R. Joseph Krauskopf was born 21 January 1858 in Ostrowo, Prussian-Posen to Hirsch Krauskopf, a local lumber merchant. After his father's death, Krauskopf emigrated to the United States in 1872 to join an half-brother, only to discover he had died. Krauskopf found work for a tea merchant in New Jersey until he entered the first class of Hebrew Union College. Krauskopf was recommended to Isaac Mayer Wise by the Christian widow of a newspaper editor, who noted that "he has all the Christian virtues." While rooming with Henry Berkowitz, the two created a Jewish youth periodical entitled The Sabbath Visitor. This interest in education was to remain an interest for both in their post-HUC careers. Following ordination, Krauskopf accepted a pulpit in Kansas City, Missouri. He remained in Kansas City from 1883-1887 when he became the rabbi at the Philadelphia congregation of Keneseth Israel. Krauskopf was an extremely popular rabbi in both congregations- at Kansas City, his sermons were regularly published and growth in Philadelphia led to the building of a new synagogue. Joseph Krauskopf was an avid supporter of radical reform in Judaism. In 1885, Krauskopf wrote to Rabbi Kaufman Kohler of Beth El in New York in order to propose a meeting between reform-minded rabbis. As a result of this letter, Krauskopf served as vice-president at the 1885 conference where the Pittsburgh Platform was written. Krauskopf implemented many reforms in his personal congregation including Sunday worship. Krauskopf's interests extended well beyond Reform Judaism. In 1884, Krauskopf founded the Poor Man's Free Labor Bureau to help indigents find employment. Later, in 1894, Krauskopf received a visa via a special Congressional resolution and traveled to Russia to examine the problem of mass immigration of Eastern European Jews. While in Europe, Krauskopf met with author Leo Tolstoy who said that the key to Jewish survival was in agriculture. Impressed by a model farm school in Odessa, Krauskopf decided to start a similar program in the United States. In Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Krauskopf began the National Farm School, and supported it through lecture tours. He viewed it as "one fo the best means of securing safety and happiness to the sorely afflicted of our people." Krauskopf was also a leader in the Jewish Publication Society. He died in Atlantic City, New Jersey on 12 June 1923. Krauskopf married twice: Rose Berkowitz in 1883 and Sybil Feineman in 1893.

          

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