Rockefeller family
Encyclopedia
The Rockefeller family (ˈrɒkɨfɛlər), the Cleveland
family of John D. Rockefeller
(1839–1937) and his brother William Rockefeller
(1841–1922), is an American
industrial
, banking, and political family of German
origin that made one of the world's largest private fortunes in the oil business
during the late 19th and early 20th century, primarily through the Standard Oil Company. The family is also known for its long association with and financial interest in the Chase Manhattan Bank
, now JP Morgan Chase.
Their ancestor, Johann Peter Rockefeller, moved to North America in 1723 from what is today Westerwald
, Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
.
, Acadia National Park
, Forest Hill Park, the Nature Conservancy, the Rockefeller Forest in California's Humboldt Redwoods State Park (the largest stand of old-growth redwoods), and Grand Teton National Park
, among many others. Rockefeller Jr, and his son Laurance
(and his son Larry) were particularly prominent in this area.
The family was honored for its conservation efforts in November, 2005, by the National Audubon Society
, one of America's largest and oldest conservation organizations, at which over 30 family members attended. At the event, the society's president, John Flicker, notably stated: "Cumulatively, no other family in America has made the contribution to conservation that the Rockefeller family has made".
and Michael Bloomberg
. Members of the Rockefeller family into the fourth generation (especially the prominent banker and statesman David Rockefeller
, who is the present family patriarch) have been heavily involved in international politics, and have donated money, established or been involved in the following major international institutions:
, is a vast three-story underground bunker built below the Martha Baird Rockefeller Hillcrest mansion on the family estate at Pocantico (see Kykuit
). Along forty-foot-long walls of shelves on rails, patrolled by ten full-time archivists, is the entire repository of personal and official papers and correspondence of the complete family and its members, along with historical papers of its numerous foundations, as well as other non-family philanthropic institutions. These include: the Commonwealth Fund
, Charles E. Culpeper Foundation, Lucille P. Markey Charitable Trust, and the John and Mary R. Markle Foundation.
In total, it holds over 70 million pages of documents and contains the collections of forty-two scientific, cultural, educational and philanthropic organizations.
Only the expurgated records of deceased family members are publicly available to scholars and researchers; all records pertaining to living members are closed to historians. However, as Nelson Rockefeller
's researcher, Cary Reich, discovered, in the case of Nelson's voluminous 3247 cubic feet (91.9 m³) of papers, only about one-third of these files had been processed and released to researchers up to 1996. He reports that it will be many years before all the papers will be open to the public, despite Nelson having died in 1979.
The Center maintains that this repository of records, covering 140-plus years of the records of the family, in addition to non-Rockefeller philanthropic collections, gives unique insights into United States and world issues and social developments in both the 19th and 20th centuries.
Records in the collection are only available up until the early 1960s, generally 1961. Major subjects in the collection include:
From the outset, and even today, the family wealth has been under the complete control of the male members of the dynasty, through the family office. Despite strong-willed wives who had influence over their husbands' decisions – such as the pivotal female figure Abby Aldrich Rockefeller
, wife of Junior – in all cases they received allowances only and were never given even partial responsibility for the family fortune.
Much of the wealth has been locked up in the notable family trust of 1934 (which holds the bulk of the fortune and matures on the death of the fourth generation), and the trust of 1952, both administered by the Chase Manhattan Bank
. These trusts have consisted of shares in the successor companies to Standard Oil
and other diversified investments, as well as the family's considerable real estate holdings. They are administered by a powerful trust committee that oversees the fortune. It has consisted over time of high-profile individuals, who have included Paul Volcker
, William G. Bowen
(former president of Princeton University
) and John C. Whitehead
(retired co-chairman of Goldman Sachs
).
Management of this fortune today also rests with professional money managers who oversee the principal holding company, Rockefeller Financial Services, which controls all the family's investments, now that Rockefeller Center
is no longer owned by the family. The present chairman is David Rockefeller, Jr.
In 1992, it had five main arms:
s and the Mellon
s. A primary reason has been the lifelong efforts of "Junior" to not only cleanse the name from the opprobrium stemming from the ruthless practices of Standard Oil
, but his tireless efforts to forge family unity even as he allowed his five sons to operate independently. This was partly achieved by regular brothers and family meetings, but it was also because of the high value placed on family unity by first Nelson and John 3rd, and later especially with David.
Regarding achievements, in 1972, on the 100th anniversary of the founding of Andrew Carnegie
's philanthropy, the Carnegie Corporation, which has had a long association with the family and its institutions, released a public statement on the influence of the family on not just philanthropy but encompassing a much wider field. Summing up a predominant view amongst the international philanthropic world, albeit one poorly grasped by the public, one sentence of this statement read: "The contributions of the Rockefeller family are staggering in their extraordinary range and in the scope of their contribution to humankind."
John D. Rockefeller gave away US$540 million over his lifetime (in dollar terms of that time), and became the greatest lay benefactor of medicine in history. His son, "Junior" also gave away over $537 million over his lifetime, bringing the total philanthropy of just two generations of the family to over $1 billion from 1860 to 1960. Added to this, the New York Times declared in a report in November, 2006 that David Rockefeller
's total charitable benefactions amount to about $900 million over his lifetime.
The combined personal and social connections of the various family members are vast, both in America and throughout the world, including the most powerful politicians, royalty, public figures, and chief businessmen. Notable figures through Standard Oil
alone have included Henry Flagler and Henry H. Rogers
. Contemporary figures include Henry Kissinger
, Nelson Mandela
, Richard Parsons (Chairman and CEO of Time Warner
), C. Fred Bergsten
, Peter G. Peterson (Senior Chairman of the Blackstone Group
), and Paul Volcker
.
In 1991 the family was presented with the Honor Award
from the National Building Museum
for four generations worth of preserving and creating some of the U.S.'s most important buildings and places. David accepted the award on the family's behalf. The ceremony coincided with an exhibition on the family's contributions to the built environment, including John Sr.'s preservation efforts for the Hudson River Palisades, the restoration of Williamsburg, Virginia
, construction of Rockefeller Center
, and Governor Nelson's efforts to construct low- and middle-income housing in New York state.
The Rockefeller name is imprinted on numerous places throughout the United States, most notably in New York City
, but also in Cleveland
, where the family originates:
John D Junior, through his son Nelson
, purchased and then donated the land upon which sits the UN headquarters, in New York, in 1946. Earlier, in the 1920s, he had also donated a substantial amount towards the restoration and rehabilitation of major buildings in France
after World War I
, such as the Rheims Cathedral, the Fontainebleau
Palace and the Palace of Versailles
, for which he was later (1936) awarded France's highest decoration, the Grand Croix of the Legion d'Honneur
(subsequently also awarded decades later to his son, David Rockefeller
).
He also funded the notable excavations at Luxor
in Egypt, as well as establishing a Classical Studies School in Athens
. In addition, he provided the funding for the construction of the Palestine Archaeological Museum in East Jerusalem
- the Rockefeller Museum
.
The family, with its far reaching philanthropy, as well as its oil, real estate, banking, and international institutions, remains a benchmark for extreme wealth ("as rich as Rockefeller"), as "Senior" is still regarded as the wealthiest man who has ever lived, worth over $300 billion in today's figures, easily surpassing Bill Gates
, in terms adjusted by inflation indexing.
The corporate, financial and personal affairs of the family - numbering around 150 blood relatives of John D. Rockefeller - are run from the family office
, Room 5600, known officially as "Rockefeller Family and Associates". It comprises three floors of the GE Building
in Rockefeller Center
; all private family legal matters are handled by the family-associated New York law firm of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy
. Room 5600 is also the base of the current family historian, Peter J. Johnson, who assisted with David Rockefeller
's Memoirs, published in 2002.
To distinguish the generations and facilitate communication, the fourth generation is generically known as "The Cousins" (24 in all, with 21 still living) and the younger family members are known as the "Fifth/Sixth" generation. Many if not all of these family members are involved in institutionalised philanthropic pursuits. Family links are solidified through the practice of ritualised family meetings - which started with the regular "brothers' meetings" held in Room 5600 or in their respective private residences, beginning in 1945. Family get-togethers are held today at the "Playhouse", in the Westchester County family estate of Pocantico, in June (the "cousins weekend") and December of each year (see Kykuit
).
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
family of John D. Rockefeller
John D. Rockefeller
John Davison Rockefeller was an American oil industrialist, investor, and philanthropist. He was the founder of the Standard Oil Company, which dominated the oil industry and was the first great U.S. business trust. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of...
(1839–1937) and his brother William Rockefeller
William Rockefeller
William Avery Rockefeller, Jr. , American financier, was a co-founder with his older brother John D. Rockefeller of the prominent United States Rockefeller family. He was the son of William Avery Rockefeller, Sr. and Eliza Rockefeller.-Youth, education:Rockefeller was born in Richford, New York,...
(1841–1922), is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
industrial
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
, banking, and political family of German
German American
German Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...
origin that made one of the world's largest private fortunes in the oil business
History of the petroleum industry in North America
The history of the petroleum industry in the United States goes back to the early 19th century, although the indigenous peoples, like many ancient societies, have used petroleum seeps since prehistoric times; where found, these seeps signaled the growth of the industry from the earliest discoveries...
during the late 19th and early 20th century, primarily through the Standard Oil Company. The family is also known for its long association with and financial interest in the Chase Manhattan Bank
Chase Manhattan Bank
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase, is a national bank that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of financial services firm JPMorgan Chase. The bank was known as Chase Manhattan Bank until it merged with J.P. Morgan & Co. in 2000...
, now JP Morgan Chase.
Their ancestor, Johann Peter Rockefeller, moved to North America in 1723 from what is today Westerwald
Westerwald
The Westerwald is a low mountain range on the right bank of the River Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhine Massif...
, Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Construction and Restoration of Buildings
The family was heavily involved in many real estate construction projects in the U.S. during the 20th century. Chief among them:- Rockefeller CenterRockefeller CenterRockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
, a multi-building complex built at the start of the Depression in Midtown Manhattan, financed solely by the family - International House of New YorkInternational House of New YorkInternational House New York, also known as I-House, is an unaffiliated and non-profit residence hall for graduate students, scholars engaging in research, trainees and interns...
, New York City, 1924 (Junior) {Involvement: John D. 3rd, Abby Aldrich, David & Peggy, David Jr., Abby O'Neill} - Wren Building, College of William and MaryCollege of William and MaryThe College of William & Mary in Virginia is a public research university located in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States...
's, Virginia, from 1927 (Renovation funded by Junior) - Colonial WilliamsburgColonial WilliamsburgColonial Williamsburg is the private foundation representing the historic district of the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, USA. The district includes buildings dating from 1699 to 1780 which made colonial Virginia's capital. The capital straddled the boundary of the original shires of Virginia —...
