Guide to the Albert Ratner Papers

Biography of Albert Ratner

The Ratner Family has been prominent in the Cleveland, Ohio, area since the mid-twentieth century. Moishe Ratowczer (later Ratner, 1866-1940) and Pesha Koppelman (1874-1940) of Bialystok (in the Polish lands of the Russian empire) had nine children: Frieda (Isenstadt, 1888-1952); Charles (1893-1939); Leonard (1896-1974); Dora (Sukenik, 1900-1976); Harry (1902-1961); Irene (Zehman, 1904-1974); Max (1907-2002); Fannye (Shafran, 1911-2001), and Joseph (1911-1921). The family immigrated to the United States in 1920 and settled in Cleveland in 1921. Albert B. Ratner, the son of Leonard Ratner and Lillian Bernstein, was born in Cleveland in 1927. Albert married Faye Katz (1931-1978) in 1950 and had two children, Deborah Ratner (b. 1959) and Brian Ratner (b. 1957). Faye was killed in an automobile accident in 1978. Albert later married Audrey Gilbert Pritzker (b. 1928) in 1981. In the 1950s, Albert joined the family business, Forest City Materials, which had been established as a lumber and building materials company back in the 1920s. He continued to serve in numerous positions at Forest City until the company was purchased by Brookfield Asset Management in 2018. Albert graduated from Michigan State University with a B.S. degree in forestry. He received an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Long Island University in 1990 and an Honorary Doctor of Engineering degree from Polytechnic University in Brooklyn, in 1992. Albert has served on the governing boards of numerous business and cultural organizations including Glengary, LLC, Forest City Realty Trust, Inc., Resilience Capital Partners, LLC, RPM International, Inc., the Greater Cleveland Growth Association, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Shoes & Clothes for Kids, the Henry M. Jackson Foundation, the International Council of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the Enterprise Foundation, the Ohio Third Frontier, the Ohio Strategic Planning Advisory Team, the Ohio Transportation Task Force, the State of Ohio Operations Improvement Task Force, the Cleveland Jewish Community Federation, the United Jewish Communities, the American Jewish Committee, the Masorti Foundation for Conservative Judaism in Israel, the John A. Hannah Society at Michigan State University, the National Realty Committee, the Cleveland Initiative for Education, the Greater Cleveland Partnership, United Way, and American Greetings. His community involvement and philanthropic activities have been widely recognized by organizations and agencies such as Builders Magazine, the Business Hall of Fame of Cleveland, Financial World Magazine, Harvard Business Club, the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Scope and Content

The Albert Ratner Papers collection consists of an album, articles, awards, books, CDs, certificates, a checkbook, correspondence, eulogies, greeting cards, letters, magazines, newspapers, newspaper clippings, notes, an obituary, photographs, programs, a report, a resume, a songbook, speeches, and tapes.

This collection will be of interest to those interested in philanthropy in Cleveland. Those with an interest in the Cleveland Jewish community will also find this collection to be of value. This collection will also be invaluable to those interested in the personal and professional lives of Albert Ratner and the Ratner family.

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions on Use

None

Restrictions on Access

None

The researcher should also consult MS 4623 Max Ratner Papers; PG 548 Ratner Family Photographs; and MS 5044 Ratner Family Papers.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

Preferred Citation

[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 5442 Albert Ratner Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Albert Ratner, 2018.

Processing Information

Processed by Sean Martin and Jeffrey Zuckerman.

Detailed Description of The Collection