John d rockefeller biography philanthropist meaning

Study in Power: John D. Rockefeller, Industrialist and Philanthropist. Norwalk, CT: Easton Press, Segall, Grant. Rockefeller: Anointed With Oil. New York: Oxford University Press, Toggle navigation. Rockefeller Biography John D. Rockefeller Biography. Expanding businesses From the start Rockefeller showed a genius for organization and method.

America's first trust By , after winning control of the pipeline industry, Standard's monopoly was at a peak. Attacking the trust Public opposition to Standard Oil grew with the emergence of the muckraking journalists journalists who expose corruption , in particular, Henry Demarest Lloyd — and Ida Tarbell — who published harsh stories of the oil empire.

Philanthropic endeavors Rockefeller, from his first employment as a clerk, sought to give away one-tenth of his earnings to charity. For More Information Chernow, Ron. User Contributions: 1. There is no mention of J. I, for one, would be interested in learning a little more about them. I believe this biography is very useful at least it was too me nd i believe it dosent need any revision.

I was looking at this article, and the information seems to be pretty well-worded. The only thing that I would like to see more of is his personal life. Because this is a biography, that would have been very helpful to me. The information provided is quite thorough. However, it is true about that there is not enough of his personal life.

When kids are asked to write about a famous person, you would expect to be able to read about his private life as well. This biography saved me. Ohio was especially vigorous in applying its state antitrust laws, and finally forced a separation of Standard Oil of Ohio from the rest of the company in , the first step in the dissolution of the trust.

In the s, Rockefeller expanded into iron ore and ore transportation, forcing a collision with steel magnate Andrew Carnegie , and their competition became a major subject of the newspapers and cartoonists. The daily management of the trust was turned over to John Dustin Archbold and Rockefeller bought a new estate, Pocantico Hills , north of New York City, turning more time to leisure activities including the new sports of bicycling and golf.

Upon his ascent to the presidency, Theodore Roosevelt initiated dozens of suits under the Sherman Antitrust Act and coaxed reforms out of Congress. In , U. Steel , then controlled by J. Pierpont Morgan , having bought Andrew Carnegie's steel assets, offered to buy Standard's iron interests as well. Steel stock and gave Rockefeller and his son membership on the company's board of directors.

She documented the company's espionage, price wars, heavy-handed marketing tactics, and courtroom evasions. I was willing that they should combine and grow as big and wealthy as they could, but only by legitimate means. But they had never played fair, and that ruined their greatness for me. Though he had long maintained a policy of active silence with the press, he decided to make himself more accessible and responded with conciliatory comments such as "capital and labor are both wild forces which require intelligent legislation to hold them in restriction.

Critics found his writing to be sanitized and disingenuous and thought that statements such as "the underlying, essential element of success in business are to follow the established laws of high-class dealing" seemed to be at odds with his true business methods. Rockefeller and his son continued to consolidate their oil interests as best they could until New Jersey, in , changed its incorporation laws to effectively allow a re-creation of the trust in the form of a single holding company.

Rockefeller retained his nominal title as president until and he kept his stock. Pennzoil and Chevron have remained separate companies. In the aftermath, Rockefeller's control over the oil industry was somewhat reduced, but over the next 10 years the breakup proved immensely profitable for him. Rockefeller in to help finance the loan. Rockefeller Jr.

Control was passed from the Iowa Group [ 97 ] to Gould and Rockefeller interests in with Gould in control and Rockefeller and Gates representing a minority interests. Osgood left the company in and devoted his efforts to operating competing coal and coke operations. Rockefeller's operative, Lamont Montgomery Bowers, [ 99 ] remained in the background.

Few miners belonged to the union or participated in the strike call, but the majority honored it. Strikebreakers called "scabs" were threatened and sometimes attacked. Both sides purchased substantial arms and ammunition. Striking miners were forced to abandon their homes in company towns and lived in tent cities erected by the union, such as the tent city at Ludlow, a railway stop north of Trinidad.

