Biography of the rockefeller family fund

American industrial, political and banking family

This article is about the family. For the name in general, see Rockefeller.

The Rockefeller family (ROCK-ə-fell-ər) is an American industrial, political, and banking family that owns one of the world's largest fortunes. The fortune was made in the American petroleum industry during the late 19th and early 20th centuries by brothers John D. Rockefeller and William A. Rockefeller Jr., primarily through Standard Oil (the predecessor of ExxonMobil and Chevron Corporation). The family had a long association with, and control of, Chase Manhattan Bank. By , the Rockefellers were considered one of the most powerful families in American history.

The Rockefellers originated in Rhineland in Germany and family members moved to the Americas in the early 18th century, while through Eliza Davison, with family roots in Middlesex County, New Jersey, John D. Rockefeller and William A. Rockefeller Jr. and their descendants are also of Scots-Irish ancestry.

Background

The Rockefeller family traces their origin to the now abandoned German village Rockenfeld in the early 17th century. The American family branch is descended from Johann Peter Rockefeller (), who migrated from the Rhineland to Philadelphia in the Province of Pennsylvania around In the US, he became a plantation owner and landholder in Somerville, and Amwell, New Jersey. One of the first members of the Rockefeller family in New York was businessman William A. Rockefeller Sr., who was born to a Protestant family in Granger, New York. He had six children with his first wife Eliza Davison, a daughter of a Scots-Irish farmer, the most prominent of which were oil tycoons John D. Rockefeller and William A. Rockefeller Jr., the co-founders of Standard Oil. John D. Rockefeller (known

John Davison Rockefeller (JDR) was the guiding force behind the creation and development of the Standard Oil Company, which grew to dominate the oil industry and became one of the first big trusts in the United States, thus engendering much controversy and opposition regarding its business practices and form of organization. JDR also was one of the first major philanthropists in the United States, establishing several important foundations and donating a total of $ million to charitable endeavors.

John D. Rockefeller was born on July 8, , on farm in Richford, New York, the second of the six children of William A. and Eliza Davison Rockefeller. The family lived in modest circumstances. When he was a boy, his family moved often, arriving in Ohio in JDR attended Central High School in Cleveland and joined the Erie Street Baptist Church, which later became the Euclid Avenue Baptist Church. Active in its affairs, he became a trustee of the church at the age of

JDR left high school in to take a business course at Folsom Mercantile College. He completed the six-month course in three months and became the assistant bookkeeper with Hewitt & Tuttle, a small firm of commission merchants and produce shippers. A few months later he was promoted to cashier and bookkeeper.

In , with $1, he had saved and another $1, borrowed from his father, JDR formed a partnership in the commission business with Maurice B. Clark. That same year, the first oil well was drilled at Titusville in western Pennsylvania, giving rise to the petroleum industry. Cleveland soon became a major refining center of the booming new industry, and in Rockefeller and Clark entered the oil business as refiners. Together with Samuel Andrews, they built and operated an oil refinery, Andrews, Clark & Co. The firm also continued in the commission business, but in the partners disagreed about the management of their business affairs and decided to sell the refinery to the partner

American philanthropic organization

The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropicmedical research and arts funding organization based at Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller ("Senior") and son "Junior", and their primary business advisor, Frederick Taylor Gates, on May 14, , when its charter was granted by New York. It is the second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America (after the Carnegie Corporation) and ranks as the 30th largest foundation globally by endowment, with assets of over $ billion in

Since its inception, the foundation has donated billions of dollars to various causes, becoming the largest philanthropic enterprise in the world by the s. The foundation has maintained an international reach since the s and major influence on global non-governmental organizations. The World Health Organization is modeled on the International Health Division of the foundation, which sent doctors abroad to study and treat human subjects. The National Science Foundation and National Institute of Health are also modeled on the work funded by Rockefeller. It has also been a supporter of and influence on the United Nations.

In , the foundation pledged that it would divest from fossil fuel, notable since the endowment was largely funded by Standard Oil. The foundation also has a controversial past, including support of eugenics in the s, as well as several scandals arising from their international field work. In , the foundation's president committed to reckoning with their history, and to centering equity and inclusion.

History

John D. Rockefeller Sr. first conceived the idea of the foundation in In , Rockefeller's business and philanthropic advisor, Frederick Taylor Gates, encouraged him toward "permanent corporate philanthrop