by Ron Chernow
My foremost debt is to the staff of the Rockefeller Archive Center, which is situated on the family estate in Sleepy Hollow (formerly North Tarrytown) but is operated by a team of professional archivists under the very able direction of Darwin Stapleton. The center, first opened to researchers in 1975, is a division of the Rockefeller University. I am especially grateful to Tom Rosenbaum, who expertly guided me through the vast trove of documents and had stimulating things to say about so many of them. His help was invaluable and always graciously rendered. Ken Rose was especially adept when it came to Cleveland history, while Valerie Komor was indispensable in elucidating the mystery of Charles and Bessie Strong. Michele Hiltzik and Robert Battaly did yeoman’s work in helping me with the photos. I salute the professionalism of the entire staff and the exemplary work it performs each year for so many scholars.
Among other Samaritans who supplied aid and comfort, I would like to single out Jean Ashton and the staff of the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Columbia University, which houses the voluminous collection of Rockefeller material in the Allan Nevins papers; Meredith Nevins Mayer, who permitted me to quote from her father’s papers; Ronald Grele and the Columbia University Oral History Project; Barbara T. Zolli, Beth Davidson, and the staff of the Drake Well Museum in Titusville, Pennsylvania, which contains Ida Tarbell’s extensive files on Standard Oil; Caroline Tarbell Tupper, who gave permission to quote from the papers of her grandaunt Ida Tarbell; Harold Miller and the staff of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, which made available the papers of Henry Demarest Lloyd by inter-library loan; John Grabowski and the staff of the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland; William Massa, Jr., of the Manuscripts and Archives Collection at the Yale University Library, who tracked down some critical letters; Daniel Meyer and the Department of Special Collections at the University of Chicago Library; and Letitia Yeandle and Theresa Helein of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., who provided Rockefeller’s correspondence with Henry Clay Folger.
Sir David Simon, the former chairman of British Petroleum, took a special interest in this project and arranged for me to examine the original minute books of Standard Oil of Ohio, which was absorbed by British Petroleum in the 1970s. Dorothy Jankowski, Barbara Rutigliano, and George Dunn served as gracious hosts during my Cleveland visit. Robert Craig Brown, the chairman of the University of Toronto history department, went beyond the call of duty in showering me with information about William Lyon Mackenzie King. I enjoyed the cheerful, efficient help of two delightful people at Spelman College—Tanya Sharpe, the interim director of the archives, and undergraduate Darsheika Giles—who sifted through many unexplored files pertaining to early Rockefeller history. Dr. Deborah Dependahl Waters kindly escorted me on a tour of the Rockefeller rooms at the Museum of the City of New York. Richard Warshauer, George Picon, and John Nesimi allowed me a glimpse of the old Standard Oil offices at 26 Broadway. Cynthia Altman, Carol Moberg, and David Lyons were knowledgeable guides on a stroll around Rockefeller University, while Vicki Manning filled in blanks about the Judson Memorial Church. Peter Kraus of the New York Public Library provided statistical tables for converting figures into contemporary dollars. Jennifer Shaw extracted many interesting articles for me from local libraries. Susan Sacharski, archivist of the Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, and William Beatty, professor of medical bibliography emeritus at Northwestern University, counseled me in tracking down that phantom, Dr. Charles Johnston. Dr. Josef Jelinek and Alice DeLury provided some needed guidance on Rockefeller’s alopecia.
Three people in Lakewood—Deborah Kern, chairwoman of the Lakewood Heritage, her husband, Jerome Kern, and Judith Robinson of the Lakewood Public Library—helped to re-create that colorful phase of Rockefeller’s life. Laurel Auchampaugh and Ann Townsend of the Cayuga-Owasco Lakes Historical Society in Moravia, New York, passed along some piquant folklore about Rockefeller’s childhood and secretly initiated me, in a back room, into the mysteries of Joshua: A Man of the Finger Lakes Region. I was delighted to receive unsolicited aid from George Plimpton, a descendant of General Adelbert Ames, who rounded up background materials on a trip to Ormond Beach. Leslie Bottarelli of the Ormond Beach Community Enrichment Center sent additional information. Jean S. Hoefer of the Stephenson County Genealogical Society and Michael Cline of the Oakland Cemetery in Freeport, Illinois, helped to unravel the mystery of Dr. William Levingston’s last days in that town.
The generous Deirdre Bair, now working on a biography of Carl Jung, gave me a road map of Jung scholars who might be of assistance in unearthing the story of Edith and Harold McCormick in Switzerland. William McGuire of Princeton University, the editor of Jung’s Collected Works, dipped into his formidable database on several occasions and came up with splendid discoveries. James Hillman, formerly the director of the Jung Center in Zurich, introduced me to the hilarious memoir of Edith’s chauffeur, Emile Ammann.
James A. Smith and Kathleen McCarthy helped to locate Rockefeller in the broad stream of philanthropic history. Alan Brinkley provided a timely perspective on the often-tangled question of business corruption in American political history. Judith Goldstein deepened my understanding of John D. Rockefeller, Jr.’s conservation work on Mount Desert Island. Other friends who offered welcome advice, referrals, stories, and suggestions include Robert Caro, Jonathan Coss, Andrew Delbanco, Paula Giddings, Robert C. Kochersberger, Jr., the late J. Anthony Lukas, Vincent McGee, John Rousmaniere, Willie Ruff, Tom Ryley, and Scott Sandage.
Both the research and writing stages of this book proved unexpectedly rich in medical emergencies, and I would like to express special thanks to some superb physicians. Dr. Eric Rackow, chief of medicine at Saint Vincent’s Hospital, and Dr. Jay Weinstein helped to rescue me from a nasty brush with a blood clot. They consulted closely with my brother, Dr. Bart Chernow, now a vice dean at the Johns Hopkins Medical School. I would also like to thank Dr. Dennis Fabian of Saint Vincent’s for operating on my knee and Dr. Jonathan Deland of the Hospital for Special Surgery for operating on my foot.
Alberto Vitale, Harold Evans, and the other Random House executives generously supported this project from the outset. I would like to extend special thanks to S. I. Newhouse, Jr., for his early encouragement. My editor, Ann Godoff, found time in her busy schedule to combine fine, tough, old-fashioned editing with her usual bountiful enthusiasm. I am grateful to her assistant, Enrica Gadler, for many small favors performed over the years. Gaby Bordwin created the outstanding cover for the book, while Jim Lambert did his usual fine work on the interior design. Benjamin Dreyer was the soul of patience in supervising the copyediting process, and Timothy Mennel did an outstanding job copyediting the manuscript. Melanie Jackson continues to define my notion of the ideal agent. Each year, she improves just when I thought that she had already attained perfection. My parents were, as usual, unstinting in both their love and support. The single most important figure in the creation of this book was my wife, Valerie, who again endured the prolonged periods of insanity that overtook her obsessed husband. More than just a lovely martyr, she was my dinner-table muse, bedtime confidante, and most perceptive critic. Her editorial contribution to this biography cannot be overstated, for she enabled me to find that often elusive voice—neither too sympathetic nor too sharp—that would best capture the complexities of Rockefeller’s character. Chapeau, my dear.
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