Under the protection of the National Guard, some miners returned to work and some strikebreakers, imported from the eastern coalfields, joined them as Guard troops protected their movements. In February , a substantial portion of the troops were withdrawn, but a large contingent remained at Ludlow. On April 20, , a general fire-fight occurred between strikers and troops, which was antagonized by the troops and mine guards.

The camp was burned, resulting in 15 women and children, who hid in tents at the camp, being burned to death. This incident brought unwanted national attention to Colorado. The union was forced to discontinue strike benefits in February There was destitution in the coalfields. With the help of funds from the Rockefeller Foundation , relief programs were organized by the Colorado Committee on Unemployment and Relief.

A state agency created by Governor Carlson, offered work to unemployed miners building roads and doing other useful projects. The casualties suffered at Ludlow mobilized public opinion against the Rockefellers and the coal industry.

John d rockefeller biography philanthropist meaning

Bowers was relieved of duty and Wellborn restored to control in , then industrial relations improved. Rockefeller denied any responsibility and minimized the seriousness of the event. I would have deplored the necessity which compelled the officers of the company to resort to such measures to supplement the State forces to maintain law and order.

Against long-circulating speculations that his family has French roots, genealogists proved the German origin of Rockefeller and traced them to the early 17th century. Johann Peter Rockenfeller baptized September 27, , in the Protestant church of Rengsdorf immigrated in from Altwied today a district of Neuwied , Rhineland-Palatinate with three children to North America.

He settled in Germantown, Pennsylvania. The name Rockenfeller refers to the now-abandoned village of Rockenfeld in the district of Neuwied. They had four daughters and one son together. He said later, "Her judgment was always better than mine. Without her keen advice, I would be a poor man. The Rockefeller wealth, distributed as it was through a system of foundations and trusts, continued to fund family philanthropic, commercial, and, eventually, political aspirations throughout the 20th century.

John Jr. Grandson Laurance Spelman Rockefeller became a conservationist. John D. Rockefeller was born in Richford, New York , then part of the Burned-over district , a New York state region that became the site of an evangelical revival known as the Second Great Awakening. It drew masses to various Protestant churches—especially Baptist ones—and urged believers to follow such ideals as hard work, prayer, and good deeds to build "the Kingdom of God on Earth.

His mother was deeply religious and disciplined, and had a major influence on him in religious matters. During church service, his mother would urge him to contribute his few pennies to the congregation. Rockefeller associated the church with charity. A Baptist preacher once encouraged him to "make as much money as he could, and then give away as much as he could".

Money making was considered by him a "God-given gift". A devout Northern Baptist, Rockefeller would read the Bible daily, attend prayer meetings twice a week and led his own Bible study with his wife. Burton Folsom Jr. His philosophy of giving was founded upon biblical principles. He truly believed in the biblical principle found in Luke , "Give, and it will be given to you.

A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Rockefeller would support Baptist missionary activity, fund universities, and deeply engage in religious activities at his Cleveland, Ohio , church. While traveling the South , he would donate large sums of money to churches belonging to the Southern Baptist Convention , various Black churches , and other Christian denominations.

He paid toward the freedom of two slaves [ ] and donated to a Roman Catholic orphanage. As he grew rich, his donations became more generous, especially to his church in Cleveland. Believed to be obsolescent, the church was demolished in , and replaced with a new building. Rockefeller's charitable giving began with his first job as a clerk at age 16, when he gave six percent of his earnings to charity, as recorded in his personal ledger.

By the time he was twenty, his charity exceeded ten percent of his income. Much of his giving was church-related. Rockefeller attended Baptist churches every Sunday; when traveling he would often attend services at African-American Baptist congregations, leaving a substantial donation. He was advised primarily by Frederick Taylor Gates [ ] after , [ ] and, after , also by his son.

Rockefeller believed in the Efficiency Movement , arguing that: "To help an inefficient, ill-located, unnecessary school is a waste Rockefeller and his advisers invented the conditional grant, which required the recipient to "root the institution in the affections of as many people as possible who, as contributors, become personally concerned, and thereafter may be counted on to give to the institution their watchful interest and cooperation".

