Henry Pomeroy Davison
Henry Pomeroy Davison Sr. | |
---|---|
Locust Valley, New York , U.S. | |
Spouse |
Mary Kate Trubee
(m. 1893) |
Children | 4, including Frederick Trubee Davison |
Henry Pomeroy Davison Sr. (June 12, 1867 – May 6, 1922) was an American banker and philanthropist.[1]
Biography
Henry Pomeroy Davison was born on June 12, 1867, in Troy, Pennsylvania, the oldest of the four children of Henrietta and George B. Davison. Henry's mother died when he was nine years old in 1877.[2]
Career
After completing his education he became a bookkeeper in a bank managed by one of his relatives, and at age 21 he gained employment at a bank in
Involvement with the Red Cross
After the United States entered World War I in 1917, Davison was named chairman of the War Council of the American Red Cross.[5] In this capacity, he led a campaign to win financial support for the Red Cross, quickly raising four million dollars used to fund Red Cross ambulances. In recognition of his service he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, one of the few civilians so honored.
After the war ended, he pressed for the creation of an international organization to coordinate the work of the different national Red Cross societies.
It should be in reality, and not merely in name an International Committee, a Committee on which there will be representatives from all countries, instead of, as at present, a committee consisting of amiable but somewhat ineffective Geneva gentlemen. That which calls itself "international" has grown rather provincial… New blood, new methods, a new and more comprehensive outlook, these things are necessary.[7]
The League was established in 1919 with Davison as its chairman. However, "Swiss aloofness or unilateralism was hard to overcome",[8] and the relationship between the ICRC and the League became, and remained, a problem for years to come.
In 1919, Davison published The American Red Cross in the Great War, a book describing the wartime activities of the Red Cross. He remained chairman of the league until his death in 1922.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (the league's name since 1991) grants the Henry Davison Award in his memory.
Personal life
On April 13, 1893, he married Kate Trubee (1871–1961). Together, they had two sons, and two daughters:[9]
- Frederick Trubee Davison (1896–1974), was a director of personnel for the Central Intelligence Agency
- Henry Pomeroy Davison Jr. (1898–1961), was a director at Time magazine who married Anne Stillman (1902–1987), daughter of James A. Stillman
- Alice Trubee Davison (1899–1983), who married Artemus Lamb Gates (1895–1976) in 1922
- Frances Pomeroy Davison (1903–1969), who married Ward Cheney, a son of Charles Cheney, a partner at J.P. Morgan & Company, in 1926.[9]
Davison died on May 6, 1922, at the age of 54 at his family estate, Peacock Point in Locust Valley, Long Island, while undergoing an operation to remove a brain tumor.[10] He had undergone two prior failed brain operations. He left the bulk of his estate to his wife to be held in trust.[11]
References
- Notes
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1922). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 30 (12th ed.). London & New York: The Encyclopædia Britannica Company. .
- ^ Lamont, Thomas W. (1933). "Henry P. Davison: The Record Of A Useful Life". Harper & Brothers Publishers.
- ^ McCulley, Richard T. (1980). The Origins of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913: Banks and Politics during the Progressive Era, 1897-1913 (Ph.D.). University of Texas. p. 371.
- ^ Shaw, Christopher W. (2019). Money, Power, and the People: The American Struggle to Make Banking Democratic. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 77.
- ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
- ISBN 978-0-226-68038-5.
- ^ Moorehead, Caroline, Dunant's Dream, Carroll & Graf, New York, 1998, p.259
- ^ Forsythe, David P., The Humanitarians, Cambridge University Press, 2005 p.36
- ^ a b Hofherr, Kathryn (June 2008). "The Davison Family Collection | An Inventory of the Collection at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library" (PDF). pritzkermilitary.org. Pritzker Military Museum & Library. Retrieved November 30, 2016.
- ^ Zach L. "Old Long Island".
- ^ "DAVISON LEAVES $4,500,000 TO SON – Bulk of Estate Goes to Widow Who Will Receive Income for Life. DIVIDED AT HER DEATH Other Three Children Get Remainder in Equal SharesValue of Property Not Known. Left Nothing to Charity. DAVISON LEAVES $4,500,000 TO SON Trust Fund Created. Direction as to Employes. Peacock Point for Son. Handling of Securities. Morgan Statement to Be Accepted. - Front Page – NYTimes.com". The New York Times. May 12, 1922.
- Sources
- Henry P. Davison: The American Red Cross in the Great War. The Macmillan Company, New York 1919
Further reading
- Julia F. Irwin: Making the World Safe: The American Red Cross and a Nation's Humanitarian Awakening. Oxford University Press, New York 2013 ISBN 0-199-76640-1
- Thomas W. Lamont: Henry P. Davison: The record of a useful life. Arno Press, New York 1975, ISBN 0-405-06969-3; Original edition: Harper & Bros., New York 1933