Albert M. Greenfield
Albert Monroe Greenfield | |
---|---|
Born | Avrum Moishe Grunfeld August 4, 1887 |
Died | January 5, 1967 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States | (aged 79)
Occupation(s) | Real estate broker and developer, banker, investor, board director, trustee, philanthropist |
Official name | Albert M. Greenfield (1887-1967) |
Type | City |
Criteria | Jewish birth, Business and Industry, Government and Politics 20th Century, Religion |
Designated | April 21, 2016 |
Location | 1315 Walnut St., Philadelphia 39°56′58″N 75°09′47″W / 39.94931°N 75.16294°W |
Albert Monroe Greenfield (August 4, 1887 – January 5, 1967)[1] was a real estate broker and developer who built his company into a vast East Coast network of department stores, banks, finance companies, hotels, newspapers, transportation companies, and the Loft Candy Corporation. His high-rise office buildings and hotels were instrumental in changing the face of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, his base of operations. He formed business relationships across religious, ethnic and social lines and played a major role in reforming politics in Philadelphia as well as at the national level.[2]
Early life and business activities
Greenfield was born Avrum Moishe Grunfeld to a
In May 1905, Greenfield opened his own real estate firm at 218 South 4th Street, with $500 that his mother borrowed for him from her brother.[7] Within seven years Greenfield was earning $60,000 a year; by 1917, his personal wealth had increased to $15 million.[8] During the 1920s he largely rebuilt the face of downtown Philadelphia, creating numerous landmark office buildings and hotels, including what was then the world's largest hotel, the Benjamin Franklin, in 1925.[9]
The alliances created through his growing real estate business led to investments in
In late 1926 he bought a controlling interest in a small West Philadelphia bank and, through a series of acquisitions, built it over the next four years into Bankers Trust Company, Philadelphia's tenth largest bank, with $50 million in deposits.
Politics
In 1917, Greenfield was elected to a seat on the
Board memberships
Greenfield's reputation for producing results placed him in high demand. He was involved or interested in almost everything, becoming known in his time as "Mr. Philadelphia".
Philanthropy and legacy
In the early 1950s, Greenfield donated $1 million to the University of Pennsylvania for creation of the Albert M. Greenfield Center for Human Relations, the nation's first institution specifically designed to train students to promote interfaith and interracial relations.[15]
In 1953, he established The Albert M. Greenfield Foundation to provide grants to a variety of local Philadelphia institutions. The Foundation has supported the Albert Monroe Greenfield Memorial Lecture in Human Relations, an annual event at the University of Pennsylvania held under the terms of the endowment of the Greenfield Professorship of Human Relations. The professorship was established in 1972.[16] In 1992, the Foundation endowed The Albert M. Greenfield Student Competition, The Philadelphia Orchestra, to recognize extraordinary young musical talent in the Greater Delaware Valley region.[17]
The foundation has funded the Albert M. Greenfield Digital Imaging Center at The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia,[18] the Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia,[19] and the digital and print Albert M. Greenfield Center for 20th-Century History at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.[20]
Since 1984, the University of Pennsylvania has hosted the Albert M. Greenfield Intercultural Center. Its original mission was "to provide support for student of color and to foster intercultural understanding on campus". Over the years the center has maintained this mission while expanding its programs.[21]
His philanthropic endeavors transcended religious and racial lines. He was praised for his work by the
The Albert M. Greenfield Library is one of two libraries at
The Albert M. Greenfield Elementary School, part of the School District of Philadelphia, at 22nd and Chestnut streets in Philadelphia, is named in his honor.
Greenfield died on January 5, 1967, at his estate, "Sugar Loaf", in
References
- ^ a b c "Albert M. Greenfield, Financier, Is Dead at 79". Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. January 5, 1967.
- ^ Dan Rottenberg, The Outsider, p. xi-xiii.
- ^ Rottenberg, The Outsider, p. 13
- ^ Rottenberg, The Outsider, p. 17-21.
- ^ Rottenberg, The Outsider, 21-24.
- ^ "A Philadelphia Legend". The Albert M. Greenfield Foundation. Archived from the original on 30 August 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
- ^ Rottenberg, The Outsider, p. 27.
- ^ Rottenberg, The Outsider, p.28.
- ^ Rottenberg, The Outsider, p. 53.
- ^ Rottenberg, The Outsider, p.28, 35.
- ^ Rottenberg, The Outsider, p. 4
- ^ Rottenberg, The Outsider, p. 155-163.
- ^ Rottenberg, The Outsider, p. 235-248.
- ^ "Mr. Philadelphia". The Albert M. Greenfield Foundation. Archived from the original on 30 August 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
- ^ Rottenberg, The Outsider, p. 212.
- ^ University of Pennsylvania, Jerry Lee Center of Criminology website (accessed Sep 1, 2008) Archived September 15, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "Philadelphia Orchestra Albert M. Greenfield Student Competition". Retrieved 21 April 2012.
- ^ "Grant Highlights: The Academy of Natural Sciences Albert M. Greenfield Digital Imaging Center". The Albert M. Greenfield Foundation. Archived from the original on 16 April 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
- ^ "Grant Highlights: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Center for Fetal Diagnosis and Treatment". The Albert M. Greenfield Foundation. Archived from the original on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
- ^ "Albert M. Greenfield Center for 20th-Century History". Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Archived from the original on 14 August 2012. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
- ^ University of Pennsylvania. "Albert M. Greenfield Intercultural Center". Retrieved October 4, 2019.
- ^ "Albert M. Greenfield Dies at 79; Built Realty and Store Empire". New York Times. January 6, 1967.
- ^ "Chestnut Hill College buying Sugar Loaf," Philadelphia Business Journal, Apr 14, 2006 (accessed Sep 1, 2008)
- ^ "SugarLoaf Hill". Chestnut Hill College. Archived from the original on 18 February 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
- Finding Aid to the Albert M. Greenfield Papers, The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Collection 1959 (accessed August 29, 2008).
- Baltzell, E. Digby (1989) Philadelphia Gentlemen: The Making of a National Upper Class, (Transaction Publishers) ISBN 978-0-88738-789-0.
- Rottenberg, Dan (2014), The Outsider: Albert M. Greenfield and the Fall of the Protestant Establishment (Temple University Press) ISBN 978-1-4399-0841-9.
External links
- Albert M. Greenfield & Co., Inc.
- The Albert M. Greenfield Foundation
- The Albert M. Greenfield Papers, including correspondence, news clippings and office files, are available for research use at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.