Aaron Straus was born in Baltimore of German Jewish descent in 1865, graduated from City College, and went on to build his family's furniture store into one of the nation's largest retail empires of furniture, clothing and jewelry stores that stretched from New England to New Mexico. Reliable Stores Corporation was run as an amalgam of stores under one umbrella using corporate controls in accounting and purchasing — a rare precursor of today's conglomerates. Reliable Stores was publicly traded on the American Stock Exchange in 1934 and moved over to the New York Stock Exchange in 1936. While the Depression stopped many in their tracks, Aaron saw it as an opportunity to buy back a large portion of stock at more favorable prices.

While in business in St. Louis, Aaron met, courted and then married Lillie Meyer in June of 1889. The marriage would last 64 years, during which she devoted herself to her marriage, to caring for the man who would eventually become blind, and to her charitable interests. Frugal living coupled with business genius allowed the Strauses to amass a fortune significant enough to form a private charitable foundation, which they did in 1926, with a Board of Directors composed of Directors of Reliable Stores Corporation, whose descendants, to this day, continue to be stewards of the Straus philanthropic legacy, born out of their initial interest in the immigrant families moving to Southeastern Baltimore City. For these families, they created two camps in the Western Maryland called Camp Airy and Camp Louise. These camps continue today, serving both children who can afford it and those who need "campership" subsidy in order to have a valuable summer experience.