Charles Carroll Glover (November 24, 1846 – February 25, 1936) was an American banker and philanthropist who made major contributions to the modern landscape of
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was President of
Riggs Bank
Riggs Bank was a bank headquartered in Washington, D.C. For most of its history, it was the largest bank headquartered in that city. On May 13, 2005, after the exposure of several money laundering scandals, the bank was acquired by PNC Financ ...
, an effective advocate of urban beautification in Washington under the influence of the
City Beautiful movement
The City Beautiful Movement was a reform philosophy of North American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of introducing beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. It was a part of the ...
, and a generous donor of land and money for Washington's parks and monuments.
Glover played a critical role in the creation of
Rock Creek Park
Rock Creek Park is a large urban park that bisects the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. The park was created by an Act of Congress in 1890 and today is administered by the National Park Service. In addition to the park proper, the Rock Cr ...
, the
National Zoo, the
National Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral, is an American cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Washington, D.C., the ca ...
,
Potomac Park, and
Glover-Archbold Park
Glover Archbold Park is a 183-acre, frequently-used, quasi-natural, stream-valley park in Northwest, Washington, D.C., on the western edge of Georgetown University and the Burleith-Hillandale, Glover Park, McLean Gardens, and Westchester neighbor ...
.
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
historian Cornelius W. Heine, in a 1952 study of Glover's contributions, described him as "both a businessman and a poet." In his account, the parks that Glover directly helped to create in the District of Columbia together represented some 3,200 acres, nearly half the total surface of the
National Capital Parks The National Capital Parks was a unit of the National Park System of the United States, now divided into multiple administrative units. It encompasses a variety of federally owned properties in and around the District of Columbia including memorial ...
.
Early life and career
Glover was born in
Macon County, North Carolina
Macon County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 37,014. Its county seat is Franklin.
The Nantahala River runs through Macon County, flowing into the Little Tennessee River in Sw ...
, the son of Richard Leonidas Glover and Caroline Piercy Glover. His paternal grandparents were English-born socialite and poet
Jane Cocking Glover and , a prominent Maryland attorney. He moved to Washington at age eight to live there with his grandmother. He started working as a teller at Riggs & Company in 1866.
In the wake of the Panic of 1873, after many banks had failed, Glover was promoted to Chief Administrative Officer at age 27. He became partner and was the bank's effective leader in 1881 at the time of the death of
George Washington Riggs
George Washington Riggs (July 4, 1813 – August 24, 1881) was an American businessman and banker. He was known as "The President's Banker." He was a trustee of the Corcoran Gallery of Art and the Peabody Education Fund.
Early life
Riggs was ...
. In 1896, the bank was converted into a
national bank
In banking, the term national bank carries several meanings:
* a bank owned by the state
* an ordinary private bank which operates nationally (as opposed to regionally or locally or even internationally)
* in the United States, an ordinary p ...
and he became its President. In the early 1900s he oversaw the construction of the new
Riggs National Bank headquarters facing the
US Treasury Building. He retired from the bank in 1921.
Glover was active in the debate that led to the eventual adoption of the
Federal Reserve Act
The Federal Reserve Act was passed by the 63rd United States Congress and signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson on December 23, 1913. The law created the Federal Reserve System, the central banking system of the United States.
The Panic ...
and presented a plan for economic relief to the
U.S. Congress
The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...
in 1908. He is mentioned by
Robert L. Owen
Robert Latham Owen Jr. (February 2, 1856July 19, 1947) was one of the first two U.S. senators from Oklahoma. He served in the Senate between 1907 and 1925.
Born into affluent circumstances in antebellum Lynchburg, Virginia, the son of a railroa ...
together with
Frank A. Vanderlip
Frank Arthur Vanderlip Sr. (November 17, 1864 – June 30, 1937) was an American banker and journalist. He was president of the National City Bank of New York (now Citibank) from 1909 to 1919, and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury from 18 ...
as a source of inspiration for key amendments to the
Aldrich–Vreeland Act
The Aldrich–Vreeland Act was a United States law passed in response to the Panic of 1907 which established the National Monetary Commission.