, Virginia, from 1927 onwards (Junior, Abby Aldrich, John D. 3rd and Winthrop), historical restoration - Museum of Modern ArtMuseum of Modern ArtThe Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, New York City, from 1929 (Abby Aldrich, Junior, Blanchette, Nelson, David, David Jr., Sharon Percy Rockefeller) - Riverside ChurchRiverside ChurchThe Riverside Church in the City of New York is an interdenominational church in New York City, famous for its elaborate Neo-Gothic architecture—which includes the world's largest tuned carillon bell...
, New York City, 1930 (Junior) - The CloistersThe CloistersThe Cloisters is a museum located in Fort Tryon Park, New York City. The building, which is a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was reconstructed in the 1930s from the architectural elements of several European medieval abbeys...
, New York City, from 1934 (Junior) - The Interchurch Center, New York City, 1948 (Junior)
- Asia SocietyAsia SocietyThe Asia Society is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating the world about Asia. It has several centers in the United States and around the world Hong Kong, Manila, Mumbai, Seoul, Shanghai, and Melbourne...
(Asia House), New York City, 1956 (John D. 3rd) - One Chase Manhattan PlazaOne Chase Manhattan PlazaOne Chase Manhattan Plaza is a banking skyscraper located in the downtown Manhattan Financial District of New York City, between Pine, Liberty, Nassau, and William Streets. Construction on the building was completed in 1961...
, New York City, 1961 (David) - Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State PlazaEmpire State PlazaThe Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza is a complex of several state government buildings in downtown Albany, New York....
, Albany, New York, 1962 (Nelson) - Lincoln Center, New York City, 1962 (John D. 3rd)
- World Trade CenterWorld Trade CenterThe original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
Twin Towers, New York City, 1973-2001 (David and Nelson) - The EmbarcaderoThe Embarcadero (San Francisco)The Embarcadero is the eastern waterfront and roadway of the Port of San Francisco, San Francisco, California, along San Francisco Bay, constructed atop an engineered seawall on reclaimed land, and derives its name from the Spanish verb embarcar, meaning "to embark"...
Complex, San Francisco, 1974 (David) - Council of the AmericasCouncil of the AmericasCouncil of the Americas is an American business organization whose goal is promoting free trade, democracy and open markets throughout the Americas. This includes Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, as well as South America. Its members share a common commitment to economic and social development,...
/Americas Society, New York City, 1985 (David) - In addition to this is Senior and Junior's involvement in seven major housing developments:
- Forest Hill Estates, Cleveland, Ohio
- City Housing Corporations efforts, Sunnyside Gardens, Queens, New York City
- Thomas Garden Apartments, The Bronx, New York City
- Paul Lawrence Dunbar Housing, Harlem, New York City
- Lavoisier Apartments, Manhattan, New York City
- Van Tassel Apartments, Sleepy Hollow, New YorkSleepy Hollow, New YorkSleepy Hollow is a village in the town of Mount Pleasant in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, about north of midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by the Philipse Manor stop on the Metro-North Hudson Line.Originally...
(formerly North Tarrytown) - A development in adburn, New Jersey
- A further project involved David RockefellerDavid RockefellerDavid Rockefeller, Sr. is the current patriarch of the Rockefeller family. He is the youngest and only surviving child of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, and the only surviving grandchild of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil. His five siblings were...
in a major middle-income housing development when he was elected in 1947 as chairman of Morningside Heights, Inc., in ManhattanManhattanManhattan 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...
by fourteen major institutions that were based in the area, including Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia 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...
. The result, in 1951, was the six-building apartment complex known as Morningside Gardens.
- Senior's donations led to the formation of the University of ChicagoUniversity of ChicagoThe University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
in 1889, where the first American Nobel Prize in Science was produced in 1907, and notable for the Chicago School of Economics. This was one instance of a long family and Rockefeller Foundation tradition of financially supporting Ivy LeagueIvy LeagueThe Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...
and other major colleges and universities over the generations - seventy-five in total. This includes:- Harvard UniversityHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
- Dartmouth CollegeDartmouth CollegeDartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
- Princeton UniversityPrinceton UniversityPrinceton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
- Stanford UniversityStanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
- Yale UniversityYale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
- Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyThe Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
- Case Western Reserve UniversityCase Western Reserve UniversityCase Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland, Ohio, USA...
- Brown UniversityBrown UniversityBrown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
- Columbia UniversityColumbia UniversityColumbia 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...
- Cornell UniversityCornell UniversityCornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
- University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of PennsylvaniaThe 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...
- This financial assistance extends overseas to institutions such as London School of EconomicsLondon School of EconomicsThe London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
- University College LondonUniversity College LondonUniversity College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
, among many others.
- This financial assistance extends overseas to institutions such as London School of Economics
- Harvard University
- Senior (and Junior) also created
- Rockefeller UniversityRockefeller UniversityThe Rockefeller University is a private university offering postgraduate and postdoctoral education. It has a strong concentration in the biological sciences. It is also known for producing numerous Nobel laureates...
in 1901 - General Education Board in 1902, which later (1923) evolved into the International Education Board
- Rockefeller Sanitary Commission in 1910
- Bureau of Social Hygiene in 1913 (Junior)
- International Health Commission in 1913
- China Medical BoardChina Medical BoardThe China Medical Board of New York is a nonprofit organization that promotes health education and research in the medical universities of China.-History:...
in 1915. - In the 1920s, the International Education Board granted important fellowships to pathbreakers in modern mathematics, such as Stefan BanachStefan BanachStefan Banach was a Polish mathematician who worked in interwar Poland and in Soviet Ukraine. He is generally considered to have been one of the 20th century's most important and influential mathematicians....
, Bartel Leendert van der WaerdenBartel Leendert van der WaerdenBartel Leendert van der Waerden was a Dutch mathematician and historian of mathematics....
, and André WeilAndré WeilAndré Weil was an influential mathematician of the 20th century, renowned for the breadth and quality of his research output, its influence on future work, and the elegance of his exposition. He is especially known for his foundational work in number theory and algebraic geometry...
, which was a formative part of the gradual shift of world mathematics to the US over this period. - To help promote cooperation between physics and mathematics Rockefeller funds also supported the erection of the new Mathematical Institute at the University of Göttingen between 1926 and 1929
- The rise of probability and mathematical statistics owes much to the creation of the Institut Henri PoincaréInstitut Henri PoincaréThe Institut Henri Poincaré is a mathematical institute in Paris which has established itself over its eighty year history as an important meeting place for French and international mathematicians and theoretical physicists...
in Paris, partly by the Rockefellers' finances, also around this time.
- Rockefeller University
- Junior also financially supported numerous other major institutions:
- Notable among them his ongoing support for the highly influential foreign policy think tank
- The New York Council on Foreign RelationsCouncil on Foreign RelationsThe Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
, established in 1921. - In 1978 the Rockefeller FoundationRockefeller FoundationThe Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
initiated the founding of the financial advisory council called the Group of ThirtyGroup of ThirtyThe Group of Thirty, often abbreviated to G30, is an international body of leading financiers and academics which aims to deepen understanding of economic and financial issues and to examine consequences of decisions made in the public and private sectors related to these issues...
, as well as many grants to a myriad of universities, think tanks and other institutions. - Junior was also responsible for the creation and endowment of the Colonial Williamsburg FoundationColonial WilliamsburgColonial Williamsburg is the private foundation representing the historic district of the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, USA. The district includes buildings dating from 1699 to 1780 which made colonial Virginia's capital. The capital straddled the boundary of the original shires of Virginia —...
, which operates the restored historical town at Williamsburg, VirginiaWilliamsburg, VirginiaWilliamsburg is an independent city located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, USA. As of the 2010 Census, the city had an estimated population of 14,068. It is bordered by James City County and York County, and is an independent city...
, one of the most extensive historic restorations ever undertaken.
Conservation
Beginning with Rockefeller Senior, the family has been a major force in land conservation . Over the generations, it has created more than 20 national parks and open spaces, including the CloistersThe Cloisters
The Cloisters is a museum located in Fort Tryon Park, New York City. The building, which is a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was reconstructed in the 1930s from the architectural elements of several European medieval abbeys...
, Acadia National Park
Acadia National Park
Acadia National Park is a National Park located in the U.S. state of Maine. It reserves much of Mount Desert Island, and associated smaller islands, off the Atlantic coast...
, Forest Hill Park, the Nature Conservancy, the Rockefeller Forest in California's Humboldt Redwoods State Park (the largest stand of old-growth redwoods), and Grand Teton National Park
Grand Teton National Park
Grand Teton National Park is a United States National Park located in northwestern Wyoming, U.S. The Park consists of approximately and includes the major peaks of the long Teton Range as well as most of the northern sections of the valley known as Jackson Hole. Only south of Yellowstone...
, among many others. Rockefeller Jr, and his son Laurance
Laurance Rockefeller
Laurance Spelman Rockefeller was a venture capitalist, financier, philanthropist, a major conservationist and a prominent third-generation member of the Rockefeller family. He was the fourth child of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and brother to John D...
(and his son Larry) were particularly prominent in this area.
The family was honored for its conservation efforts in November, 2005, by the National Audubon Society
National Audubon Society
The National Audubon Society is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to conservation. Incorporated in 1905, Audubon is one of the oldest of such organizations in the world and uses science, education and grassroots advocacy to advance its conservation mission...
, one of America's largest and oldest conservation organizations, at which over 30 family members attended. At the event, the society's president, John Flicker, notably stated: "Cumulatively, no other family in America has made the contribution to conservation that the Rockefeller family has made".
International politics/finance/economics
The family has been awarded the annual UNA-USA’s Global Leadership Award, along with other recipients over time, including Bill ClintonBill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
and Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
. Members of the Rockefeller family into the fourth generation (especially the prominent banker and statesman David Rockefeller
David Rockefeller
David Rockefeller, Sr. is the current patriarch of the Rockefeller family. He is the youngest and only surviving child of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, and the only surviving grandchild of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil. His five siblings were...
, who is the present family patriarch) have been heavily involved in international politics, and have donated money, established or been involved in the following major international institutions:
- The Council on Foreign RelationsCouncil on Foreign RelationsThe Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
- David, David Jr., Nelson, John D. 3rd, John D. IV (Jay), Peggy Dulany, Rockefeller Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund. - The Trilateral CommissionTrilateral CommissionThe Trilateral Commission is a non-governmental, non-partisan discussion group founded by David Rockefeller in July 1973 to foster closer cooperation among the United States, Europe and Japan.-History:...
- David, Rockefeller Brothers Fund. - The Bilderberg GroupBilderberg GroupThe Bilderberg Group, Bilderberg conference, or Bilderberg Club is an annual, unofficial, invitation-only conference of approximately 120 to 140 guests from North America and Western Europe, most of whom are people of influence. About one-third are from government and politics, and two-thirds from...
- David, John D. IV. - The Asia SocietyAsia SocietyThe Asia Society is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating the world about Asia. It has several centers in the United States and around the world Hong Kong, Manila, Mumbai, Seoul, Shanghai, and Melbourne...