The Spelman Family, Rockefeller's in-laws, along with John Rockefeller were ardent abolitionists before the Civil War and were dedicated to supporting the Underground Railroad. The oldest existing building on Spelman's campus, Rockefeller Hall, is named after him. He would describe the University of Chicago as "the best investment I ever made.

Rockefeller's General Education Board , founded in , [ ] was established to promote education at all levels everywhere in the country. On Gates' advice, Rockefeller became one of the first great benefactors of medical science. It changed its name to Rockefeller University in , after expanding its mission to include graduate education. His General Education Board made a dramatic impact by funding the recommendations of the Flexner Report of Rockefeller created the Rockefeller Foundation in [ ] to continue and expand the scope of the work of the Sanitary Commission, [ ] which was closed in In the s, the Rockefeller Foundation funded a hookworm eradication campaign through the International Health Division.

This campaign used a combination of politics and science, along with collaboration between healthcare workers and government officials to accomplish its goals. Rockefeller's fourth main philanthropy, the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Foundation, was created in Rockefeller became well known in his later life for the practice of giving dimes to adults and nickels to children wherever he went.

He even gave dimes as a playful gesture to wealthy men, such as tire mogul Harvey Firestone. Rockefeller supported the passage of the 18th Amendment , which banned alcohol in the United States. He wrote in a letter to Nicholas Murray Butler on June 6, , that neither Rockefeller nor his parents or his father's father and mother's mother drank alcohol.

In the same letter, Rockefeller writes that he has "always stood for whatever measure seemed at the time to give promise of promoting temperance. He supported the incorporation of repealing the 18th amendment into the Republican party platform. Flagler expanded it to accommodate guests and the hotel soon became one in a series of Gilded Age hotels catering to passengers aboard Flagler's Florida East Coast Railway.

Rockefeller, who first stayed at the hotel in Rockefeller liked the Ormond Beach area so much that after four seasons at the hotel, he bought an estate in Ormond Beach called The Casements in He became known in the area for his elaborate Christmas parties, his love of golf, and for handing out dimes to his neighbors or visitors. During a golf game with Harvey Firestone, the tire magnate made such a good shot that Rockefeller decided he deserved a dime and handed one to his somewhat embarrassed guest.

Nationwide newspapers sent Van De Grift to spend a week with Rockefeller candidly asking humble questions, taking strolls together, asking about golf, church, and day-to-day life, while staying across the street from him at the Ormond Hotel. Sold by his heirs in , [ ] it was purchased by the city in and now serves as a cultural center and is the community's best-known historical structure.

In his 50s, Rockefeller suffered from moderate depression and digestive troubles; during a stressful period in the s he developed alopecia , the loss of some or all body hair. His hair never grew back, but other health complaints subsided as he lightened his workload. His goal was to reach the age of ; however, he died at 97 on May 23, , at The Casements, his winter home in Ormond Beach, Florida.

He was buried at Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland. You can opt out at any time. You must be 16 years or older and a resident of the United States. Your Profile. Email Updates. Table of Contents John D. Rockefeller: Standard Oil John D. Rockefeller: Standard Oil In , Rockefeller borrowed money to buy out some of his partners and take control of the refinery, which had become the largest in Cleveland.

Sign Up. Later in life, Rockefeller devoted himself to philanthropy. He died in By the age of 20, Rockefeller, who'd thrived at his job, ventured out on his own with a business partner, working as a commission merchant in hay, meats, grains and other goods. A careful and studious businessman who refrained from taking unnecessary risks, Rockefeller sensed an opportunity in the oil business in the early s.

With oil production ramping up in western Pennsylvania, Rockefeller decided that establishing an oil refinery near Cleveland, a short distance from Pittsburgh, would be a good business move. In , he opened his first refinery, and within two years it was the largest in the area. It didn't take much further success to convince Rockefeller to turn his attention full-time to the oil business.

With success came acquisitions, as Standard began buying out its competitors. Standard then used its size and ubiquity in the region to make favorable deals with railroads to ship its oil.