the Cathedral of the Madeleine (1989), and the planning of Brigham Young University's Holocaust Conference (1994). He also served as a board member for the Catholic Holy Cross Hospital and the Episcopal Rowland Hall St. Mark’s school.

The Rosenblatts were additionally known for their philanthropic contributions to various Utah organizations and causes. As proud alumni of the University of Utah, the Rosenblatts donated to grow the University of Utah’s medical school throughout the decades, including financial support for the university hospital, cardiac rehabilitation, student scholarships, post-doctoral fellowships, the OBGYN department, and the Huntsman Cancer Institute. They also provided scholarship grants for various fields of study at the university, including political science, biology, the College of Fine Arts, and the graduate school of education. In 1995, Rosenblatt endowed a chair in mechanical engineering. In 1983, the Rosenblatts established the Rosenblatt Prize for Excellence in honor of Nathan and Tillie Rosenblatt on the centennial of their immigration to Utah. The prize is an annual award given to a faculty member at the University of Utah “to honor excellence in teaching, research and administrative efforts, collectively or individually, on behalf of the University." In 1986, the Rosenblatts transferred ownership of their Federal Heights property to the University of Utah; the home became the president’s residence. In 1999, President Bernard Machen honored Joseph Rosenblatt posthumously with the “Spirit of Philanthropy Award” in recognition of his contributions to public education.

The Rosenblatts were also supporters of Utah’s arts community. Evelyn Rosenblatt served on the Utah Symphony Guild, and Joseph Rosenblatt served on the symphony’s board of directors. The Rosenblatts provided numerous donations to Utah Symphony through their charitable trust, the Rosenblatt Memorial Foundation. Their children have continued the tradition, and other beneficiaries of the trust include: the Utah Museum of Fine Arts and the Pioneer Memorial Theatre. Joseph Rosenblatt received numerous awards and recognitions for their accomplishments and contributions, including: honorary degrees from Westminster College, the University of Utah, and Brigham Young University; induction into the University of Utah's and the Utah's Junior Achievement Business Halls of Fame (1990-1991); and the 1995 University of Utah’s National Advisory Council Distinguished Service Award. Evelyn and Joseph were commended for their contributions to Jewish-Christian understanding by Brigham Young University, by the Great Salt Lake Council, and by induction into the United Way of the Great Salt Lake Area’s rolls of the Golden Spike Leadership Circle.

Joseph Rosenblatt died on May 2, 1999. Evelyn Rosenblatt died on April 26, 2004.