Philip
Zinman

PHILIP ZINMAN was born July 18, 1904 to Robert and Esther Zinman. His early years were spent in Philadelphia PA , where his father had a cigar store at 4001 York Road. He made his way to Camden in the 1920s, where he would have a long and successful career in real estate, becoming a nationally known figure in his field, as evidenced in his being cited in the 1983 edition of Who's Who in Real Estate, and in several editions of Standard & Poor's Register of Corporations, Directors and Executives. In the 1920s he served as secretary on the Camden County Real Estate Board, and later was president of the Mortgage Bankers Association of New Jersey.

Philip Zinman was part nered in a real estate firm with Benjamin Stambler in the late 1920s, with offices in the Wilson Building at broadway and Cooper Street. By 1936 he was on his own, and did business out of 333 Arch Street. He would later move to 519 Market Street, where his agency, with exception of a brief period around 1959, would remain into the late 1970s.

Philip Zinman was quite active in Jewish affairs both ;locally and internationally. In 1984 he was one of the first eight people to have granted an honorary doctorate from the University of Haifa, in Haifa, Israel. Two other Americans were so honored that year, one of them being Dr. Henry Kissinger.

He established the Philip and Betty Zinman Endowment for Jewish Cultural Arts at the University of Pennsylvania , which, since 1992, has sponsored the Teatron Jewish Theatre. The Philip Zinman Foundation also funds the Philip Zinman Foundation International Studies Honors Scholarship at the Florida Atlantic University. This scholarship was established by Betty Zinman of the Philip Zinman Foundation in January 2002, and is intended for students enrolled in the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College with an interest in international studies. Philip Zinman was included in the 1980 Who's Who in American Jewry, and the 1972 and 1978 editions of Who's Who in World Jewry.

None of this may have occurred if Philip Zinman had not been rescued by Camden Boy Scout, James J. Wilcox in January of 1928, when he fell through the ice while skating at Farnham Park in Camden

By 1947 Philip Zinman was living at 5325 Browning Road in Pennsauken NJ with his wife Zola. She passed away in 1981. He eventually retired to Boca Raton FL where he resided when he passed way on February 5, 1993.  

The Zinman name is still alive in South Jersey, as the Battista-Zinman Agency still serves the area from its offices at 5801 Westfield avenue in Pennsauken NJ.

Camden Courier-Post - January 7, 1928

SKATER NEAR DEATH IN FALL THROUGH ICE
Realty Board Secretary has Harrowing Experience at Farnham Park 

Crashing through the ice while skating, Philip Zinman, secretary or the Camden County Real Estate Board, narrowly escaped death it was learned yesterday.

Zinman had left his office in the Wilson Building shortly after noon Tuesday to go to the park. He had been told that the ice was thick, and it was an ideal day for skating.

The realty board secretary anticipated an hour’s sport as he adjusted his skates at the park. Soon he was cutting fancy figures on the ice as he swirled along the frozen surface, the only skater on the lake.

Suddenly, the ice cracked under his feet and he dropped into the hole that had opened under his weight.

Zinman shouted for help as he returned to the surface. No one was near. He called again, and saw two school children. But they did not hear him.

I saw that my only salvation was what I could do for myself,” Zinman said today, describing his experience. “I managed to keep my head above water, and strove time and time again to get a hold on the ice surrounding the hole. But each time I reached a part of the ice that I thought would hold, it would snap and I would have to start over again.” 

“This began to play me out. I was fatigued, and beginning to lose hope. I put every ounce of what strength remained in one last effort. I gripped another part of the frozen surface with all my might. It held, and weakly, I pulled myself out.” 

Zinman, after his harrowing experience, for a hot mustard foot bath and a change of dry clothes.

Camden Courier-Post - January 9, 1928

Camden Courier-Post - January 9, 1928

American Jewish Yearbook for 1931-1932
Jewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia PA - 1931

Camden Courier-Post - June 29, 1933

ZINMAN FORECASTS NEW REALTY BOOM
Camden Man Tells Lions Club Inflation Program Spurs Comeback

A new boom in real estate values within the next several months was forecast yesterday by Philip Zinman, Camden real estate man who spoke at the weekly meeting of the Camden Lions Club in Hotel Walt Whitman.

"President Roosevelt's Inflation program is responsible for the slow but sure comeback of real estate," Zinman said.

"Real estate, unlike stocks and other commodities. did not suffer such heavy losses when the last boom ended and depression set in. That is one reason why its recovery will probably be more quickly than other things.

"Within the last six-to eight weeks business of rentals of property has picked up tremendously. It will continue for with more people going back to work, it, means more rent and the payment of back debts.

"Another factor will be that many empty houses will shortly be occupied. Three out of every four tenants of houses in Camden and vicinity have somebody else living with them at the present time. However it won't be for long for the great American desire is to live in your own home," zinman added.