- John D. 3rd, John D. IV, Charles, David. - The Population CouncilPopulation CouncilThe Population Council is an international, nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The Council conducts biomedical, social science, and public health research and helps build research capacities in developing countries. One-third of its research relates to HIV and AIDS; its other major program...
- John D. 3rd. - The Council of the AmericasCouncil of the AmericasCouncil of the Americas is an American business organization whose goal is promoting free trade, democracy and open markets throughout the Americas. This includes Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, as well as South America. Its members share a common commitment to economic and social development,...
- David. - The Group of ThirtyGroup of ThirtyThe Group of Thirty, often abbreviated to G30, is an international body of leading financiers and academics which aims to deepen understanding of economic and financial issues and to examine consequences of decisions made in the public and private sectors related to these issues...
- The Rockefeller Foundation. - The World Economic ForumWorld Economic ForumThe World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
- David. - The Brookings InstitutionBrookings InstitutionThe Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C., in the United States. One of Washington's oldest think tanks, Brookings conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and...
- Junior. - The Peterson Institute (Formerly the Institute for International Economics) - David, Monica.
- The International Executive Service CorpsInternational Executive Service CorpsInternational Executive Service Corps is an American private international economic development not-for-profit organization. Its head office is located in Washington, D.C. Geekcorps is a division of IESC. IESC was founded in 1964 by David Rockefeller, States M. Mead III, and other prominent...
- David. - The Institute for Pacific Relations - Junior.
- The League of NationsLeague of NationsThe League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
- Junior. - The United NationsUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
- Junior, John D. 3rd, Nelson, David, Peggy Dulany, Rockefeller Brothers Fund. - The United Nations AssociationUnited Nations AssociationThe United Nations Associations are non-governmental organizations that exist in various countries to enhance the relationship between the people of a member state and the United Nations, raise public awareness of the UN and its work, promote the general goals of the UN and act as an advisory body...
- David. Monica.
The family archives
The Rockefeller Archive Center, an independent foundation that was until 2008 a division of Rockefeller UniversityRockefeller University
The Rockefeller University is a private university offering postgraduate and postdoctoral education. It has a strong concentration in the biological sciences. It is also known for producing numerous Nobel laureates...
, is a vast three-story underground bunker built below the Martha Baird Rockefeller Hillcrest mansion on the family estate at Pocantico (see Kykuit
Kykuit
Kykuit , also known as John D. Rockefeller Estate, is a 40-room National Trust house in Westchester County, New York, built by the oil businessman, philanthropist and founder of the prominent Rockefeller family, John D. Rockefeller, and his son, John D...
). Along forty-foot-long walls of shelves on rails, patrolled by ten full-time archivists, is the entire repository of personal and official papers and correspondence of the complete family and its members, along with historical papers of its numerous foundations, as well as other non-family philanthropic institutions. These include: the Commonwealth Fund
Commonwealth Fund
The Commonwealth Fund is a private U.S. foundation whose stated purpose is to promote a high-performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, especially for society's most vulnerable.-History:...
, Charles E. Culpeper Foundation, Lucille P. Markey Charitable Trust, and the John and Mary R. Markle Foundation.
In total, it holds over 70 million pages of documents and contains the collections of forty-two scientific, cultural, educational and philanthropic organizations.
Only the expurgated records of deceased family members are publicly available to scholars and researchers; all records pertaining to living members are closed to historians. However, as Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller was the 41st Vice President of the United States , serving under President Gerald Ford, and the 49th Governor of New York , as well as serving the Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower administrations in a variety of positions...
's researcher, Cary Reich, discovered, in the case of Nelson's voluminous 3247 cubic feet (91.9 m³) of papers, only about one-third of these files had been processed and released to researchers up to 1996. He reports that it will be many years before all the papers will be open to the public, despite Nelson having died in 1979.
The Center maintains that this repository of records, covering 140-plus years of the records of the family, in addition to non-Rockefeller philanthropic collections, gives unique insights into United States and world issues and social developments in both the 19th and 20th centuries.
Records in the collection are only available up until the early 1960s, generally 1961. Major subjects in the collection include:
- Agriculture
- The Arts
- African-American history
- Education
- International Relations
- Economic Development
- Labor
- Medicine
- Philanthropy
- Politics
- Population
- Religion
- Social Sciences
- Social Welfare
- Women's history.
Family wealth
The combined wealth of the family – their total assets and investments plus the individual wealth of its members – has never been known with any precision. The records of the family archives relating to both the family and individual members' net worth is closed to researchers.From the outset, and even today, the family wealth has been under the complete control of the male members of the dynasty, through the family office. Despite strong-willed wives who had influence over their husbands' decisions – such as the pivotal female figure Abby Aldrich Rockefeller
Abby Aldrich Rockefeller
Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, , was a prominent socialite and philanthropist and the second-generation matriarch of the renowned Rockefeller family...
, wife of Junior – in all cases they received allowances only and were never given even partial responsibility for the family fortune.
Much of the wealth has been locked up in the notable family trust of 1934 (which holds the bulk of the fortune and matures on the death of the fourth generation), and the trust of 1952, both administered by the Chase Manhattan Bank
Chase Manhattan Bank
JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase, is a national bank that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of financial services firm JPMorgan Chase. The bank was known as Chase Manhattan Bank until it merged with J.P. Morgan & Co. in 2000...
. These trusts have consisted of shares in the successor companies to Standard Oil
Standard Oil
Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...
and other diversified investments, as well as the family's considerable real estate holdings. They are administered by a powerful trust committee that oversees the fortune. It has consisted over time of high-profile individuals, who have included Paul Volcker
Paul Volcker
Paul Adolph Volcker, Jr. is an American economist. He was the Chairman of the Federal Reserve under United States Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan from August 1979 to August 1987. He is widely credited with ending the high levels of inflation seen in the United States in the 1970s and...
, William G. Bowen
William G. Bowen
William G. Bowen is President Emeritus of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation where he served as President from 1988 to 2006. He was the president of Princeton University from 1972 to 1988....
(former president of Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
) and John C. Whitehead
John C. Whitehead
John Cunningham Whitehead is an American banker and civil servant, currently a board member of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation and, until his resignation in May 2006, chairman of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.-Biography:He was born in Evanston, Illinois...
(retired co-chairman of Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American multinational bulge bracket investment banking and securities firm that engages in global investment banking, securities, investment management, and other financial services primarily with institutional clients...
).
Management of this fortune today also rests with professional money managers who oversee the principal holding company, Rockefeller Financial Services, which controls all the family's investments, now that Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
is no longer owned by the family. The present chairman is David Rockefeller, Jr.
David Rockefeller, Jr.
David Rockefeller Jr. is an American philanthropist and an active participant in nonprofit and environmental areas. The eldest son of Margaret "Peggy" McGrath and David Rockefeller, he is a leading fourth-generation member of the prominent Rockefeller family, serving on many boards of the...
In 1992, it had five main arms:
- Rockefeller & Co. (Money management: Universities have invested some of their endowments in this company);
- Venrock AssociatesVenrock AssociatesVenrock, a compound of "Venture" and "Rockefeller", is a pioneering venture capital firm formed in 1969 to build upon the successful investing activities of the Rockefeller family that began in the late 1930s. It has offices in Palo Alto, California, New York City, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and...
(Venture Capital: an early investment in Apple ComputerApple ComputerApple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
was one of many it made in Silicon ValleySilicon ValleySilicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
entrepreneurial start-ups); - Rockefeller Trust Company (Manages hundreds of family trusts);
- Rockefeller Insurance Company (Manages liability insurance for family members);
- Acadia Risk Management (Insurance Broker: Contracts out policies for the family's vast art collections, real estate and private planes.)
Family residences
Over the generations the family members have resided in some notable historic homes. A total of 81 Rockefeller homes are on the National Register of Historic Places. Not including all homes owned by the five brothers, some of the more prominent of these are:- KykuitKykuitKykuit , also known as John D. Rockefeller Estate, is a 40-room National Trust house in Westchester County, New York, built by the oil businessman, philanthropist and founder of the prominent Rockefeller family, John D. Rockefeller, and his son, John D...
- The landmark six-story home on the vast Westchester County family estate, home to four generations of the family; - Bassett HallBassett HallBassett Hall is an 18th-century farmhouse located in Williamsburg, Virginia. It was the home of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and his wife Abby Aldrich Rockefeller during the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg.-Early history:...
- The house at Colonial Williamsburg bought by Junior in 1927 and renovated by 1936, it was the favorite residence of both Junior and Abby and is now a house museum at the family-restored Colonial Revival town; - The Eyrie - A sprawling 100-room summer holiday home on Mount Desert Island in Maine, demolished by family members in 1962;
- Forest Hill - The family's country estate and summer home in Cleveland for four decades. Built and occupied by Senior, it burned down in 1917;
- Golf HouseGolf HouseGolf House is a former estate house that was constructed in the early 1900s by John D. Rockefeller in Lakewood Township in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States.-History and Construction of the Rockefeller Estate:...
at Lakewood, New Jersey - The former three-story clubhouse for the elite Ocean County Hunt and Country Club, which Senior bought in 1902 to play golf on its golf course; - The CasementsThe CasementsThe Casements is a mansion in Ormond Beach, Florida, U.S., originally constructed as a private residence in 1910 by the Reverend Harwood Huntington of New Haven, Connecticut. The name of the mansion was derived from the many casement windows incorporated into the design of the building, as it was...
- A three-story house at Ormond Beach in Florida, where Senior spent his last winters, from 1919 until his death; - 10 West Fifty-fourth Street - A nine-story single family home, the former residence of Junior before he shifted to 740 Park Avenue740 Park Avenue740 Park Avenue is a luxury apartment building on Park Avenue in Manhattan, which has been the home to many wealthy and famous residents. The building also carries the address 71 East 71st Street.-History:...
, and the largest residence in New York City at the time, it was the home for the five young brothers. It was later given by Junior to the Museum of Modern Art; - One Beekman Place - The residence of Laurance in New York City;
- 740 Park Avenue740 Park Avenue740 Park Avenue is a luxury apartment building on Park Avenue in Manhattan, which has been the home to many wealthy and famous residents. The building also carries the address 71 East 71st Street.-History:...
- Junior and Abby's famed 40-room triplex apartment in the luxury apartment building, which was later sold for a record price; - The JY RanchLaurance S. Rockefeller PreserveThe Laurance S. Rockefeller Preserve is a refuge within Grand Teton National Park on the southern end of Phelps Lake. The site was originally known as the JY Ranch, a dude ranch. Starting in 1927, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. purchased much of the land in Jackson Hole for the creation of Jackson...
- The landmark ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, the holiday resort home built by Junior and later owned by Laurance, it was used by all members of the family and had many prominent visitors, including presidents, until Laurance donated it to the federal government in 2001.
