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More Than Money
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 Not all of the Vanderbilts' wealth
went for lavish living. Many of the new aristocrats pursued their
philanthropies as diligently as their pleasures. Beginning with
the Commodore's million-dollar gift in 1873 to the Tennessee
university that now bears his name, the Vanderbilt fortune underwrote
opera houses, art galleries, museums, hospitals, libraries, and
educational institutions. Frederick Vanderbilt gave generously
to Yale University and other organizations. Louise Vanderbilt
never tired of helping the community, particularly its young
people. She established a reading room at St. James Chapel in
Hyde Park and provided for the higher education of qualified
young women. She was instrumental in bringing the Red Cross to
town and in founding the District Health Nurse Service. Her principal
charities outside Hyde Park were the St. Anthony's Home for Working
Girls and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. |
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By comparison with his brothers Cornelius
II and William Kissam, Frederick Vanderbilt led a private life.
His accomplishments, though, were impressive. He was the first
in his family to graduate from college. He sat on the boards
of 22 railroads - he was a director of the New York Central for
61 years. Unlike any of his brothers or their children, he managed
to increase the $10 million inheritance he received at age 29
to $70 million by the time he died. Finally, it was a lifelong
source of pride that he turned a neglected estate on the Hudson
into a place of beauty and scientific interest. |
Frederick Vanderbilt
in middle age |
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Roosevelt-Vanderbilt
National Historic Sites
4097 Albany Post Road
Hyde Park, NY 12538
Last updated: February 9, 2001
http://www.nps.gov/vama/philanthropy.html
Author:ROVA
Webmaster
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