1. Childhood and Early Career

Early Life

Harry Rosin was born on December 21^st, 1897, to Aaron Rosen, a shoemaker, and his wife Bertha.^[1] He lived within, what was then, the Chinatown area of Philadelphia, and had a normal childhood – his home did, however, allow him to learn how to play Chinese gambling games like fan-tan, along with the more standard fare of sandlot baseball.^[2] His life as a professional artist began in the Philadelphia studios of noted ironworker Samuel Yellin, where he created an array of pieces for Yellin’s clients, including a pair of doors for the Curtis Institute of Music, railings and fittings for the home of pianist Josef Hoffman, and the gates and lamps for the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy.^[3]

Rosin’s father’s untimely passing thrust fifteen-year-old Harry Rosin into the role of provider for his four younger brothers and sisters. Though Rosin enjoyed an opportunity to use his talents to make a living and support his family, Yellin’s workshop conditions were taxing, reportedly not far above those of a sweatshop.^[4] America’s entering of World War I, and the subsequent demand for ironworkers, offered a way out. Rosin enlisted in the Navy on August 16^th, 1918, as a “Landsman for Shipfitter” – his enlistment documents also state that at the time of enrollment he was a bit underweight, and had the defining characteristic of a “hair-suit chest.”^[5]

Rosin’s time in the Navy seemed fairly uneventful, and he was honorably discharged on September 30^th, 1921, due to the Navy’s lack of funds.^[6] Rather than returning to Yellin’s shop, Rosin and his brother Louis opted to open their own wrought-iron business. In the meantime, Rosin also began his coursework at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, taking beginners courses part-time. He also supplemented his income from the wrought-iron shop by teaching sculpture, modeling, and pottery at the Trenton School of Industrial Arts. In 1923 the brothers sold the shop, and Rosin threw himself full-time into his coursework until in 1926, he won the Cresson Memorial Travelling Scholarship, a fund set aside to give pupils of merit the opportunity to study in Europe. As a result, he left Pennsylvania to live and work in Paris.^[7]