Legacy
A trademark of the dynasty over its 140-plus years has been the remarkable unity it has maintained, despite major divisions that developed in the late 1970s, and unlike other wealthy families such as the DuPontDu Pont family
The Du Pont family is an American family descended from Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours . The son of a Paris watchmaker and a member of a Burgundian noble family, he and his sons, Victor Marie du Pont and Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, emigrated to the United States in 1800 and used the resources of...
s and the Mellon
Mellon family
The Mellon family is a wealthy and influential family originally of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, and its vicinity. In addition to Mellon Bank they were principally known for their control over Gulf Oil, Alcoa, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Koppers, as well as their major influence on...
s. A primary reason has been the lifelong efforts of "Junior" to not only cleanse the name from the opprobrium stemming from the ruthless practices of Standard Oil
Standard Oil
Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...
, but his tireless efforts to forge family unity even as he allowed his five sons to operate independently. This was partly achieved by regular brothers and family meetings, but it was also because of the high value placed on family unity by first Nelson and John 3rd, and later especially with David.
Regarding achievements, in 1972, on the 100th anniversary of the founding of Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish-American industrialist, businessman, and entrepreneur who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century...
's philanthropy, the Carnegie Corporation, which has had a long association with the family and its institutions, released a public statement on the influence of the family on not just philanthropy but encompassing a much wider field. Summing up a predominant view amongst the international philanthropic world, albeit one poorly grasped by the public, one sentence of this statement read: "The contributions of the Rockefeller family are staggering in their extraordinary range and in the scope of their contribution to humankind."
John D. Rockefeller gave away US$540 million over his lifetime (in dollar terms of that time), and became the greatest lay benefactor of medicine in history. His son, "Junior" also gave away over $537 million over his lifetime, bringing the total philanthropy of just two generations of the family to over $1 billion from 1860 to 1960. Added to this, the New York Times declared in a report in November, 2006 that David Rockefeller
David Rockefeller
David Rockefeller, Sr. is the current patriarch of the Rockefeller family. He is the youngest and only surviving child of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, and the only surviving grandchild of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil. His five siblings were...
's total charitable benefactions amount to about $900 million over his lifetime.
The combined personal and social connections of the various family members are vast, both in America and throughout the world, including the most powerful politicians, royalty, public figures, and chief businessmen. Notable figures through Standard Oil
Standard Oil
Standard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...
alone have included Henry Flagler and Henry H. Rogers
Henry H. Rogers
Henry Huttleston Rogers was a United States capitalist, businessman, industrialist, financier, and philanthropist. He made his fortune in the oil refinery business, becoming a leader at Standard Oil....
. Contemporary figures include Henry Kissinger
Henry Kissinger
Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger is a German-born American academic, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. He is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and...
, Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999, and was the first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election. Before his presidency, Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing...
, Richard Parsons (Chairman and CEO of Time Warner
Time Warner
Time Warner is one of the world's largest media companies, headquartered in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Formerly two separate companies, Warner Communications, Inc...
), C. Fred Bergsten
C. Fred Bergsten
C. Fred Bergsten is an American economist, author, and political adviser. He has served as Assistant Secretary for International Affairs at the U.S. Treasury Department and has been director of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, formerly the Institute for International Economics,...
, Peter G. Peterson (Senior Chairman of the Blackstone Group
Blackstone Group
The Blackstone Group L.P. is an American-based alternative asset management and financial services company that specializes in private equity, real estate, and credit and marketable alternative investment strategies, as well as financial advisory services, such as mergers and acquisitions ,...
), and Paul Volcker
Paul Volcker
Paul Adolph Volcker, Jr. is an American economist. He was the Chairman of the Federal Reserve under United States Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan from August 1979 to August 1987. He is widely credited with ending the high levels of inflation seen in the United States in the 1970s and...
.
In 1991 the family was presented with the Honor Award
Honor Award
The National Building Museum promotes excellence in architecture, engineering, construction, planning, and design. In furtherance of that mission, the Museum instituted an annual Honor Award in 1986 to recognize individuals and organizations that have made important contributions to the U.S.'s...
from the National Building Museum
National Building Museum
The National Builders Museum, in Washington, D.C., United States, is a museum of "architecture, design, engineering, construction, and urban planning"...
for four generations worth of preserving and creating some of the U.S.'s most important buildings and places. David accepted the award on the family's behalf. The ceremony coincided with an exhibition on the family's contributions to the built environment, including John Sr.'s preservation efforts for the Hudson River Palisades, the restoration of Williamsburg, Virginia
Williamsburg, Virginia
Williamsburg is an independent city located on the Virginia Peninsula in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia, USA. As of the 2010 Census, the city had an estimated population of 14,068. It is bordered by James City County and York County, and is an independent city...
, construction of Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
, and Governor Nelson's efforts to construct low- and middle-income housing in New York state.
The Rockefeller name is imprinted on numerous places throughout the United States, most notably in 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...
, but also in Cleveland
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
, where the family originates:
- The Rockefeller CenterRockefeller CenterRockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
- A landmark 19-building 22 acres (89,030.9 m²) complex in the center of ManhattanManhattanManhattan 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...
established by Junior: Older section constructed from 1930–1939; Newer section constructed during the 1960s-1970s; - The Rockefeller UniversityRockefeller UniversityThe Rockefeller University is a private university offering postgraduate and postdoctoral education. It has a strong concentration in the biological sciences. It is also known for producing numerous Nobel laureates...
- Renamed in 1965, this is the distinguished Nobel prize-winning graduate/postgraduate medical school (formerly the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, established by Senior in 1901); - The Rockefeller FoundationRockefeller FoundationThe Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
- Founded in 1913, this is the famous philanthropic organization set up by Senior and Junior; - The Rockefeller Brothers FundRockefeller Brothers FundThe Rockefeller Brothers Fund , , is an international philanthropic organisation created and run by members of the Rockefeller family. It was set up in New York City in 1940 as the primary philanthropic vehicle of the five famous Rockefeller brothers: John D...
- Founded in 1940 by the third-generation's five sons and one daughter of Junior; - The Rockefeller Family Fund - Founded in 1967 by members of the family's fourth-generation;
- The Rockefeller GroupRockefeller Group InternationalThe Rockefeller Group is a global private company based in New York City, primarily involved in real estate operations in the United States. It is a majority owned owned subsidiary of Mitsubishi Estate Co. Ltd...
- A private family-run real estate development company based in New York that originally owned, constructed and managed Rockefeller Center, it is now wholly owned by MitsubishiMitsubishiThe Mitsubishi Group , Mitsubishi Group of Companies, or Mitsubishi Companies is a Japanese multinational conglomerate company that consists of a range of autonomous businesses which share the Mitsubishi brand, trademark and legacy...
Estate Co. Ltd; - The Rockefeller Philanthropy AdvisorsRockefeller Philanthropy AdvisorsRockefeller Philanthropy Advisors is a 501 nonprofit organization that currently advises on and manages more than $200 million in annual giving. Headquartered in New York City, with offices in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco, it traces its antecedents to John D...
- is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that advises donors in their philanthropic endeavors throughout the world; - The Rockefeller Research Laboratories Building - A major research center into cancer that was established in 1986 and named after Laurance, this is situated at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer CenterMemorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer CenterMemorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center is a cancer treatment and research institution founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital...
; - The Rockefeller Center - Home of the International Student Services office and department of philosophy, politics and law at the State University of New YorkState University of New YorkThe State University of New York, abbreviated SUNY , is a system of public institutions of higher education in New York, United States. It is the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States, with a total enrollment of 465,000 students, plus...
at Binghamton; - The Rockefeller ChapelRockefeller ChapelRockefeller Chapel is, by order, the tallest building on the campus of the University of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois. It was meant by patron John D...
- Completed in 1928, this is the tallest building on the campus of the University of ChicagoUniversity of ChicagoThe University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, established by Senior in 1889; - The Rockefeller Hall - Established by Senior in 1906, this building houses the Case Western Reserve UniversityCase Western Reserve UniversityCase Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland, Ohio, USA...
Physics Department; - The Rockefeller Hall - Established by Senior and completed in 1906, this building houses the Cornell UniversityCornell UniversityCornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
Physics Department; - The Rockefeller Hall - Established by Senior in 1887, who granted Vassar CollegeVassar CollegeVassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...
a $100,000 ($2.34 million in 2006 dollars) allowance to build additional, much needed lecture space. The final cost of the facility was $99,998.75. It now houses multi-purpose classrooms and departmental offices for political science, philosophy and math; - The Rockefeller Hall - Established by Senior and completed in 1886, this is the oldest building on the campus of Spelman CollegeSpelman CollegeSpelman College is a four-year liberal arts women's college located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The college is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman was the first historically black female...
; - The Rockefeller College - Named after John D. Rockefeller III, this is a residential collegeResidential collegeA residential college is an organisational pattern for a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship with the overall...
at Princeton UniversityPrinceton UniversityPrinceton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
; - The Michael C. Rockefeller Arts Center - Completed in 1969 in memory of Nelson Rockefeller's son, this is a cultural center at the State University of New York at FredoniaState University of New York at FredoniaThe State University of New York at Fredonia is a four-year liberal arts college located in Fredonia, New York, United States; it is a constituent college of the State University of New York...
; - The Michael C. Rockefeller Collection and the Department of Primitive Art - Completed in 1982 after being initiated by Nelson, this is a wing of the Metropolitan Museum of ArtMetropolitan Museum of ArtThe 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...
; - The David and Peggy Rockefeller Building - A tribute to David's wife, Peggy Rockefeller, this is a new (completed in 2004) six-story building housing the main collection and temporary exhibition galleries of the family's Museum of Modern ArtMuseum of Modern ArtThe Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
; - The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden - Completed in 1949 by David, this is a major outdoor feature of the Museum of Modern Art;
- The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum - Opened in 1957 by Junior, this is a leading folk art museum within the complex of Junior's Colonial WilliamsburgColonial WilliamsburgColonial Williamsburg is the private foundation representing the historic district of the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, USA. The district includes buildings dating from 1699 to 1780 which made colonial Virginia's capital. The capital straddled the boundary of the original shires of Virginia —...
; - The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Hall - The freshman residence hall on the campus of Spelman CollegeSpelman CollegeSpelman College is a four-year liberal arts women's college located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The college is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman was the first historically black female...
; - The Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Building - Completed in 1918, it is among other things a student residence hall at Spelman CollegeSpelman CollegeSpelman College is a four-year liberal arts women's college located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The college is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman was the first historically black female...
, after the wife of Senior and after whom the College was named; - The Rockefeller State Park Preserve - Part of the 3400 acres (14 km²) family estate in Westchester County, this 1233 acres (5 km²) preserve was officially handed over to New York State in 1983, although it had previously always been open to the public;
- The Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park - Established as a historical museum of conservation by Laurance during the 1990s.
- The John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial ParkwayJohn D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial ParkwayJohn D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway is a scenic road that connects Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, United States. It is federally owned and managed by the National Park Service. It is named in remembrance of John D...
