Family History

Louis Blaustein immigrated to the United States from his parents’ home in Lithuania in 1883, at the age of fourteen. He became a peddler, traveling from farm to farm in eastern Pennsylvania. Later, he settled in Baltimore, where he married Henrietta Gittelsohn and had five children, three of whom survived into adulthood: Jacob Blaustein (1892-1970), Fanny Blaustein Thalheimer (1895-1957) and Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg (1899-1992).

In the early years of the twentieth century, Louis and Jacob Blaustein began delivering kerosene from a horse-drawn wagon through the streets of Baltimore. In 1910, they founded the American Oil Company (Amoco) in a one-room office in a converted stable, when Jacob was 18 years old. The company’s innovations included one of the first drive-in gas stations, the first gasoline pump to show the motorist the amount of fuel received, and the original anti-knock gasoline that permitted the development of the high-compression engine. In 1931, the American Trading Company was formed to consolidate, expand and diversify the family’s business holdings, later renamed American Trading and Production Corporation (Atapco). A history of Atapco can be found at this link: http://www.atapcoproperties.com/who-we-are/history

Louis Blaustein

Henrietta Blaustein

American Oil Company tank wagon, 1910

Family Profiles

Jacob and Hilda Blaustein

Jacob Blaustein (1892-1970) was an industrialist who was drawn into the complex world of diplomatic service. He participated in negotiations on behalf of two United States presidents, peacekeeping missions, and service at the birth of the nation of Israel. As President of the American Jewish Committee, he worked to protect the civil and religious rights of Jews and other minorities and to promote intergroup tolerance. Jacob Blaustein was a lifelong advocate for human rights and helped to promote the idea of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, a position that was established more than twenty years after his death.

Hilda Katz Blaustein (1892-1977) shared with her husband the belief that hard work and a positive outlook could achieve wonders in America. She devoted herself to her family and to serving others and held leadership positions in numerous organizations. She was a trustee of The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore, the United Nations Association of Maryland, and the Women’s Advertising Club of Baltimore.

Jacob Blaustein at UN

Jacob & Hilda Blaustein

Morton K. and Jane Blaustein

Morton Katz Blaustein (1926-1990), the son of Jacob and Hilda Blaustein, was a prominent Baltimore businessman and community leader. He studied geology at The Johns Hopkins University and completed a Ph.D. in petroleum geology at Stanford University. He joined the family business in 1953 and was President and Chairman of the Board of American Trading and Production Corporation from 1970 until his death in 1990.

Morton was a trustee of The Johns Hopkins University, Park School of Baltimore, Baltimore City Life Museums, and The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore. He was a member of the advisory committee of the department of Earth Sciences at Stanford University and a director of Union Trust Company of Maryland and its successor, Signet Bank. He was also a Vice President of the American Jewish Committee.

Mary Jane Blaustein is an Emeritus Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she worked for 29 years. She studied nursing at the Union Memorial Hospital School of Nursing and The Johns Hopkins University, where she also received advanced training as a psychiatric nurse practitioner. She was one of the original founders and a board member of the Baltimore Rape Crisis Center and the Alzheimer's Disease Association of Maryland. She has been a trustee of the Maryland Zoo, the Union Memorial Hospital and the Boys Latin School of Maryland. She was a member of the Maryland Governor's Task Force on Dementia and a member of the medical advisory board of the Wellness Community.

Morton Katz Blaustein

Mary Jane Blaustein

David and Barbara B. Hirschhorn

Barbara Blaustein Hirschhorn (1928-2017) was a philanthropist, community volunteer and journalist. A daughter of Jacob and Hilda Blaustein, Barbara graduated from Connecticut College and earned a master’s degree in political science from The Johns Hopkins University. She worked as a reporter for the Washington Daily News and later as a freelance writer, publishing articles in publications including The Baltimore Jewish Times and Present Tense. Barbara married David Hirschhorn in 1955 and together they raised four children. Barbara served on the governing boards of numerous organizations, including the American Jewish Committee, the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights, the Baltimore Museum of Art, Connecticut College, Jewish Family Services, Baltimore Hebrew University, and Temple Oheb Shalom. Barbara was a Trustee of the Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation, an advocate for women’s rights, and a proud grandmother of 15.

David Hirschhorn (1918-2006) was a business, philanthropic and Jewish community leader. Born in Prague, he immigrated to the United States in 1922 and grew up in Newark, NJ. David attended Rutgers University, served in the Army Air Forces during WWII, and then earned his bachelor’s and master’s degree in business administration from New York University. He married Barbara Blaustein in 1955 and, in 1958, began a career with American Trading and Production Corporation, eventually serving as President and Chairman of the Board. David served on the governing boards of many organizations, including the American Jewish Committee and the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights, The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore, the Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies, Sinai Hospital, and The Walters Art Museum. He served as President of the Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Foundation from 1990 to 2000 and as President of the David and Barbara B. Hirschhorn Foundation from 1986 to 2006. David was a proud grandfather of 15.

David & Barbara Hirschhorn

Henry A. Rosenberg and Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg

Henry A. Rosenberg, Sr. (1898-1955) and Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg (1899-1992) were dynamic figures in the cultural and business life of Baltimore. A woman of enormous energy, Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg was a graduate of Goucher College who devoted herself to leading and supporting institutions such as the Peabody Institute, where she studied voice and piano, the Baltimore Museum of Art, Walters Art Gallery, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. She was co-founder of the Chamber Music Society of Baltimore and the Women‘s Auxiliary of Sinai Hospital. She served as a trustee of the Maryland Association of Mental Health, the Child Study Association, Associated Jewish Charities, and the Medical College of Pennsylvania (formerly the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, the second institution in the world to train women to earn M.D. degrees). During World War II, Mrs. Rosenberg worked as a nurse’s aide for the Red Cross Camp and Hospital Service.

Henry Rosenberg served with the United States Navy in World War I and later became president of the Crown Central Petroleum Corporation, a position he held until his death in 1955. He served as a trustee of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Sinai Hospital, Baltimore Hebrew Congregation, Associated Jewish Charities, and the Boy Scouts.

Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg

Rosenberg Family

Henry A. Rosenberg, Sr.

Henry A. Rosenberg, Jr.

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1929, Henry A. Rosenberg, Jr. served as President of the Rosenberg Foundation for over forty years before becoming Trustee Emeritus in 2021. Mr. Rosenberg has served as Chairman and Co-Chairman of family-owned Rosemore since 1999. He was previously Chairman, President and CEO of Rosemore’s subsidiary, Crown Central Petroleum Corporation, for nearly forty years. Mr. Rosenberg is well-known for his involvement in Baltimore’s nonprofit and philanthropic communities. He has served on numerous boards of local and national organizations, including as chairman of Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association, director at the Heifetz Institute and director/trustee at Johns Hopkins Health Systems, Goucher College, Loyola University Maryland, the National Aquarium, the Greater Baltimore Committee, YMCA, Boy Scouts of America, and the United Way of Central Maryland. A 1952 graduate of Hobart College, Mr. Rosenberg was named an All-American lacrosse player two years in a row.