John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

Encyclopedia : J : JO : JOH : John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

John D. Rockefeller Jr.

John Davison Rockefeller Jr. (January 29, 1874 – May 11, 1960) was a philanthropist and a member of the prominent American Rockefeller family.

He was the fifth child and only son of John D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil, and one of the wealthiest Americans who has ever lived. He attended The Browning School in New York City and then Brown University. He briefly joined his father's business. During the Great Depression he funded the building of Rockefeller Center and as a result became one of the largest real estate holders in New York City. He also acquired a controlling interest in the Chase National Bank when the Bank acquired his Equitable Trust Company.

However, he is most remembered for his philanthropy, dramatically expanding the institutions founded by his father, including the Rockefeller Foundation and Rockefeller University. He also funded the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg and the College of William and Mary's Wren Building, both in Virginia. Rockefeller donated the land on which the United Nations headquarters was built.

He was also instrumental in the development of the research that led to Robert and Helen Lynd's famous Middletown Studies work that was conducted in the city of Muncie, Indiana.

He had a special interest in conservation, and purchased and donated land for many American National Parks, including Grand Teton (see Snake River Land Company), Acadia, Great Smoky Mountains, Yosemite, and Shenandoah. Both the John D. Rockefeller Jr. Memorial Parkway that connects Yellowstone National Park to Grant Teton National Park and the Rockefeller Memorial in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park were named after him..

John D. Rockefeller Jr. and his wife Abby, at Grand Teton National Park

On October 9, 1901, he married Abby Greene Aldrich, daughter of U.S. Senator Nelson Wilmarth Aldrich of Rhode Island. The couple had six children, a daughter and five sons:

Abby Rockefeller Mauzé (November 9, 1903 - May 27, 1976)
John Davison Rockefeller III (March 21, 1906 - July 10, 1978)
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 - January 26, 1979)
Laurance Spelman Rockefeller (May 26, 1910 - July 11, 2004)
Winthrop Rockefeller (May 1, 1912 - February 22, 1973)
David Rockefeller (born June 15, 1915)

David became an international banker and statesman of considerable repute. Nelson and Winthrop Rockefeller later became state governors. Nelson went on to become Vice President of the United States under Gerald Ford.

John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

See also