- Established in 1972 through Congressional authorization, connecting Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks; - The Rockefeller Forest - Funded by Junior, this is located within Humboldt Redwoods State ParkHumboldt Redwoods State ParkHumboldt Redwoods State Park is located south of Eureka, California in southern Humboldt County, within northern California. Established by the Save-the-Redwoods League in 1921 with the dedication of the Raynal Bolling Memorial Grove, it has grown to become the third largest park in the California...
, California's largest redwood state park; - Either of two US congressional committees {in 1972 - John D. 3rdJohn D. Rockefeller 3rdJohn Davison Rockefeller 3rd was a major philanthropist and third-generation member of the prominent Rockefeller family. He was the eldest son of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, and the grandson of John D. Rockefeller...
and 1975 - NelsonNelson RockefellerNelson Aldrich Rockefeller was the 41st Vice President of the United States , serving under President Gerald Ford, and the 49th Governor of New York , as well as serving the Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower administrations in a variety of positions...
dubbed the Rockefeller CommissionRockefeller CommissionRockefeller Commission can refer to either of two commissions in U.S. history, although it is not the proper name of either:* The 1972 President's Commission on Population Growth and the American Future, headed by John D. Rockefeller III. It was created by an Act of Congress, which was signed into...
}. - Rockefeller Park, a scenic park featuring gardens dedicated to several world nations along Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. between University CircleUniversity CircleUniversity Circle, is a neighborhood located on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio. It is best known for its world-class cultural, educational and medical institutions, including the Cleveland Orchestra, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Museum of Art, Lakeview Cemetery, and University...
and Lake ErieLake ErieLake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
in Cleveland. - The Winthrop Rockefeller Institute of the University of Arkansas System was established in 2005 with a grant from the Winthrop Rockefeller Charitable Trust. The educational center with conference and lodging facilities is located on Petit Jean Mountain near Morrilton, Arkansas, on the original grounds of Gov. Winthrop Rockefeller’s model cattle farm.
- The David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University.
- The Rockefeller Quad at the Loomis Chaffee School
John D Junior, through his son Nelson
Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller was the 41st Vice President of the United States , serving under President Gerald Ford, and the 49th Governor of New York , as well as serving the Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower administrations in a variety of positions...
, purchased and then donated the land upon which sits the UN headquarters, in New York, in 1946. Earlier, in the 1920s, he had also donated a substantial amount towards the restoration and rehabilitation of major buildings in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, such as the Rheims Cathedral, the Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the arrondissement of Fontainebleau...
Palace and the Palace of Versailles
Palace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....
, for which he was later (1936) awarded France's highest decoration, the Grand Croix of the Legion d'Honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
(subsequently also awarded decades later to his son, David Rockefeller
David Rockefeller
David Rockefeller, Sr. is the current patriarch of the Rockefeller family. He is the youngest and only surviving child of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, and the only surviving grandchild of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil. His five siblings were...
).
He also funded the notable excavations at Luxor
Luxor
Luxor is a city in Upper Egypt and the capital of Luxor Governorate. The population numbers 487,896 , with an area of approximately . As the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of Thebes, Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open air museum", as the ruins of the temple...
in Egypt, as well as establishing a Classical Studies School in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
. In addition, he provided the funding for the construction of the Palestine Archaeological Museum in East Jerusalem
East Jerusalem
East Jerusalem or Eastern Jerusalem refer to the parts of Jerusalem captured and annexed by Jordan in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and then captured and annexed by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War...
- the Rockefeller Museum
Rockefeller Museum
The Rockefeller Museum, formerly the Palestine Archaeological Museum, is an archaeological museum located in East Jerusalem that houses a large collection of artifacts unearthed in the excavations conducted in Ottoman Palestine beginning in the late 19th century.The museum is under the management...
.
The family, with its far reaching philanthropy, as well as its oil, real estate, banking, and international institutions, remains a benchmark for extreme wealth ("as rich as Rockefeller"), as "Senior" is still regarded as the wealthiest man who has ever lived, worth over $300 billion in today's figures, easily surpassing Bill Gates
Bill Gates
William Henry "Bill" Gates III is an American business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and author. Gates is the former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen...
, in terms adjusted by inflation indexing.
The corporate, financial and personal affairs of the family - numbering around 150 blood relatives of John D. Rockefeller - are run from the family office
Family office
A family office is a private company that manages investments and trusts for a single wealthy family. The company's financial capital is the family's own wealth, often accumulated over many family generations. Traditional family offices provide personal services such as managing household staff and...
, Room 5600, known officially as "Rockefeller Family and Associates". It comprises three floors of the GE Building
GE Building
The GE Building is an Art Deco skyscraper that forms the centerpiece of Rockefeller Center in the midtown Manhattan section of New York City. Known as the RCA Building until 1988, it is most famous for housing the headquarters of the television network NBC...
in Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
; all private family legal matters are handled by the family-associated New York law firm of Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy
Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy
Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP is a United States law firm headquartered in New York City. It also has offices in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, London, Frankfurt, Munich, Tokyo, Hong Kong, São Paulo, Singapore and Beijing.Milbank is a global law firm, with approximately 550 lawyers who...
. Room 5600 is also the base of the current family historian, Peter J. Johnson, who assisted with David Rockefeller
David Rockefeller
David Rockefeller, Sr. is the current patriarch of the Rockefeller family. He is the youngest and only surviving child of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, and the only surviving grandchild of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil. His five siblings were...
's Memoirs, published in 2002.
To distinguish the generations and facilitate communication, the fourth generation is generically known as "The Cousins" (24 in all, with 21 still living) and the younger family members are known as the "Fifth/Sixth" generation. Many if not all of these family members are involved in institutionalised philanthropic pursuits. Family links are solidified through the practice of ritualised family meetings - which started with the regular "brothers' meetings" held in Room 5600 or in their respective private residences, beginning in 1945. Family get-togethers are held today at the "Playhouse", in the Westchester County family estate of Pocantico, in June (the "cousins weekend") and December of each year (see Kykuit
Kykuit
Kykuit , also known as John D. Rockefeller Estate, is a 40-room National Trust house in Westchester County, New York, built by the oil businessman, philanthropist and founder of the prominent Rockefeller family, John D. Rockefeller, and his son, John D...
).
Ancestors
- Goddard Rockenfeller (1590–1684) (m.1622) Magdalena (1592–1656)
- Johannes Rockenfeller (1634–1684) (m.1678) Elizabeth Margaretha Remagen (1634)
- Johann Peter Rockefeller (1681, Prussia–1763, Rocktown, NJ) (Arrived in America 1708)
- Peter Rockefeller (1711–1787) (m.1740) Mary Bellis (1723–1772) (Had nine children in all)
- Godfrey Rockefeller (1745–1818)
- Margaret Rockefeller (1750–1797) (m.late 18th century) George Trumbo (1750–1830)
- William Rockefeller (1750–1793) (m.18th century) Christina Rockefeller (1754–1800) (Distant relative) (Had seven children in all)
- Simon William Rockefeller (1775–1839)
- Godfrey Lewis Rockefeller (1783/1784–1857) (m.1806) Lucy Avery (1786–1867) (Had ten children in all)
- William Avery RockefellerWilliam Avery RockefellerWilliam Avery Rockefeller, Sr. was the father of American oil tycoon and billionaire, John Davison Rockefeller and William Rockefeller , who both founded the Standard Oil company....
(1810–1906) (m.1837) Eliza Davison (1813–1889)- Lucy Rockefeller (1838–1878) (m.1856) Pierson D. Briggs
- John Davison Rockefeller (1839–1937) (m.1864) Laura Celestia Spelman (1839–1915)
- William RockefellerWilliam RockefellerWilliam Avery Rockefeller, Jr. , American financier, was a co-founder with his older brother John D. Rockefeller of the prominent United States Rockefeller family. He was the son of William Avery Rockefeller, Sr. and Eliza Rockefeller.-Youth, education:Rockefeller was born in Richford, New York,...
(1841–1922) (m.1864) Almira Geraldine Goodsell - Mary Ann Rockefeller (1843–1925) (m.1872) William Cullen Rudd
- Franklin RockefellerFrank RockefellerFranklin "Frank" Rockefeller was the youngest surviving son of William Avery Rockefeller. His two older brothers were John Davison and William Rockefeller of Standard Oil fame....
(1845–1917) (m.1870) Helen Elizabeth Scofield - Francis Rockefeller (1845–1847)
- William Avery Rockefeller
- William W. Rockefeller (1788–1851) (m.early 19th century) Eleanor Kisselbrack (1784–1859)
- Peter Rockefeller (1711–1787) (m.1740) Mary Bellis (1723–1772) (Had nine children in all)
- Johann Peter Rockefeller (1681, Prussia–1763, Rocktown, NJ) (Arrived in America 1708)
- Johannes Rockenfeller (1634–1684) (m.1678) Elizabeth Margaretha Remagen (1634)
Descendants of John Davison Rockefeller
To the sixth-generation, with 21 still living in the fourth (the Cousins). The total number of blood relative descendants as of 2006 is about 150.- Elizabeth "Bessie" Rockefeller StrongElizabeth Rockefeller StrongElizabeth "Bessie" Rockefeller Strong was the eldest child of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller and his wife Laura Spelman Rockefeller ....
(1866–1906) (m.1889) Charles Augustus Strong (1862–1940)- Margaret StrongMargaret Rockefeller Strong de Larraín, Marquesa de CuevasMargaret Rockefeller Strong Cuevas was an American activist.Cuevas was the daughter of Elizabeth Rockefeller Strong and her husband Dr. Charles Augustus Strong . Her maternal grandfather was Standard Oil co-founder John D. Rockefeller...
(1897–1985) (m.1st.1927) George de Cuevas (1885–1961); (m.2nd.1977) Raimundo de Larrain
- Margaret Strong
- Alice Rockefeller (1869–1870)
- Alta Rockefeller PrenticeAlta Rockefeller PrenticeAlta Rockefeller Prentice was the third daughter of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller and his wife Laura Celestia "Cettie" Spelman . Alta married Colonel Ezra Parmalee Prentice , a prominent Chicago attorney, son of Sartell Prentice and wife Jemima Parmalee, in 1901...
(1871–1962) (m.1901) Ezra Parmelee Prentice (1863–1955)- John Rockefeller PrenticeJohn Rockefeller PrenticeJohn Rockefeller Prentice was born to Chicago lawyer Ezra Parmalee Prentice and Alta Rockefeller Prentice in New York. Prentice's maternal grandfather is the Standard Oil tycoon, John D. Rockefeller ....
(1902–1972) (m.1941) Abra Cantrill (1912–1972)- Abra Prentice WilkinAbra Prentice WilkinAbra Prentice Anderson Wilkin is an American philanthropist. She is the daughter of John Rockefeller Prentice and his wife, Abbie Cantrill Prentice. Wilkin is the great-granddaughter of the Standard Oil tycoon, John D. Rockefeller .Wilkin attended both The Latin School of Chicago and The Ethel...
