Arthur Ross (philanthropist)
Encyclopedia
Arthur Ross was an American
businessman and philanthropist
. He was known for his philanthropic contributions to the arts and environmental causes, including New York City
's Central Park
, specifically the Arthur Ross Pinetum
.
, New York City, on November 25, 1910.
Ross originally enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania
in Philadelphia. However, he transferred to Columbia University
during the Great Depression
to support his family. He held a number of jobs during the Depression and his college years, including a shirt salesman at Macy's
.
Ross joined the United States Navy
during World War II
. He served as a lieutenant commander
. His tours of duty took him to Ecuador
and Panama
for several years.
brokerage firm
. He left the company in 1938 and joined Central National Corporation the same year. Central National Corporation was an investment banking subsidiary
of Gottesman & Company, a privately held company specializing in chemicals and wood pulp
. Ross stayed at Central National and rose to become Vice President of the combined parent company, now called Central National-Gottesman
Inc., in 1974.
, the environment
and international affairs
.
. The pinetum, located to the northwest of Central Park
's Great Lawn, covers 4 acres (16,187.4 m²) of Central Park. The Arthur Ross Pinetum is currently home to a collection of 25 species of conifers, from both the United States and other countries. Ross stayed actively involved in the pinetum, despite some instances of early vandalism. Ross added approximately 35 pine trees a year to the Arthur Ross Pinetum. His collection grew to include trees from the Himalayas
, Macedonia
and Japan
. The pinetum became a popular recreational area for New Yorkers. Wendy Wasserstein
, a New York City based playwright
, called the Arthur Ross Pinetum "a little bit of Maine
in Manhattan
."
of Central Park was held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
in 1981.
Ross financed the research and development
of a subspecies
of Chinese elm
, developed by researchers from a tree
grown in Central Park. The descendants of this particular subspecies have been used in Central Park and worldwide to replace elm
species destroyed by Dutch elm disease
. The Ross financed subspecies is immune to the disease.
Ross also contributed anonymously to other public New York City parks
and other facilities. Among his contributions was a $350,000 donation to a city-owned nursery
in the Bronx
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
businessman and philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
. He was known for his philanthropic contributions to the arts and environmental causes, including New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
, specifically the Arthur Ross Pinetum
Great Lawn and Turtle Pond, Central Park
The Great Lawn and Turtle Pond, Central Park, are inseparable features of New York City's Central Park.-History:The lawn and pond occupy the almost flat site of the rectangular, thirty-five-acre Lower Reservoir constructed in 1842, which was an unalterable fixture of the location of Central Park as...
.
Early life
Arthur Ross was born in ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, New York City, on November 25, 1910.
Ross originally enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
in Philadelphia. However, he transferred to Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
to support his family. He held a number of jobs during the Depression and his college years, including a shirt salesman at Macy's
Macy's
Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...
.
Ross joined the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. He served as a lieutenant commander
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...
. His tours of duty took him to Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
and Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
for several years.
Career
Arthur Ross began his career in 1932 at Sutro Brothers & Company, a Wall StreetWall Street
Wall Street refers to the financial district of New York City, named after and centered on the eight-block-long street running from Broadway to South Street on the East River in Lower Manhattan. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, or...
brokerage firm
Brokerage firm
A brokerage firm, or simply brokerage or broker in context, is a financial institution that facilitates the buying and selling of financial derivatives between a buyer and a seller...
. He left the company in 1938 and joined Central National Corporation the same year. Central National Corporation was an investment banking subsidiary
Subsidiary
A subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...
of Gottesman & Company, a privately held company specializing in chemicals and wood pulp
Wood pulp
Pulp is a lignocellulosic fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating cellulose fibres from wood, fibre crops or waste paper. Wood pulp is the most common raw material in papermaking.-History:...
. Ross stayed at Central National and rose to become Vice President of the combined parent company, now called Central National-Gottesman
Central National-Gottesman
Central National-Gottesman, Inc. is one of the world's largest distributors of pulp, paper, paperboard, and newsprint. The firm's products are sold in over 75 countries, through a network of 43 offices located in the United States and abroad....
