Ann & Andrew Tisch

In 1904, my grandfather, Avraham Titenskaya, left his home in Dnipropetrovsk in the Russian Empire as a young child. He sailed from Hamburg with family members on the steamship SS Moldova and set foot into the Great Hall at Ellis Island. My wife, born Ann Rubenstein, is also from a family with deep roots in this part of the world.

We don’t know for sure, but both families likely came for the same reason that many Jews there did—to escape widespread antisemitic violence and the possibility of conscription into the Imperial Russian Army, a virtual death sentence.

Avraham, nicknamed Al, attended New York’s City College where he was captain of the basketball team in 1917–18. By now, the family name had been changed to Tichinsky, and fans at games would cheer, “Go Tisch!” The nickname stuck.

Al started out in the garment business, but family lore has it that he didn’t like it. He and his wife Sayde changed course and purchased two summer camps in Blairstown, New Jersey.

Their two sons, my father, Larry, and my uncle, Bob, served in the Army in World War II. After the war, my father used the GI Bill to get his MBA and began a law degree, but in 1946 he pivoted to work with Bob and their parents. The opportunity arose to lease and operate the Laurel in the Pines Hotel in Lakewood, New Jersey, and it did so well that they purchased it.

From that point on, they created a business that has passed down through five generations. In 1959, they acquired controlling interest in Loews Theatres Inc. Today, that company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange with the prestigious, single-letter ticker symbol “L,” and employs over 13,000 people.

Ann and I are proud to support the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration and its mission to share the stories of immigrants from all eras and origins, and to celebrate their extraordinary contributions to this nation.

The United States is filled with Al and Sayde Tisches from every corner of the world, chasing their dreams. I know how hard families work to build better lives in this great country.

And to each of you, I want only to say, “Welcome to America.”