(born 1942)
- Abra Prentice Wilkin
- Mary Adeline Prentice Gilbert (1907–1981) (m.1937) Benjamin Davis Gilbert (1907–1992)
- Spelman Prentice (1911-2000) (m.3rd.1972) Mimi Walters
- Pamela Prentice (born 1938)(m.1st. 1960) Frans H. ten Bos
- Helena ten Bos (born 1962)(m. 1987) Count Frederic de Belloy de Saint-Lienard
- Joanna ten Bos (born 1964)(m. 1989) Christopher Booth
- Peter Spelman Prentice (born 1940)
- Alexandra Sartell Prentice (born 1962)
- Peter Parmalee Bens (born 1987)
- Erik Carl Bens (born 1996)
- Sarah Prentice Bens (born 1997)
- Michael Andrew Prentice (born 1964)
- Alexandra Sartell Prentice (born 1962)
- Alta Rockefeller Prentice (born 1942)
- Michael Sartell Prentice (born 1944)
- Pamela Prentice (born 1938)(m.1st. 1960) Frans H. ten Bos
- John Rockefeller Prentice
- Edith Rockefeller McCormickEdith Rockefeller McCormickEdith Rockefeller McCormick was an American socialite and opera patron.-Biography:McCormick was the fourth daughter of Standard Oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller and his wife Laura Spelman Rockefeller . Her famous younger brother was John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
(1872–1932) (m.1895) Harold Fowler McCormickHarold Fowler McCormickHarold Fowler McCormick, Sr. was chairman of the board of International Harvester Company.-Biography:He was born on May 2, 1872, the sixth child of Cyrus McCormick, inventor and manufacturer of the mechanical reaper; and Nancy Fowler McCormick.He graduated from Princeton University in 1895...
- John Rockefeller McCormick (1897–1901)
- Editha McCormick (1903–1904)
- Harold Fowler McCormick, Jr. (1898–1973) (m.1931) Anne "Fifi" Potter Stillman (1879–1969)
- Muriel McCormick (1902–1959) (m.1931) Elisha Dyer Hubbard (1906–)
- Mathilde McCormick (1905–1947) (m.1923) Max Oser (1877–1942)
- Anita Oser Pauling (d. 2009 in Paris, France) Peter Max Oser (d. 1970 in Geneva, Switzerland)
- John Davison Rockefeller, Jr. (1874–1960) (m.1901) Abigail "Abby" Greene AldrichAbby Aldrich RockefellerAbby Aldrich Rockefeller, , was a prominent socialite and philanthropist and the second-generation matriarch of the renowned Rockefeller family...
- Abby Rockefeller MauzéAbby Rockefeller MauzéAbigail "Abby" Rockefeller Mauzé was the first child and only daughter of John Davison Rockefeller, Jr. and Abigail "Abby" Greene Aldrich Rockefeller...
(1903–1976)- Abby Rockefeller Milton O'Neill (born 1928)
- Marilyn Ellen Milton Simpson (1931–1980)
- Laura Knickerbacker Simpson (born 1954)
- Abby Rockefeller Simpson (born 1958)
- John D. Rockefeller III (1906–1978) (m.1932) Blanchette Ferry HookerBlanchette Ferry RockefellerBlanchette Ferry Hooker Rockefeller was born Blanchette Ferry Hooker in New York City. She was the daughter of Elon Huntington Hooker, founder of Hooker Electrochemical Company, and his wife, Blanche Ferry....
- John Davison ("Jay") Rockefeller IVJay RockefellerJohn Davison "Jay" Rockefeller IV is the senior United States Senator from West Virginia. He was first elected to the Senate in 1984, while in office as Governor of West Virginia, a position he held from 1977 to 1985...
(born 1937) - Sandra Rockefeller Ferry (born 1943)
- Hope Aldrich RockefellerHope Rockefeller AldrichHope Aldrich Rockefeller Spencer is the daughter of John D. Rockefeller, III, and Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller. Her older brother is Jay Rockefeller, the prominent Democratic U.S. senator from West Virginia. She is a great-granddaughter of John D...
(born 1946) - Alida Rockefeller MessingerAlida Rockefeller MessingerAlida Rockefeller Messinger is the fourth child of John D. Rockefeller 3rd and his wife Blanchette Hooker Rockefeller, and a fourth generation member of the Rockefeller family. She is a sister of Democratic West Virginia Senator John D. Rockefeller IV. According to an account in the New York...
(born 1949)
- John Davison ("Jay") Rockefeller IV
- Nelson Aldrich RockefellerNelson RockefellerNelson Aldrich Rockefeller was the 41st Vice President of the United States , serving under President Gerald Ford, and the 49th Governor of New York , as well as serving the Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower administrations in a variety of positions...
(1908–1979) (m.1st.1930) Mary Todhunter ClarkMary RockefellerMary Todhunter Clark Rockefeller was the first wife of Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller, a Governor of New York. He served, after their divorce, as the 41st Vice President of the United States.-Biography:...
(m.2nd.1963) Margaretta Fitler Murphy- Rodman RockefellerRodman RockefellerRodman Clark Rockefeller was the oldest son of former U.S. Vice President Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller and his wife Mary Todhunter "Tod" Clark, and was a fourth-generation member of the Rockefeller family.-Biography:...
(1932–2000) - Ann Clark Rockefeller Roberts (born 1934)
- Steven Clark RockefellerSteven C. RockefellerSteven Clark Rockefeller , a fourth-generation member of the Rockefeller family and a former dean of Middlebury College, is a philanthropist who focuses on education, Planned Parenthood, human rights and environmental causes....
(born 1936) - Michael RockefellerMichael RockefellerMichael Clark Rockefeller , was the youngest son of New York Governor Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller and Mary Todhunter Rockefeller and a fourth generation member of the Rockefeller family...
(1938–1961) - Mary Clark Rockefeller (born 1938)
- Nelson Rockefeller, Jr. (born 1964)
- Mark RockefellerMark RockefellerMark Fitler Rockefeller is a fourth-generation member of the Rockefeller family. He is the youngest son of Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller and Happy Rockefeller...
(born 1967)
- Rodman Rockefeller
- Laurance Spelman Rockefeller (1910–2004) (m.1934) Mary French
- Laura Spelman Rockefeller ChasinLaura Rockefeller ChasinLaura Rockefeller Chasin is the daughter of Laurance Spelman Rockefeller and Mary French and a fourth generation member of the Rockefeller family. Her paternal great-grandfather is Standard Oil's co-founder John D...
(born 1936) - Marion French RockefellerMarion Rockefeller WeberMarion Rockefeller Weber is the second eldest daughter of Laurance Spelman Rockefeller and Mary French and a fourth generation member of the Rockefeller family. Her paternal great-grandfather is Standard Oil's founder John D...
(born 1938) - Dr. Lucy Rockefeller Waletzky (born 1941)
- Laurance Rockefeller, Jr. (born 1944) (m. 1982) Wendy Gordon
- Laura Spelman Rockefeller Chasin
- Winthrop RockefellerWinthrop RockefellerWinthrop Rockefeller was a politician and philanthropist who served as the first Republican Governor of Arkansas since Reconstruction. He was a third-generation member of the Rockefeller family.-Early life:...
(1912–1973) (m.1st.1948) Barbara "Bobo" Sears (m.2nd.1956) Jeannette Edris- Winthrop Paul RockefellerWinthrop Paul RockefellerWinthrop Paul Rockefeller was a Republican politician who served as the 13th Lieutenant Governor of the U.S. state of Arkansas from 1996 until his death.-Early life and parents:...
(1948–2006)- James E. Rockefeller Noronha (born 1989)(m. 2011) Ashley Gibbs
- Winthrop Paul Rockefeller
- David RockefellerDavid RockefellerDavid Rockefeller, Sr. is the current patriarch of the Rockefeller family. He is the youngest and only surviving child of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, and the only surviving grandchild of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, founder of Standard Oil. His five siblings were...
(born 1915) (m.1940) Margaret McGrath- David Rockefeller, Jr.David Rockefeller, Jr.David Rockefeller Jr. is an American philanthropist and an active participant in nonprofit and environmental areas. The eldest son of Margaret "Peggy" McGrath and David Rockefeller, he is a leading fourth-generation member of the prominent Rockefeller family, serving on many boards of the...
(born 1941) - Abby Aldrich RockefellerAbby RockefellerAbby Rockefeller, born 1943, is a member of the Rockefeller family.- Biography :Abby Rockefeller is the eldest and most rebellious daughter of David Rockefeller, Sr.. She was drawn to Marxism and was an ardent admirer of Fidel Castro and a late 1960s/early '70s radical feminist who belonged to the...
(born 1943) - Neva Rockefeller Goodwin (born 1944)
- Peggy DulanyPeggy DulanyPeggy Dulany Rockefeller is a philanthropist and the fourth child of David Rockefeller. She is a fourth-generation member of the Rockefeller family. Her siblings are Abby, Richard, Neva Rockefeller Goodwin, Eileen Rockefeller Growald, and David Rockefeller, Jr...
(born 1947) - Richard Gilder Rockefeller (born 1949)
- Eileen Rockefeller GrowaldEileen Rockefeller GrowaldEileen Rockefeller Growald is the youngest daughter of David Rockefeller, great-granddaughter of Standard Oil founder John D. Rockefeller. She is a fourth-generation member of the Rockefeller family, known generically as "the Cousins"...
(born 1952)
- David Rockefeller, Jr.
- Abby Rockefeller Mauzé
Descendants of William Rockefeller
An article in the New York Times in 1937 stated that William Rockefeller had, at that time, exactly 28 great-grandchildren.- Lewis Edward Rockefeller (1865–1866)
- Emma Rockefeller McAlpin (1868–1934)
- William Goodsell RockefellerWilliam Goodsell RockefellerWilliam Goodsell Rockefeller was a director of the Consolidated Textile Company.-Biography:He was the third child of Standard Oil co-founder William Rockefeller and his wife, Almira Geraldine Goodsell...
(1870–1922)- William Avery Rockefeller (1896–1973)
- William Rockefeller
- Frederick Lincoln Rockefeller
- Elsie RockefellerWilliam ProxmireEdward William Proxmire was an American politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a United States Senator from Wisconsin from 1957 to 1989.-Personal life:...
- Godfrey Stillman RockefellerGodfrey Stillman RockefellerGodfrey Stillman Rockefeller son of William Goodsell Rockefeller served as a second lieutenant in World War One, was a member of the Skull and Bones society graduating from Yale University in 1921, and served as a lieutenant colonel during World War Two...
(1899–1983)- Godfrey A. RockefellerGodfrey A. RockefellerGodfrey Anderson Rockefeller, Sr. was the eldest son of Godfrey Stillman Rockefeller and Helen Rockefeller née Gratz.-Life:...
