John D. Rockefeller Jr.
John Davison Rockefeller Jr. ( born January 29, 1874 in Cleveland, Ohio, † May 11, 1960 in Tucson, Arizona ) was a member of the famous American Rockefeller family. It is called a philanthropist.
Biography
He was the fifth child, the only son of John D. Rockefeller (Sr.), the founder of Standard Oil and one of the richest men of his time. He attended the Browning School in New York City and then the Brown University. For a short time he worked in the company of his father. In 1913 he became a negative symbol of the exploitation of the mine workers in the coal fields of Colorado in the wake of the Ludlow Massacre. He hired the marketing expert Ivy Lee and invested heavily in improving its image. During the Great Depression he financed the construction of Rockefeller Center and was one of the largest property owners in New York City. He was a major shareholder of the Chase National Bank, as the bank took over his Equitable Trust Company.
On October 9, 1901, he married Abigail Greene Aldrich ( 1874-1948 ), called " Abby ", daughter of Senator Nelson W. Aldrich of Rhode Iceland. The couple had six children, one daughter and five sons:
- Abby Rockefeller Mauzé (1903-1976)
- John D. Rockefeller III (1906-1978)
- Nelson A. Rockefeller (1908-1979)
- Laurance Spelman Rockefeller (1910-2004)
- Winthrop Rockefeller (1912-1973)
- David Rockefeller ( born 1915 )
Nelson and Winthrop Rockefeller later became governors. Nelson was then Vice President of the United States under Gerald Ford
Abby died on 5 April 1948. JDR Junior married on August 15, 1951, the concert pianist Martha Baird Allen, the widow of a fellow student at Brown University.
Charitable and community involvement
Most of all he is known for his charitable works, after his father had not recently (at that time as the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research ) founded at the instigation of the Rockefeller University in 1901 and 1913 the Rockefeller Foundation. He also supported the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia and founded the United Nations $ 8.5 million to acquire the land for its headquarters in New York City.
As a firm believer in the ecumenical movement, he donated during his lifetime considerable sums for Protestant and Baptist institutions, including the Federal Council of Churches, Union Theological Seminary, the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine and Riverside Church.
He had a strong interest in conservation and bought land for several American national parks, including the Grand Teton National Park, Acadia National Park, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Yosemite National Park and Shenandoah National Park. He was posthumously honored by the John D Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway was named between Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park after him in 1972.