August Heckscher (August 26, 1848 – April 26, 1941) was a German-born American

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...

and

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 ...

Early life

Heckscher was born in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, Germany. He was the son of

Johann Gustav Heckscher Johann Gustav Wilhelm Moritz Heckscher (born 26 December 1797 in Hamburg; died 7 April 1865 in Vienna) was a German politician. Biography He served during the War of 1815 as a volunteer in the Hanseatic Corps, and then studied at the universiti ...

(1797–1865) and Marie Antoinette Bräutigam.

Career

In 1867, Heckscher immigrated to the United States. He initially worked in his cousin Richard Heckscher's coal mining operation as a laborer, studying English at night. Several years later he formed a partnership with his cousin under the name of ''Richard Heckscher & Company''. The firm was eventually sold to the

Reading Railroad The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail. Commonly calle ...

. Heckscher then turned to zinc mining and organized the ''Zinc and Iron Company'', becoming vice-president and general manager. In 1897, it was consolidated with other zinc and iron companies into the

New Jersey Zinc Company New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

with Heckscher serving as the general manager.

Philanthropy

Heckscher eventually became a multimillionaire and a philanthropist. He started ''

The Heckscher Foundation for Children The Heckscher Foundation for Children is a New York City-focused private foundation that provides grants to underserved New York City youth. Often, the foundation's grant-giving takes the form of program support, capacity-building, capital project ...

'' and created playgrounds in lower Manhattan and in

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

Heckscher Playground Heckscher Playground is a play area located in New York City's Central Park, located close to Central Park South between Sixth Avenue and Seventh Avenue. It is the oldest and largest of Central Park's 22 playgrounds. Opened in 1926, Heckscher ...

, Central Park's largest playground, is named in his honor. Heckscher also created Heckscher Park in the town of Huntington and created the

Heckscher Museum of Art The Heckscher Museum of Art is named after its benefactor, August Heckscher, who in 1920 donated 185 works of art to be housed in a new Beaux-Arts building located in Heckscher Park, in Huntington, New York. The museum has over 2000 works of art ...

. The State of New York purchased nearly 1,500 acres in East Islip with money donated by Heckscher to create

Heckscher State Park Heckscher State Park is a state park on the shore of the Great South Bay at East Islip in Suffolk County, New York, USA. History The park includes that was once the 19th-century estates of George C. Taylor and J. Neal Plum. Islip's found ...

, made famous for hosting summer concerts for 35 years of the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

Personal life

In 1881, he married Anna P. Atkins (1859–1924). Together, they were the parents of: *

Gustave Maurice Heckscher Gustave Maurice Heckscher (May 15, 1884 – June 11, 1967), was a pioneer aviator with seaplanes. and later a real estate developer in California. Early life Heckscher was born on May 15, 1884, in Philadelphia. He was the son of Anna (née At ...

(1884–1967), who became an aviation pioneer and California real estate investor in the early 1900s. * Antoinette Heckscher (1888–1965), who married British aristocrat and architect Capt. Oliver Sylvain Baliol Brett (later the 3rd Viscount Esher), son of

Reginald Brett, 2nd Viscount Esher Reginald Baliol Brett, 2nd Viscount Esher, (30 June 1852 – 22 January 1930) was an historian and Liberal politician in the United Kingdom, although his greatest influence over military and foreign affairs was as a courtier, member of public c ...

. In 1930, he married

Virginia Henry Curtiss Virginia Henry Curtiss (1875 – July 11, 1941) was president of The Heckscher Foundation for Children and was a member of New York City's Child Welfare Board. Biography She was born in 1875 in Vienna and educated in England. She married widower ...

(ca. 1885–1941) at

Croton-on-Hudson Croton-on-Hudson is a administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 8,327 at the 2020 United States census over 8,070 at the ...

. She was the widow of

Edwin Burr Curtiss Edwin Burr Curtiss (July 14, 1852 – March 30, 1928) was an American attorney, bookseller, and a director of A. G. Spalding Bros. Early life He was born on July 14, 1852, in Fairfield, Connecticut. He was the third child born to Henry Tomlinso ...

, of A. G. Spalding Bros. and was 27 years younger than Heckscher. August Heckscher died on April 26, 1941, in

Mountain Lake, Florida Mountain Lake is a private community north of the City of Lake Wales, Florida, United States. It was founded in 1915 and contains a golf course designed in 1916 by Seth Raynor. Mountain Lake is located in the ridge country of Central Florida, and ...

and left his widow $10,000 and all his

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

. She died on July 11, 1941. No

legatee A legatee, in the law of wills, is any individual or organization bequeathed any portion of a testator A testator () is a person who has written and executed a last will and testament that is in effect at the time of their death. It is any "person ...

could be found that was named in her will and the

probate court A probate court (sometimes called a surrogate court) is a court that has competence in a jurisdiction to deal with matters of probate and the Administration of an estate on death, administration of estates. In some jurisdictions, such courts ma ...

declared an earlier copy of the will as valid.

Descendants

His grandson

August Heckscher II August Heckscher II (September 16, 1913 – April 5, 1997) was an American public intellectual and author whose work explored the American liberalism of political leaders including Woodrow Wilson. Early life Heckscher was born in Huntington ...

(1913–1997), served as President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

's Special Consultant on the Arts, the first

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

cultural adviser, 1962–1963, as well New York City Mayor

John Lindsay John Vliet Lindsay (; November 24, 1921 – December 19, 2000) was an American politician and lawyer. During his political career, Lindsay was a U.S. congressman, mayor of New York City, and candidate for U.S. president. He was also a regular ...

's Parks Commissioner, 1967, amongst other highlights in a wide-ranging career and life.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heckscher, August 1848 births 1941 deaths Philanthropists from New York (state) German emigrants to the United States Businesspeople from Hamburg People from Huntington, New York People from East Islip, New York People from Polk County, Florida Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York)