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View this post on Instagram Osher Family Part 3: “In our house, our parents kept a small rectangular tin can with a slot at the top, like a piggy bank. When you came home from marketing, you would put change or folded bills in it,” says Dr. Harold Osher, the Portland cardiologist who founded the @oshermaplibrary at the University Of Southern Maine. “Regularly, itinerant fund raisers would come to the house, and we would give them the contents of the tin can. Giving was a normal part of life.” Harold’s parents, Leah Lazarovich Osher and Samuel Osher (formerly Osherowitz), were Lithuanian and Russian immigrants who settled in Biddeford. “They believed that if you got a good education and worked hard, you could be successful—and if you were successful, you gave back,” says Harold. The Osher family offspring have upheld this philosophy in more far-reaching ways than their parents could ever have imagined. Because of the family’s philanthropy, many of the leading institutions in Maine bear the Osher name, including the Osher Map Library, opened in 1994 by Harold and his wife Peggy. Harold had been interested in maps since he was a child. “Maps are universal cultural documents. It’s obvious they’re historical documents, and they encompass every area of human activity: geography, art, science, navigation, politics, warfare, dogma, astronomy, astrology, and many other areas. They give you a window on history.” The Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education holds an impressive collection of 300,000 maps, including historical charts, atlases, globes, books, and scientific instruments that date from 1475 to the present. Harold and Peggy have also support another beloved institution over the years: the Portland Museum of Art. In the early 1990s, the Oshers donated their collection of Winslow Homer graphics to the museum. “My parents talked about this being the land of opportunity—that you could be successful here if you worked hard,” he says. “They taught us by example how to give back. It works. And you get more than you give.” #jewishmaine #oshermaplibrary #mainejewishhalloffame thank you #mainemagazine A post shared by Documenting Maine Jewry (@mainejewishhistory) on Apr 10, 2019 at 5:58am PDT
Osher Family Part 3: “In our house, our parents kept a small rectangular tin can with a slot at the top, like a piggy bank. When you came home from marketing, you would put change or folded bills in it,” says Dr. Harold Osher, the Portland cardiologist who founded the @oshermaplibrary at the University Of Southern Maine. “Regularly, itinerant fund raisers would come to the house, and we would give them the contents of the tin can. Giving was a normal part of life.” Harold’s parents, Leah Lazarovich Osher and Samuel Osher (formerly Osherowitz), were Lithuanian and Russian immigrants who settled in Biddeford. “They believed that if you got a good education and worked hard, you could be successful—and if you were successful, you gave back,” says Harold. The Osher family offspring have upheld this philosophy in more far-reaching ways than their parents could ever have imagined. Because of the family’s philanthropy, many of the leading institutions in Maine bear the Osher name, including the Osher Map Library, opened in 1994 by Harold and his wife Peggy. Harold had been interested in maps since he was a child. “Maps are universal cultural documents. It’s obvious they’re historical documents, and they encompass every area of human activity: geography, art, science, navigation, politics, warfare, dogma, astronomy, astrology, and many other areas. They give you a window on history.” The Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education holds an impressive collection of 300,000 maps, including historical charts, atlases, globes, books, and scientific instruments that date from 1475 to the present. Harold and Peggy have also support another beloved institution over the years: the Portland Museum of Art. In the early 1990s, the Oshers donated their collection of Winslow Homer graphics to the museum. “My parents talked about this being the land of opportunity—that you could be successful here if you worked hard,” he says. “They taught us by example how to give back. It works. And you get more than you give.” #jewishmaine #oshermaplibrary #mainejewishhalloffame thank you #mainemagazine
A post shared by Documenting Maine Jewry (@mainejewishhistory) on Apr 10, 2019 at 5:58am PDT