Wallace M. Alexander (1869–1939) was an American heir, businessman and philanthropist.
Wallace M. Alexander | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 10, 1869 |
| Died | November 22, 1939 Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Education | Yale University |
| Occupation(s) | Businessman, philanthropist |
| Political party | Republican Party |
| Spouse | Mary S. Baker |
| Parent(s) | Samuel Thomas Alexander Martha E. (Cooke) Alexander |
| Relatives | William Patterson Alexander (paternal grandfather) Amos Starr Cooke (maternal grandfather) |
Biography
editEarly life
editWallace McKinney Alexander was born on November 10, 1869, in Maui, Hawaii.[1][2] His father was Samuel Thomas Alexander.[2] His mother was Martha E. (Cooke) Alexander.[2] His paternal grandfather, William Patterson Alexander, was a missionary in Hawaii.[2] His maternal grandfather, Amos Starr Cooke, was a Hawaii missionary and founder of the Castle & Cooke company.
Alexander grew up in Oakland, California, and was educated at Oakland High School,[3][4] then Phillips Andover Academy in Andover, Massachusetts.[2] He graduated from Yale University in 1892.[1][5]
Career
editAlexander owned sugarcane plantations as well as sugar refining factories in Hawaii.[1] He served on the Board of Directors of Alexander and Baldwin.[1] He also served as the Vice President of the Matson Navigation Company and the Honolulu Oil Corporation.[1]
He served as president of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.[1][5] He was also a powerbroker in the Republican Party of San Francisco.[5] In 1928, he suggested prohibiting mutual immigration between the United States and Japan; the idea was rejected by Japan.[5]
Philanthropy
editAlexander served on the board of trustees of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.[1] He was a member of the Japan Society of San Francisco and a co-founder of the Institute of Pacific Relations.[1][5] He supported the Boy Scouts of America.[1]
He served as president of the San Francisco Opera.[1] He also served on the Board of Trustees of Stanford University in Stanford, near Palo Alto, having been first elected in 1924 and re-elected in 1934.[1]
He received the Legion of Honor from France in 1937.[1]
Personal life
editAlexander married Mary S. Baker in 1904,a classmate for when Alexander attended Oakland public schools.[2] As an adult he lived in Piedmont, California, and moved back to Hawaii where he died.
Death
editAlexander died on November 22, 1939, in Honolulu, Hawaii.[1] He was seventy years old.[1]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Stanford Historical Society: Wallace M. Alexander
- ^ a b c d e f Allen L. Chickering, 'Wallace M. Alexander, 1869-1939', California Historical Society Quarterly, Vol. 18, No. 4 (Dec., 1939), pp. 379-381 [1]
- ^ "1888 OHS Memorial".
- ^ Gail Lombardi, Piedmonts History: The Building Years 1910-1930, The Attic Trunk a Publication of the Piedmont Historical Society 2006, p. 10]
- ^ a b c d e Izumi Hirobe, Japanese Pride, American Prejudice: Modifying the Exclusion Clause of the 1924 Immigration Act, Stanford University Press, 2001, pp. 121-124 [2]