(1924–2010) - Marion Rockefeller
- Audrey Rockefeller
- Lucy Ann Rockefeller
- Anderson Rockefeller
- Peter Rockefeller
- Benjamin Rockefeller
- Godfrey A. Rockefeller
- James Stillman RockefellerJames Stillman RockefellerJames Stillman Rockefeller was a member of the prominent U.S. Rockefeller family.-Personal life:A paternal grandson of William Rockefeller, his maternal grandfather James Stillman and uncle James Alexander Stillman served as president of the National City Bank of New York, now Citibank...
(1902–2004)- James Stillman Rockefeller, Jr. (born 1926)
- Liv Merlin Rockefeller Hessler (born 1957)
- Ola Stillman Rockefeller (born 1959)
- Nancy Sherlock Carnegie Rockefeller (born 1927)
- Andrew Carnegie Rockefeller (born 1929)
- Georgia Stillman Rockefeller (born 1933) (Married J Harden Rose)
- James Stillman Rose (born 1958)
- Andrew Carnegie Rose (born 1960)
- Georgia Rockefeller Rose (born 1961)
- James Stillman Rockefeller, Jr. (born 1926)
- John Sterling RockefellerJohn Sterling RockefellerJohn Sterling Rockefeller is the fourth son of William Goodsell Rockefeller and Sarah Elizabeth Stillman . Rockefeller is a grandson of Standard Oil co-founder, William Rockefeller .Rockefeller attended Yale University and was a member of Scroll and Key...
(1904–1988)- Christina Rockefeller
- Almira Geraldine Rockefeller (1907-1997) (The wife of MacRoy Jackson, Samuel Weston Scott, and later Hardie Scott.)
- Macroy Jackson
- William Avery Rockefeller (1896–1973)
- John Davison Rockefeller (1872–1877)
- Percy Avery RockefellerPercy Avery RockefellerPercy Avery Rockefeller was founder and vice president of Owenoke Corporation. He was a board director of Air Reduction Company, American International Corporation, Atlantic Fruit Company, Anaconda Copper Mining Company, Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Bowman Biltmore Hotels Company, Cuba Company,...
(1878–1934)- Isabel Rockefeller LincolnIsabel Rockefeller LincolnIsabel Rockefeller Lincoln was born in Ardsley-on-the-Hudson, New York on 23 June 1902. Her father, Percy Avery Rockefeller, was one of the richest financiers and industrialists of his time. Percy was the son of William Rockefeller, who made a fortune from the Standard Oil Co...
(1902–1980) m. Frederic Walker Lincoln, Jr. - Avery RockefellerAvery RockefellerAvery Rockefeller was the son of Percy Avery Rockefeller, one of the richest financiers of his time.Rockefeller attended Yale University, but on 20 September 1923, he secretly married Anna Griffith Mark , daughter of Clayton Mark , a wealthy steel manufacturer...
(1903–1986) - Winifred Rockefeller EmenyWinifred Rockefeller EmenyWinifred Rockefeller was a daughter of Percy Avery Rockefeller, one of the richest financiers and industrialists of his time. Percy was the son of William Rockefeller, who made a fortune from the Standard Oil Co...
(1904–1951) - Faith Rockefeller ModelFaith Rockefeller ModelFaith Rockefeller Model was a daughter of Percy Avery Rockefeller and granddaughter of Standard Oil co-founder William Rockefeller . Model was born and died in the city of Greenwich, Connecticut...
(1909–1960)- Robert ModelRobert ModelRobert Model is the son of Faith Rockefeller Model and Belgian Jean Model. He is the great-grandson of Standard Oil co-founder William Rockefeller . Model was born in Greenwich, Connecticut....
(born 1942)
- Robert Model
- Gladys Rockefeller Underhill (born 1910)
- Isabel Rockefeller Lincoln
- Geraldine Rockefeller DodgeGeraldine Rockefeller DodgeEthel Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge was the youngest child of Almira Geraldine Goodsell and William Avery Rockefeller, Jr., the Standard Oil tycoon. Giralda Farms was the name given to her New Jersey country estate, stables, and kennels. Her residence was a revival of Medieval Spanish Gothic...
(1882–1973)- Marcellus Hartley Dodge, Jr.Marcellus Hartley Dodge, Jr.Marcellus Hartley Dodge, Jr. was the heir to the Remington-Rockefeller fortune who died in a car accident in France...
(1908–1930) - Monica Rockefeller (born 1993)
- Marcellus Hartley Dodge, Jr.
Spouses
- Laura Celestia SpelmanLaura Spelman RockefellerLaura Celestia Spelman Rockefeller, , , was a philanthropist, the namesake of Spelman College, founded to educate black women in the South, and the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial, and the wife of John D. Rockefeller, the founder of Standard Oil...
"Cettie" (1839–1915) - John D. Rockefeller. - Abby Greene AldrichAbby Aldrich RockefellerAbby Aldrich Rockefeller, , was a prominent socialite and philanthropist and the second-generation matriarch of the renowned Rockefeller family...
(1874–1948) - John D. Rockefeller, Jr. - Martha Baird Allen (1895–1971) - John D. Rockefeller, Jr.
- Mary Todhunter ClarkMary RockefellerMary Todhunter Clark Rockefeller was the first wife of Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller, a Governor of New York. He served, after their divorce, as the 41st Vice President of the United States.-Biography:...
"Tod" (1907–1999) - Nelson RockefellerNelson RockefellerNelson Aldrich Rockefeller was the 41st Vice President of the United States , serving under President Gerald Ford, and the 49th Governor of New York , as well as serving the Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower administrations in a variety of positions...
. - Margaretta Fitler Murphy "Happy" (born 1926) - Nelson Rockefeller.
- Anne Marie Rasmussen - Steven C. Rockefeller.
- Blanchette Ferry HookerBlanchette Ferry RockefellerBlanchette Ferry Hooker Rockefeller was born Blanchette Ferry Hooker in New York City. She was the daughter of Elon Huntington Hooker, founder of Hooker Electrochemical Company, and his wife, Blanche Ferry....
(1909–1992) - John D. Rockefeller 3rd.- Sharon Percy - John D. "Jay" Rockefeller, IV.
- Mary French (1910–1997) - Laurance Rockefeller.
- Wendy Gordon - Laurance "Larry" Rockefeller.
- Barbara "Bobo" Sears (1916– 2008) - Winthrop Rockefeller.
- Jeannette Edris (1918–1997) - Winthrop Rockefeller.
- Lisenne Dudderar - Winthrop Paul Rockefeller.
- Margaret "Peggy" McGrath (1915–1996) - David Rockefeller.
- Diana Newell Rowan - David Rockefeller, Jr.
- Nancy King - Richard Gilder Rockefeller.
- Elizabeth "Bessie" Rockefeller (1866–1906).
- Alta Rockefeller (1871–1962).
- Edith Rockefeller (1872–1932).
- Elsie Stillman Rockefeller (1872–1935).
- Isabel Stillman Rockefeller (1876–1935).
Select bibliography
- Abels, Jules. The Rockefeller Billions: The Story of the World's Most Stupendous Fortune. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1965.
- Aldrich, Nelson W. Jr. Old Money: The Mythology of America's Upper Class. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1988.
- Allen, GaryGary AllenGary Allen was an American conservative journalist.-Background:As a student, Allen was majoring in history at Stanford University and studied at California State University, Long Beach. He was a prominent member of the John Birch Society, of which he was a spokesman...
. The Rockefeller File. Seal Beach, California: 1976 Press, 1976. - Boorstin, Daniel J. The Americans: The Democratic Experience. New York: Vintage Books, 1974.
- Brown, E. Richard. Rockefeller Medicine Men: Medicine and Capitalism in America. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979.
- Caro, Robert A. The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York. New York: Vintage, 1975.
- Chernow, Ron. Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. London: Warner Books, 1998.
- Collier, Peter, and David Horowitz. The Rockefellers: An American Dynasty. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1976.
- Elmer, Isabel Lincoln. Cinderella Rockefeller: A Life of Wealth Beyond All Knowing. New York: Freundlich Books, 1987.
- Ernst, Joseph W., editor. "Dear Father"/"Dear Son:" Correspondence of John D. Rockefeller and John D. Rockefeller, Jr. New York: Fordham University Press, with the Rockefeller Archive Center, 1994.
- Flynn, John T. God's Gold: The Story of Rockefeller and His Times. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1932.
- Fosdick, Raymond B. John D. Rockefeller, Jr.: A Portrait. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1956.
- Fosdick, Raymond B. The Story of the Rockefeller Foundation. New York: Transaction Publishers, Reprint, 1989.
- Gates, Frederick TaylorFrederick Taylor GatesFrederick Taylor Gates was an American Baptist clergyman, educator, and the principal business and philanthropic advisor to the major oil industrialist and philanthropist John D...
. Chapters in My Life. New York: The Free Press, 1977. - Gitelman, Howard M. Legacy of the Ludlow Massacre: A Chapter in American Industrial Relations. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1988.
- Gonzales, Donald J., Chronicled by. The Rockefellers at Williamsburg: Backstage with the Founders, Restorers and World-Renowned Guests. McLean, Virginia: EPM Publications, Inc., 1991.
- Hanson, Elizabeth. The Rockefeller University Achievements: A Century of Science for the Benefit of Humankind, 1901-2001. New York: The Rockefeller University Press, 2000.
- Harr, John Ensor, and Peter J. Johnson. The Rockefeller Century: Three Generations of America's Greatest Family. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1988.
- Harr, John Ensor, and Peter J. Johnson. The Rockefeller Conscience: An American Family in Public and in Private. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1991.
- Hawke, David Freeman. John D.: The Founding Father of the Rockefellers. New York: Harper & Row, 1980.
- Hidy, Ralph W. and Muriel E. Hidy. Pioneering in Big Business: History of Standard Oil Company (New Jersey), 1882-1911. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1955.
- Jonas, Gerald. The Circuit Riders: Rockefeller Money and the Rise of Modern Science. New York: W.W.Norton and Co., 1989.
- Josephson, Emanuel M. The Federal Reserve Conspiracy and the Rockefellers: Their Gold Corner. New York: Chedney Press, 1968.
- Josephson, Matthew. The Robber Barons. London: Harcourt, 1962.
- Kert, Bernice. Abby Aldrich Rockefeller: The Woman in the Family. New York: Random House, 2003.
- Klein, Henry H. Dynastic America and Those Who Own It. New York: Kessinger Publishing, [1921] Reprint, 2003.
- Kutz, Myer. Rockefeller Power: America's Chosen Family. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1974.
- Lundberg, Ferdinand. America's Sixty Families. New York: Vanguard Press, 1937.
- Lundberg, Ferdinand. The Rich and the Super-Rich: A Study in the Power of Money Today. New York: Lyle Stuart, 1968.