Inc., in 1974.
Philanthropy
Arthur Ross worked on a number of important philanthropic causes throughout his life. Most involved the artsARts
aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....
, the environment
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
and international affairs
International relations
International relations is the study of relationships between countries, including the roles of states, inter-governmental organizations , international nongovernmental organizations , non-governmental organizations and multinational corporations...
.
Arthur Ross Pinetum
Arthur Ross began to finance the establishment of the Arthur Ross Pinetum in 1971 with Cornelius O'Shea, Central Park’s chief foresterForester
250px|thumb|right|Foresters of [[Southern University of Chile|UACh]] in the [[Valdivian forest]]s of San Pablo de Tregua, ChileA forester is a person who practices forestry, the science, art, and profession of managing forests. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including timber...
. The pinetum, located to the northwest of Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
's Great Lawn, covers 4 acres (16,187.4 m²) of Central Park. The Arthur Ross Pinetum is currently home to a collection of 25 species of conifers, from both the United States and other countries. Ross stayed actively involved in the pinetum, despite some instances of early vandalism. Ross added approximately 35 pine trees a year to the Arthur Ross Pinetum. His collection grew to include trees from the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
, Macedonia
Macedonia (region)
Macedonia is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan peninsula in southeastern Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time, but nowadays the region is considered to include parts of five Balkan countries: Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Albania, Serbia, as...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. The pinetum became a popular recreational area for New Yorkers. Wendy Wasserstein
Wendy Wasserstein
Wendy Wasserstein was an American playwright and an Andrew Dickson White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University...
, a New York City based playwright
Playwright
A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...
, called the Arthur Ross Pinetum "a little bit of Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
."
Central Park Conservancy
Arthur Ross became a board member of the Central Park Conservancy in 1980. Ross continued to work for the survival and renewal of Central Park. He sponsored an exhibition about Central Park at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in 1980. A second Ross sponsored exhibitionArt exhibition
Art exhibitions are traditionally the space in which art objects meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhibition". In American English, they may be called "exhibit", "exposition" or...
of Central Park was held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
in 1981.
Ross financed the research and development
Research and development
The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
of a subspecies
Subspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
of Chinese elm
Ulmus parvifolia
Ulmus parvifolia, commonly known as the Chinese Elm or Lacebark Elm, is a species native to China, Japan, North Korea and Vietnam...
, developed by researchers from a tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
grown in Central Park. The descendants of this particular subspecies have been used in Central Park and worldwide to replace elm
Elm
Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus Ulmus in the plant family Ulmaceae. The dozens of species are found in temperate and tropical-montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ranging southward into Indonesia. Elms are components of many kinds of natural forests...
species destroyed by Dutch elm disease
Dutch elm disease
Dutch elm disease is a disease caused by a member of the sac fungi category, affecting elm trees which is spread by the elm bark beetle. Although believed to be originally native to Asia, the disease has been accidentally introduced into America and Europe, where it has devastated native...
. The Ross financed subspecies is immune to the disease.
Ross also contributed anonymously to other public New York City parks
New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
The City of New York Department of Parks & Recreation is the department of government of the City of New York responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecological diversity of the city's natural areas, and furnishing recreational opportunities for city's...
and other facilities. Among his contributions was a $350,000 donation to a city-owned nursery
Nursery (horticulture)
A nursery is a place where plants are propagated and grown to usable size. They include retail nurseries which sell to the general public, wholesale nurseries which sell only to businesses such as other nurseries and to commercial gardeners, and private nurseries which supply the needs of...
in the Bronx
The Bronx
The Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
.
External links
- Woodnotes: The Arthur Ross Pinetum in Central Park - Includes a list of Arthur Ross Pinetum represented species
- Central Park Conservancy: Arthur Ross, Extraordinary Ambassador for Central Park, Dies at 96
- American Museum of Natural History: Arthur Ross Hall of Meteorites