James Rockwell

Last updated
James Rockwell
James C. Rockwell Passport Photo.png
Rockwell in 1924
Personal details
Born
James Chapman Rockwell

(1881-10-04)October 4, 1881
Scranton, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedJuly 30, 1962(1962-07-30) (aged 80)
California, U.S.
Spouse(s)Dorothy Shepard
Ann Hanlon Rockwell
ChildrenWilliam S. Rockwell
Patricia J. Rockwell
James C. Rockwell, Jr.
Parent(s)William Brewer Rockwell (father)
Clara Louise Chapman (mother)
Alma mater Cornell University
ProfessionBusinessman
Known forPresident of Meralco
Founder of Manila Yacht Club
Director of American Chamber of Commerce in Manila
NicknameJim

James C. Rockwell (October 4, 1881- July 30, 1962) was an American businessman. He was President of the Manila Electric Railroad and Light Company (Meralco), Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Manila, Charter member and President of the Rotary Club of Manila, and Founder and Commodore of the Manila Yacht Club. Rockwell Center is named after him.

Contents

Early life

Rockwell was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to William B. Rockwell and his wife, Clara L. Chapman. [1]

Education

In 1904, Rockwell graduated from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering. [1]

Career

In 1911, Rockwell arrived in Manila to join the Manila Electric Railroad and Light Company (Meralco) as a railway manager. In 1919, he was appointed Vice-President and later became general manager. In 1939 he became President. [1]

In 1939, Rockwell was the Director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Manila. [1]

Santo Tomas Internment Camp

In World War II, during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, Rockwell, his wife Ann and their son James C. Rockwell Jr. were interned at the Santo Tomas Internment Camp in Manila. [2] [3]

Personal life

On May 8, 1913, Rockwell married Dorothy Shepard at the American Consulate General in Yokohama, Empire of Japan. [4]

On July 1, 1919, Rockwell became the 2nd President of the Rotary Club of Manila, after its charter was handed down, succeeding Leon J. Lambert who served as President for a month during incorporation. Rockwell completed his term on June 30, 1920, at the end of the first full Rotary year. [5]

On August 28, 1926, Rockwell married Ann Hanlon in Manila. [6] On July 29, 1928, Rockwell and Hanlon's son James Chapman Rockwell Jr. was born. [7]

In 1927, Rockwell founded the Manila Yacht Club and served as its Commodore. Rockwell also played a role in the establishment of the Manila Polo Club and Manila Golf Club. [8]

Death

Rockwell died in California, on July 30, 1962.

Rockwell Thermal Plant and Rockwell Center

In 1950, Meralco began operating the Rockwell Thermal Plant named after Rockwell in Makati. In 1994, the thermal plant became decommissioned. The plant building became the upscale Power Plant Mall. [9]

In 1995, López Holdings Corporation formed the Rockwell Land Corporation to develop the 15.5-hectare (38-acre) area of the former thermal plant. The development retained Rockwell's name and is now known as Rockwell Center. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fernando Lopez</span> Vice President of the Philippines from 1949 to 1953 and 1965 to 1972

Fernando Hofileña Lopez Sr. was a Filipino statesman. A member of the influential Lopez family of Iloilo, he served as vice president of the Philippines under Presidents Elpidio Quirino from 1949 to 1953 under the Liberal Party and Ferdinand Marcos from 1965 to 1972, under the Nacionalista Party. He was also the chairman of ABS-CBN Corporation from 1986 to his death in 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meralco</span> Large distribution private utility sector in the Philippines

The Manila Electric Company, also known as Meralco, is an electric power distribution company in the Philippines. It is Metro Manila's only electric power distributor and holds the power distribution franchise for 39 cities and 72 municipalities, including the whole of Metro Manila and the exurbs that form Mega Manila.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabriel Daza</span> First Filipino electrical engineer, businessman