- Lundberg, Ferdinand. The Rockefeller Syndrome. Secaucus, New Jersey: Lyle Stuart, Inc., 1975.
- Manchester, William R. A Rockefeller Family Portrait: From John D. to Nelson. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1959.
- Moscow, Alvin. The Rockefeller Inheritance. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co., 1977.
- Nevins, AllanAllan NevinsAllan Nevins was an American historian and journalist, renowned for his extensive work on the history of the Civil War and his biographies of such figures as President Grover Cleveland, Hamilton Fish, Henry Ford, and John D. Rockefeller.-Life:Born in Camp Point, Illinois, Nevins was educated at...
. John D. Rockefeller: The Heroic Age of American Enterprise. 2 vols. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1940. - Nevins, Allan. Study In Power: John D. Rockefeller, Industrialist and Philanthropist. 2 vols. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1953.
- Okrent, Daniel. Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center. New York: Viking Press, 2003.
- Reich, Cary. The Life of Nelson A. Rockefeller: Worlds to Conquer 1908-1958. New York: Doubleday, 1996.
- Roberts, Ann Rockefeller. The Rockefeller Family Home: Kykuit. New York: Abbeville Publishing Group, 1998.
- Rockefeller, David. Memoirs. New York: Random House, 2002.
- Rockefeller, Henry Oscar, ed. Rockefeller Genealogy. 4 vols. 1910 - ca.1950.
- Rockefeller, John D. Random Reminiscences of Men and Events. New York: Doubleday, 1908; London: W. Heinemann. 1909; Sleepy Hollow Press and Rockefeller Archive Center, (Reprint) 1984.
- Roussel, Christine. The Art of Rockefeller Center. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2006.
- Scheiffarth, Engelbert. Der New Yorker Gouverneur Nelson A. Rockefeller und die Rockenfeller im Neuwieder Raum Genealogisches Jahrbuch, Vol 9, 1969, p16-41.
- Sealander, Judith. Private Wealth and Public Life: Foundation Philanthropy and the Reshaping of American Social Policy, from the Progressive Era to the New Deal. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997.
- Siegmund-Schultze, Reinhard. Rockefeller and the Internationalization of Mathematics Between the Two World Wars: Documents and Studies for the Social History of Mathematics in the 20th Century. Boston: Birkhauser Verlag, 2001.
- Stasz, Clarice. The Rockefeller Women: Dynasty of Piety, Privacy, and Service. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995.
- Tarbell, Ida M. The History of the Standard Oil Company. New York: Phillips & Company, 1904.
- Winks, Robin W. Laurance S. Rockefeller: Catalyst for Conservation, Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1997.
- Yergin, DanielDaniel YerginDaniel Howard Yergin is an American author, speaker, and economic researcher. Yergin is the co-founder and chairman of Cambridge Energy Research Associates, an energy research consultancy. It was acquired by IHS Inc...
. The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and PowerThe Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and PowerThe Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power is Daniel Yergin's 800-page history of the global oil industry from the 1850s through 1990...
. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991. - Young, Edgar B. Lincoln Center: The Building of an Institution. New York: New York University Press, 1980.
See also
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- Asia SocietyAsia SocietyThe Asia Society is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating the world about Asia. It has several centers in the United States and around the world Hong Kong, Manila, Mumbai, Seoul, Shanghai, and Melbourne...
- Bilderberg GroupBilderberg GroupThe Bilderberg Group, Bilderberg conference, or Bilderberg Club is an annual, unofficial, invitation-only conference of approximately 120 to 140 guests from North America and Western Europe, most of whom are people of influence. About one-third are from government and politics, and two-thirds from...
- Brookings InstitutionBrookings InstitutionThe Brookings Institution is a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C., in the United States. One of Washington's oldest think tanks, Brookings conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and...
- Carnegie Corporation
- Chase Manhattan BankChase Manhattan BankJPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase, is a national bank that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of financial services firm JPMorgan Chase. The bank was known as Chase Manhattan Bank until it merged with J.P. Morgan & Co. in 2000...
- CitibankCitibankCitibank, a major international bank, is the consumer banking arm of financial services giant Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, later First National City Bank of New York...
- Colonial WilliamsburgColonial WilliamsburgColonial Williamsburg is the private foundation representing the historic district of the city of Williamsburg, Virginia, USA. The district includes buildings dating from 1699 to 1780 which made colonial Virginia's capital. The capital straddled the boundary of the original shires of Virginia —...
- Council of the AmericasCouncil of the AmericasCouncil of the Americas is an American business organization whose goal is promoting free trade, democracy and open markets throughout the Americas. This includes Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, as well as South America. Its members share a common commitment to economic and social development,...
- Council on Foreign RelationsCouncil on Foreign RelationsThe Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
- ExxonMobilExxonMobilExxon Mobil Corporation or ExxonMobil, is an American multinational oil and gas corporation. It is a direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil company, and was formed on November 30, 1999, by the merger of Exxon and Mobil. Its headquarters are in Irving, Texas...
- Ford family
- GEGêGê are the people who spoke Ge languages of the northern South American Caribbean coast and Brazil. In Brazil the Gê were found in Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Bahia, Piaui, Mato Grosso, Goias, Tocantins, Maranhão, and as far south as Paraguay....
- General Education BoardGeneral Education BoardThe General Education Board was a philanthropy created by John D. Rockefeller and Frederick T. Gates in 1902. Rockefeller gave it $180 million, which was used primarily to support higher education and medical schools in the United States, and to help rural white and black schools in the South, as...
- Grand Teton National ParkGrand Teton National ParkGrand Teton National Park is a United States National Park located in northwestern Wyoming, U.S. The Park consists of approximately and includes the major peaks of the long Teton Range as well as most of the northern sections of the valley known as Jackson Hole. Only south of Yellowstone...
- Institute for Pacific Relations
- KykuitKykuitKykuit , also known as John D. Rockefeller Estate, is a 40-room National Trust house in Westchester County, New York, built by the oil businessman, philanthropist and founder of the prominent Rockefeller family, John D. Rockefeller, and his son, John D...
- Lincoln Center
- List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City
- Ludlow massacreLudlow massacreThe Ludlow Massacre was an attack by the Colorado National Guard on a tent colony of 1,200 striking coal miners and their families at Ludlow, Colorado on April 20, 1914....
- MacArthur FoundationMacArthur FoundationThe John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is one of the largest private foundations in the United States. Based in Chicago but supporting non-profit organizations that work in 60 countries, MacArthur has awarded more than US$4 billion since its inception in 1978...
- Montgomery BurnsMontgomery BurnsCharles Montgomery "Monty" Burns, usually referred to as Mr. Burns, is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons, who is voiced by Harry Shearer and previously Christopher Collins. Burns is the evil owner of the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant and is Homer...
- Museum of Modern ArtMuseum of Modern ArtThe Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
- Population CouncilPopulation CouncilThe Population Council is an international, nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The Council conducts biomedical, social science, and public health research and helps build research capacities in developing countries. One-third of its research relates to HIV and AIDS; its other major program...
- Rainbow RoomRainbow RoomThe Rainbow Room was an upscale restaurant and nightclub on the 65th floor of the GE Building in Rockefeller Center, Midtown Manhattan, New York City.-Cuisine:...
- RCARCARCA Corporation, founded as the Radio Corporation of America, was an American electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. The RCA trademark is currently owned by the French conglomerate Technicolor SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Technicolor...
- Rockefeller Brothers FundRockefeller Brothers FundThe Rockefeller Brothers Fund , , is an international philanthropic organisation created and run by members of the Rockefeller family. It was set up in New York City in 1940 as the primary philanthropic vehicle of the five famous Rockefeller brothers: John D...
- Rockefeller CenterRockefeller CenterRockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
- Rockefeller FoundationRockefeller FoundationThe Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
- Rockefeller UniversityRockefeller UniversityThe Rockefeller University is a private university offering postgraduate and postdoctoral education. It has a strong concentration in the biological sciences. It is also known for producing numerous Nobel laureates...
- Rothschild familyRothschild familyThe Rothschild family , known as The House of Rothschild, or more simply as the Rothschilds, is a Jewish-German family that established European banking and finance houses starting in the late 18th century...
- Spelman CollegeSpelman CollegeSpelman College is a four-year liberal arts women's college located in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The college is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman was the first historically black female...
- Standard OilStandard OilStandard Oil was a predominant American integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. Established in 1870 as a corporation in Ohio, it was the largest oil refiner in the world and operated as a major company trust and was one of the world's first and largest multinational...
- Trilateral CommissionTrilateral CommissionThe Trilateral Commission is a non-governmental, non-partisan discussion group founded by David Rockefeller in July 1973 to foster closer cooperation among the United States, Europe and Japan.-History:...
- United Nations AssociationUnited Nations AssociationThe United Nations Associations are non-governmental organizations that exist in various countries to enhance the relationship between the people of a member state and the United Nations, raise public awareness of the UN and its work, promote the general goals of the UN and act as an advisory body...
- University of ChicagoUniversity of ChicagoThe University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
- Venrock AssociatesVenrock AssociatesVenrock, a compound of "Venture" and "Rockefeller", is a pioneering venture capital firm formed in 1969 to build upon the successful investing activities of the Rockefeller family that began in the late 1930s. It has offices in Palo Alto, California, New York City, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and...
- Gianni AgnelliGianni AgnelliGiovanni Agnelli , better known as Gianni Agnelli , was an Italian industrialist and principal shareholder of Fiat. As the head of Fiat, he controlled 4.4% of Italy's GDP, 3.1% of its industrial workforce, and 16.5% of its industrial investment in research...
- William Adams DelanoWilliam Adams DelanoWilliam Adams Delano , an American architect, was a partner with Chester Holmes Aldrich in the firm of Delano & Aldrich. The firm worked in the Beaux-Arts tradition for elite clients in New York City, Long Island and elsewhere, building townhouses, country houses, clubs, banks and buildings for...
(Delano & Aldrich) - J. Richardson DilworthJ. Richardson DilworthJ. Richardson Dilworth was a leading businessman best known for being laywer for the Rockefeller family.-Early life and career:...
- Allen Dulles
- John Foster DullesJohn Foster DullesJohn Foster Dulles served as U.S. Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959. He was a significant figure in the early Cold War era, advocating an aggressive stance against communism throughout the world...
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- Wallace HarrisonWallace HarrisonWallace Kirkman Harrison , was an American architect.-Career:Harrison started his professional career with the firm of Corbett, Harrison & MacMurray, participating in the construction of Rockefeller Center...
- Richard HolbrookeRichard HolbrookeRichard Charles Albert Holbrooke was an American diplomat, magazine editor, author, professor, Peace Corps official, and investment banker....
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- John J. McCloyJohn J. McCloyJohn Jay McCloy was a lawyer and banker who served as Assistant Secretary of War during World War II, president of the World Bank and U.S. High Commissioner for Germany...
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