August Heckscher | |
|---|---|
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| Born | August 26, 1848 |
| Died | April 26, 1941 (aged 92) Mountain Lake, Florida, U.S. |
| Spouses | |
| Children | Maurice Heckscher Antoinette Heckscher |
| Parent(s) | Johann Gustav Heckscher Marie Antoinette Bräutigam |
| Relatives | Richard Heckscher (cousin) August Heckscher II (grandson) |
August Heckscher (August 26, 1848 – April 26, 1941) was a German-born American capitalist and philanthropist.
Heckscher was born in Hamburg, Germany. He was the son of Johann Gustav Heckscher (1797–1865) and Marie Antoinette Bräutigam. [1]
In 1867, Heckscher immigrated to the United States. He initially worked in his cousin Richard Heckscher's coal mining operation as a laborer, studying English at night. Several years later he formed a partnership with his cousin under the name of Richard Heckscher & Company. The firm was eventually sold to the Reading Railroad. Heckscher then turned to zinc mining and organized the Zinc and Iron Company, becoming vice-president and general manager. In 1897, it was consolidated with other zinc and iron companies into the New Jersey Zinc Company with Heckscher serving as the general manager.
Heckscher eventually became a multimillionaire and a philanthropist. He started The Heckscher Foundation for Children and created playgrounds in lower Manhattan and in Central Park. Heckscher Playground, Central Park's largest playground, is named in his honor. Heckscher also created Heckscher Park in the town of Huntington and created the Heckscher Museum of Art. The State of New York purchased nearly 1,500 acres in East Islip with money donated by Heckscher to create Heckscher State Park, made famous for hosting summer concerts for 35 years of the New York Philharmonic.
In 1881, he married Anna P. Atkins (1859–1924). [2] Together, they were the parents of: [3]
In 1930, he married Virginia Henry Curtiss (c. 1885 – 1941) at Croton-on-Hudson. She was the widow of Edwin Burr Curtiss, of A. G. Spalding Bros. and was 27 years younger than Heckscher. [3] [5]
August Heckscher died on April 26, 1941, in Mountain Lake, Florida [6] [7] and left his widow $10,000 and all his real estate. [8] She died on July 11, 1941. [3] No legatee could be found that was named in her will and the probate court declared an earlier copy of the will as valid. [9]
His grandson August Heckscher II (1913–1997), served as President John F. Kennedy's Special Consultant on the Arts, the first White House cultural adviser, 1962–1963, as well New York City Mayor John Lindsay's Parks Commissioner, 1967, amongst other highlights in a wide-ranging career and life. [10]
John Shaffer Phipps was an American lawyer and businessman who was an heir to the Phipps family fortune and a shareholder of his father-in-law's Grace Shipping Lines. He was a director of the Hanover Bank, U.S. Steel Corp. and W. R. Grace & Co.
Rhinelander Waldo was appointed the seventh New York City Fire Commissioner by Mayor William Jay Gaynor on January 13, 1910. He resigned on May 23, 1911, less than two months after the deadly Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, to accept an appointment as the eighth New York City Police Commissioner. On December 31, 1913, he was dismissed by the outgoing acting mayor, Ardolph Kline. Among other achievements in office, Waldo contributed to the motorization of both departments.
Theresa Alice "Tessie" Fair was an American socialite. She went from being the daughter of a hard-scrabble California miner to become heiress to a fortune in Comstock Lode gold and silver, the wife of steamship magnate Hermann Oelrichs, mistress of the Rosecliff estate in Newport, Rhode Island, and a member of the elite "Triumvirate" of American society."
John Gerard Longer de Saulles was an American football player and coach, real estate broker, and businessman whose murder by his millionaire wife led to a widely reported trial.
William Emlen Roosevelt was a prominent New York City banker who held a wide range of positions in numerous organizations and was a cousin of United States President Theodore Roosevelt. He was president of Roosevelt & Son, the banking firm founded by his father James Alfred Roosevelt.
Theodore Douglas Robinson was an American politician from New York who served as the Assistant Secretary of the Navy from November 1924 to 1929. He was a member of the Roosevelt family through his mother and was the eldest nephew of President Theodore Roosevelt. As an Oyster Bay Roosevelt, Theodore was a descendant of the Schuyler family.
Gustave Maurice Heckscher, was a pioneer aviator with seaplanes. and later a real estate developer in California.
Edwin Burr Curtiss was an American attorney, bookseller, and a director of A. G. Spalding Bros.
Virginia Henry Curtiss was president of The Heckscher Foundation for Children and was a member of New York City's Child Welfare Board.
The Heckscher Foundation for Children is a New York City-focused private foundation that provides grants to underserved New York City youth. Often, the foundation's grant-giving takes the form of program support, capacity-building, and general operating support.
Robert Walton Goelet was an American financier and real estate developer in New York City. He was one of the largest property owners in the city by the time of his death.
Oliver Gould Jennings was an American financier and an heir to a fortune from Standard Oil who served in the Connecticut House of Representatives.
Lionel Gordon Baliol Brett, 4th Viscount Esher, 4th Baron Esher CBE was a British peer, architect and town-planner. He succeeded to his title on the death of his father in 1963.
August Heckscher II was an American public intellectual and author whose work explored the American liberalism of political leaders including Woodrow Wilson.
Thomas DeWitt Cuyler was an American lawyer who served as director of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the chairman of the Association of Railway Executives.
George Blumenthal was a German-born banker who served as the head of the U.S branch of Lazard Frères.
Oliver Sylvain Baliol Brett, 3rd Viscount Esher, was a British peer and politician.
Adrian Georg Iselin Jr. was an American banker.
Heckscher Playground is a play area located in New York City's Central Park, located close to Central Park South between Sixth Avenue and Seventh Avenue. It is the oldest and largest of Central Park's 22 playgrounds.
James Blanchard Clews was an American railroad executive and banker.
He was twice married, to Anna Atkins in 1881, who died in 1924, and to Mrs. Virginia Henry Curtiss in 1930 ...
August Heckscher, millionaire real estate operator and philanthropist, and Mrs. Virginia Henry Curtiss of New York and Greenwich, Conn., were married last Wednesday in Croton-on-Hudson, but their marriage did not become known to any but their closest friends until ...
August Heckscher, 92-years-old New York capitalist and philanthropist, died at his Mountain Lake home here today after a long illness.
August Heckscher, real estate and steel operator, banker and philanthropist, died at his Winter home at Mountain Lake, near here, at 2:40 P. M. today. Death came suddenly in his sleep. He was 92 years old. ... In July of 1930, at the age of 81, he married Mrs. Virginia Henry Curtiss, ...
Members of the family of August Heckscher, real estate operator and philanthropist, will receive the greater part of his estate, it became known yesterday when his will was filed in Surrogate's Court. Mr. Heckscher, who was 92 years old, died on April 26 at Mountain Lake, Fla.
When the will of Mrs. Virginia Henry Curtiss Heckscher, widow of August Heckscher, the philanthropist, was filed for probate in Surrogate's Court yesterday, ...
August Heckscher, a Parks Commissioner under Mayor John V. Lindsay who was long active in public affairs and as a writer, died on Saturday at New York Hospital. He was 83 and lived on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The cause was heart failure, which he suffered after being admitted to the hospital because he had been having chest pains, his family said.
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