Lillian D. Wald was born in Cincinnati,
Ohio on March 10, 1867, the third of Max D. Wald and Minnie
Schwarz’s four children. Both the Wald and Schwarz families had left
Europe after the 1848 revolutions to seek economic opportunities in
America. While her father, a successful optical goods merchant, was
practical and quiet, her mother was amiable and warm. Lillian led a
privileged and happy childhood in a home that was always filled with
books and music. She was very close to her siblings Alfred, Julia,
and Gus and was devastated when Alfred accidentally drowned in 1885.
Lillian considered herself “spoiled” as a child and warmly
recalled the particular indulgence of her paternal grandfather.
In 1878, the Wald family moved from Cincinnati, Ohio to Rochester,
New York, which Wald always considered her hometown. She was educated
at an English-French boarding school, excelling in science, math,
and the arts. Though Wald’s family was a member of the Reform Temple
Berith Kodesh, she received no formal Jewish training.
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