Don Gabriel Amando Daza, KGCR, KC*SS was the first Filipino electrical engineer and one of the charter members of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP). He co-founded the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), Philippine Telegraph and Telephone Co. (PT&T), Philippine Electric Manufacturing Company (PEMCO), Phelps Dodge Philippines. He was the supervising engineer and assistant general manager of Visayan Electric Company (VECO) and led its expansion out of Cebu City. President and chief scout of the BSP in 1961–68. In 1945, President Osmeña appointed Daza to be a member of the board of directors of the Manila Railroad Company and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. In 1950, he was vice-chairman of the National Power Corporation and on the board of directors of the Manila Hotel Company. In 1951, Daza was appointed by President Quirino as a founding member of the board of directors of the National Shipyard and Steel Corporation. President and director of the National Economic Protection Agency (NEPA) in 1956.

Sir Hermenegildo Balbino Tantoco Reyes, KGCR co-founded the University of the East, was a Boy Scouts of the Philippines Scouting notable, Filipino educator, lawyer, mechanical and electrical engineer. Reyes served on the World Scout Committee of the World Organization of the Scout Movement from 1961 to 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jaime C. de Veyra</span> Filipino politician (1873–1963)

Jaime Carlos de Veyra y Díaz was a Resident Commissioner to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Philippine Islands from 1917 to 1923 and the 1st Governor of Leyte from 1906 to 1907.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rockwell Center</span> Place in Metro Manila, Philippines

Rockwell Center is a high-end mixed-use neighborhood in the Poblacion area of Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines, named after James Rockwell, former President of Manila Electric Railroad and Light Company (Meralco). It is a project of Rockwell Land Corporation, which is owned by the Lopez Holdings Corporation. Rockwell Center was first developed in 1998 and is being expanded since 2012. The architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) carried out the design under the direction of former design partner Larry Oltmanns, while Felino Palafox and his company, Palafox Associates, became responsible for the master-planning of the complex. Its centerpiece, the Power Plant Mall, opened on December 26, 2000. Rockwell Center includes office buildings, condominium towers, a professional school and a shopping mall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juan Nakpil</span> Filipino architect (1899–1986)

Juan Felipe de Jesús Nakpil, KGCR, KSS known as Juan Nakpil, was a Filipino architect, teacher and a community leader. In 1973, he was named one of the National Artists for architecture. He was regarded as the Dean of Filipino Architects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael J. O'Doherty</span> Roman Catholic archbishop

Michael James O'Doherty was an Irish prelate and was the 27th Archbishop of Manila in the Philippines. O'Doherty was Archbishop of Manila for 33 years from 1916 until his death in 1949, making him the longest to hold the post, serving through the difficult years of the Japanese occupation and the Second World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the University of Santo Tomas</span>

The University of Santo Tomas is one of the oldest existing universities and holds the oldest extant university charter in the Philippines and in Asia. It was founded on April 28, 1611, by the third Archbishop of Manila, Miguel de Benavides, together with Domingo de Nieva and Bernardo de Santa Catalina. It was originally conceived as a school to prepare young men for the priesthood. Located Intramuros, it was first called Colegio de Nuestra Señora del Santísimo Rosario and later renamed Colegio de Santo Tomás in memory of Dominican theologian Saint Thomas Aquinas. In 1624, the colegio was authorized to confer academic degrees in theology, philosophy, and arts. On November 20, 1645, after representations by Vittorio Riccio, Pope Innocent X elevated the college to the rank of a university and in 1680 it was placed under royal patronage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Power Plant Mall</span> Shopping mall in Makati, Philippines

Power Plant Mall is an upscale indoor shopping mall in Makati, Philippines. It is the anchor establishment of Rockwell Center, a mixed-use area north of the Makati Central Business District on the Pasig River waterfront across Mandaluyong. It is one of two shopping centers developed and managed by Rockwell Land Corporation, a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation, in Metro Manila. It was designed by Toronto-based architecture firm, Design International.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">First Philippine Holdings Corporation</span>

First Philippine Holdings Corporation (FPH) is a management and investment company whose major business is power generation and distribution, with strategic initiatives in manufacturing and property development. FPH is a member of the Lopez Group of Companies.

