Arthur H. Fleming (1856 – August 11, 1940) was a successful Canadian-American lumber operator in the western United States of America around the turn of the 20th century and is best known as a

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

who, with his daughter, gave more than $5,000,000 to the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

(Caltech). Fleming House at Caltech is named in his honor. Fleming also funded the construction of a

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

memorial in

Compiègne Compiègne (; pcd, Compiène) is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. It is located on the river Oise. Its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois''. Administration Compiègne is the seat of two cantons: * Compiègne-1 (with 19 c ...

to house the railroad car in which the 1918 Armstice with Germany was signed. The railcar was later seized by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

in 1940. Fleming held many positions of authority. During

he served as chief of the state councils section of the

Council of National Defense The Council of National Defense was a United States organization formed during World War I to coordinate resources and industry in support of the war effort, including the coordination of transportation, industrial and farm production, financial s ...

. In the 1920s, he was president of the

Sugar Pine Lumber Company The Sugar Pine Lumber Company was an early 20th century logging operation and railroad in the Sierra Nevada. Unable to secure water rights to build a log flume, the company operated the “crookedest railroad ever built." They later develope ...

, and the Madera Sugar Pine Lumber Company; a director of

Southern California Edison Southern California Edison (or SCE Corp), the largest subsidiary of Edison International, is the primary electricity supply company for much of Southern California. It provides 15 million people with electricity across a service territory of app ...

; and vice-president of the Minarets and Western Railroad.

References

1856 births 1940 deaths Place of birth missing People from Pasadena, California Philanthropists from California {{philanthropist-stub

Further reading

References