A lawyer, real estate developer, and philanthropist, Joseph Meyerhoff was born on April 8, 1899, in Pereschepina, Russia, the son of Oscar and Hannah Meyerhoff. The family suffered under the tsarist regime and emigrated to the United States in 1907. The Meyerhoffs moved to Baltimore, and Joseph's father worked as a grocer. Joseph attended public schools and graduated from Baltimore City College. He first worked in the construction business, but in the 1930s he took night classes at the University of Maryland law school and eventually earned a law degree. .

For several years Meyerhoff practiced law. He married Rebecca Witten in 1931 and the couple had two children, Harvey M. "Bud" Meyerhoff and Eleanor Meyerhoff Katz. In the 1930s Meyerhoff decided to leave the practice of law and with his brother Jacob started a real estate company, Monumental Properties Inc. The company thrived after World War II in the wake of the housing boom, and Meyerhoff claimed that the company built over 15,000 homes in Maryland and 17,000 apartments throughout the country.

The brothers built the large Edmondson Village Shopping Center, which opened in 1947 and was one of the first shopping centers in the country. The success of the center brought new opportunities, and they eventually constructed 19 shopping centers in the United States. In 1979 the Meyerhoffs liquidated the firm, which resulted in nearly $180 million for the family.

Joseph used his share to support charitable causes. The Joseph Meyerhoff Fund supported a wide array of charities. A music lover, Meyerhoff served as president of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. In the late 1970s he initiated the "Threshold of Greatness" campaign with the hope of raising over $3 million to aid the BSO. Meyherhoff also contributed $10 million to building of a new orchestral hall, which was completed in 1982 and was named in his honor. He generously supported other Maryland cultural institutions such as the Peabody Institute and the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Proud of his Jewish heritage, Meyerhoff actively supported Israeli charities and sought to aid educational and economic opportunities in that country. He served as chairman of the United Jewish Appeal, was on the board of trustees at Tel Aviv University, and helped establish several libraries and a technical college there. Meyerhoff helped to found the Jewish Studies Program at the University of Baltimore.

Joseph Meyerhoff died on February 2, 1985.

Brugger, Robert J. Maryland: A Middle Temperament, 1634-1980.Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1988.

Nast, Lenora Helig, Laurence N. Krause and R. C. Monk, eds. Baltimore: A Living Renaissance.. Baltimore: Historic Baltimore Society, Inc., 1982.