Eugenio "Eñing" Hofileña López Sr. was a leading business figure in the Philippines. He was the founder of López Group of Companies. He belonged to the prominent López family of Iloilo, one of the leading political families in the Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Santo Tomas Internment Camp</span> WW2 Japanese internment camp for enemy civilians

Santo Tomas Internment Camp, also known as the Manila Internment Camp, was the largest of several camps in the Philippines in which the Japanese interned enemy civilians, mostly Americans, in World War II. The campus of the University of Santo Tomas in Manila was utilized for the camp, which housed more than 3,000 internees from January 1942 until February 1945. Conditions for the internees deteriorated during the war and by the time of the liberation of the camp by the U.S. Army many of the internees were near death from lack of food.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poblacion, Makati</span> Barangay in Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines

Poblacion is an administrative division of southern Metro Manila, the Philippines. It is an urban barangay of Makati, named and centered on the city's historic poblacion area and serves as the second most important commercial center in Makati behind the Makati Central Business District. It is also the city's center of government, culture, history and entertainment and a major business district of Metro Manila.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dr. Santos Avenue</span> Road in Parañaque, Philippines

Dr. Arcadio Santos Avenue or Dr. Santos Avenue, formerly and still referred to as Sucat Road or Parañaque–Sucat Road, is the primary east–west thoroughfare in Parañaque, southern Metro Manila, Philippines. The avenue's western end is in Barangay San Dionisio as the continuation of Ninoy Aquino Avenue, which leads to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Its eastern end is at the East Service Road, which runs parallel to South Luzon Expressway, in Barangay Sucat, Muntinlupa, where it becomes Meralco Road to service the rest of the route to Sucat railway station.

The following is a timeline of the history of the city and metropolitan area of Manila, the capital city of the Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of Metro Manila</span> Overview of and topical guide to Metro Manila

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Metro Manila:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Index of Metro Manila–related articles</span>

The following is an alphabetical list of articles related to the Philippine capital region of Metro Manila.

The Rotary Club of Manila is the first and oldest Rotary Club in Asia. After its establishment, the Rotary Club of Manila sponsored other organizations, including the Rotary Club of Cebu (1932), the Rotary Club of Iloilo (1933), the Community Chest Foundation, the Philippine Band of Mercy (1937), the Philippine Safety Council, and the Boy Scouts of America Philippine Islands Council (1923).

Horace Bristol Pond was an American business executive, philanthropist, American Red Cross personnel, World War II prisoner, and an expatriate in Manila, Philippines.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Cornejo, Miguel R. (1939). Cornejo's Commonwealth Directory of the Philippines. Manila: Miguel R. Cornejo. pp. 2069–2070.
  2. Stevens, Frederic Harper (1946). Santo Tomas Internment Camp: 1942-1945. Stratford House, Incorporated. p. 522.
  3. Rizal Library (2008). "Santo Tomas Internment Camp Internees: Lacey, Sharon to Rodgers, George Marcus". Rizal Library. p. 300.
  4. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington, D.C.; Marriage Reports in State Department Decimal Files, 1910-1949; Record Group: 59, General Records of the Department of State, 1763 - 2002; Series ARC ID: 2555709; Series MLR Number: A1, Entry 3001; Series Box Number: 472; File Number: 133.R59
  5. "Balita No. 3746" (PDF). The Rotary Club of Manila. May 30, 2018. p. 8.
  6. Ancestry.com. Philippines, Select Marriages, 1723-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.
  7. National Archives at St. Louis; St. Louis, Missouri; WWII Draft Registration Cards for New York City, 10/16/1940 - 03/31/1947; Record Group: Records of the Selective Service System, 147
  8. Del Mundo, Ida Anita (July 15, 2017). "Smooth sailing, Manila Yacht Club's 90th year". PhilStar.
  9. 1 2 Lopez Holdings Corp. (December 9, 2010). "Milestone of Rockwell Thermal Plant". Lopez Link.