Adrian Van Sinderen (1887–1963) was an American businessman and civic leader.
Adrian Van Sinderen | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 21, 1887 |
| Died | October 1, 1963 (aged 76) |
| Occupation | Businessman |
Early life
editAdrian Van Sinderen was born February 21, 1887.[1] He had one brother, Henry B. After graduating from Yale College in 1910, he briefly taught in St. Paul's School in New Hampshire before turning to business.[2]
Career
editVan Sinderen started work at J. P. Morgan. Within four years, he was a partner in the brokerage W. A. and A. M. White, where he remained for the rest of his life.[2] He sat on the board of directors for the New York Telephone Company and Manufacturers Trust Company.[2]
During World War I, he served with the New York Port of Embarkation and received the Navy Cross for distinguished service. Van Sinderen was discharged as a Major.[2]
His philanthropic pursuits included service as president of the Brooklyn Hospital (1930–1946); vice president of the Long Island College of Medicine, Brooklyn Bureau of Charities, Greater New York Fund, and United Hospital Fund; and officer of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, American Red Cross Brooklyn Chapter, and Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences.[2]
His varied interests included breeding hackney ponies and book collecting. In his lifetime, he received over 2,500 horse show ribbons and was a longtime president of the American Horse Shows Association. Van Sinderen wrote over 30 books, mostly on Christmas but also on travel. He had been to six continents, all fifty United States, and every American national park. Van Sinderen established Yale undergraduate prizes rewarding the most interesting book collections. He additionally played the organ and was a member of multiple private social clubs.[2]
Van Sinderen received an honorary doctorate from Syracuse University in 1948.[2]
Personal life
editVan Sinderen died October 1, 1963, in a Middlebury, Connecticut, nursing home at the age of 76.[2] He lived in Brooklyn and Washington, Connecticut.[2] He and Annie Jean White, the daughter of philanthropist Alfred Tredway White, were married on December 9, 1911. Van Sinderen's Yale classmate Robert A. Taft, the sitting president's son, was in the wedding party.[3] In 1921, the death of Annie Jean's father left his $15 million estate to her (equivalent to $256 million in 2023).[4] She died in 1968, five years after her husband.[5] They had four children, including the telephone executive Alfred White.[2]
References
edit- ^ Official List of Officers of the Officer's Reserve Corps of the Army of the United States: August 31, 1919. Vol. 3. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1920. p. 7.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Adrian Van Sinderen Dies at 76; Businessman and Civic Leader". The New York Times. October 2, 1963. ISSN 0362-4331.
- ^ "Weddings Past and to Come". New-York Tribune. November 17, 1911. p. 7. ProQuest 574843504.
- ^ "Alfred T. White, Brooklyn Philanthropist, Leaves $15,000,000 Estate to Daughter". The New York Times. February 20, 1921. ISSN 0362-4331.
- ^ "Mrs. Van Sinderen, Philanthropist, 80". The New York Times. April 30, 1968. ISSN 0362-4331.
Further reading
edit- Liebert, Herman W. (1983). "A Twenty-Fifth Anniversary". The Yale University Library Gazette. 58 (1/2): 84–86. ISSN 0044-0175. JSTOR 40858830.
- "Official Resigns Horse Shows Post; Van Sinderen, Chairman of the Board, Retires". The New York Times. December 7, 1962. ISSN 0362-4331.
- ten Houte de Lange, C. E. G. (1992). "Van Sinderen". De Nederlandsche Leeuw (in Dutch). 109: 433–441. ISSN 0028-226X.
- Williams, Stanley T. (1941). "The Adrian Van Sinderen Collection of Walt Whitman". The Yale University Library Gazette. 15 (3): 49–53. ISSN 0044-0175. JSTOR 40857086.