On May 27, 1908, the bill passed the House, mostly on a party-line vote of 166–140, with 13 Republi ...
passed in 1914.
He was also involved in several other business ventures, including as Director of the
Washington and Georgetown Railroad, the ancestor of the
Washington Metro
The Washington Metro (or simply Metro), formally the Metrorail,[Google Books search/preview ...](_blank)
, and as President of the Washington Stock Exchange.
As a banker to congressmen and presidents, Glover was often a guest at the White House. A story by historian Carlton Fletcher describes Glover's relationship with Theodore Roosevelt, whose children played at Glover's country house, despite the men being from being different parties.
Public advocacy and philanthropy
In 1881, Glover started to promote the reclamation of the
Potomac mud flats that extended West and South of the
National Mall
The National Mall is a Landscape architecture, landscaped park near the Downtown, Washington, D.C., downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institut ...
, and their transformation into a great public park. This idea was met with stubborn opposition from railroad companies which then had facilities on the Mall and wanted to extend them further. The reclamation work started in 1882 under the leadership of
Peter Conover Hains
Peter Conover Hains (July 6, 1840 – November 7, 1921) was a major general in the United States Army, and a veteran of the American Civil War, Spanish–American War, and the First World War. He is best known for his engineering efforts, such a ...
, including the creation of the
Tidal Basin. But the future use of the land was not settled before early 1897, when Glover obtained the passage of a bill establishing
Potomac Park and personally persuaded President
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...
to sign it on his last full day in office. This paved the way for the
McMillan Plan
The McMillan Plan (formally titled The Report of the Senate Park Commission. The Improvement of the Park System of the District of Columbia) is a comprehensive planning document for the development of the monumental core and the park system of Was ...
a few years later. The
Lincoln Memorial
The Lincoln Memorial is a U.S. national memorial built to honor the 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. It is on the western end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., across from the Washington Monument, and is in the ...
,
Jefferson Memorial
The Jefferson Memorial is a presidential memorial built in Washington, D.C. between 1939 and 1943 in honor of Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence, a central intellectual force behind the Am ...
,
Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial
The Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial is a presidential memorial in Washington D.C., dedicated to the memory of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States, and to the era he represents. The memorial is the second of two ...
, and many other iconic monuments of Washington, D.C. owe their existence to the creation of Potomac Park.
In 1888, Glover became the leading promoter of the creation of
Rock Creek Park
Rock Creek Park is a large urban park that bisects the Northwest quadrant of Washington, D.C. The park was created by an Act of Congress in 1890 and today is administered by the National Park Service. In addition to the park proper, the Rock Cr ...
. The project of protecting the natural area around
Rock Creek had emerged a generation earlier, but several bills to materialize it had failed in Congress since a first attempt in 1866. Together with other local civic leaders including newspaper publisher
Crosby Stuart Noyes
Crosby Stuart Noyes (February 16, 1825 – February 21, 1908) was the publisher of the ''Washington Evening Star''.
Biography
Noyes was born on February 16, 1825, in Minot, Maine, USA, and is most known for publishing the ''Washington Evenin ...
and lawyer
Calderon Carlisle, he successfully lobbied for bills that led to the creation of the
National Zoo in 1889 and Rock Creek Park in 1890. In 1898, Glover was one of the founding members of the
Washington Board of Trade, which quickly became the city's most politically powerful civic organization.
Glover made major contributions to the landscape of
Massachusetts Avenue NW
Massachusetts Avenue is a major diagonal transverse road in Washington, D.C., and the Massachusetts Avenue Historic District is a historic district that includes part of it.
Appearing in Peter Charles L'Enfant's original plan, Massachusetts Av ...
. While living at 4300 Massachusetts Avenue, Glover contributed to its development.
Glover was also attributed with helping develop
Embassy Row
Embassy Row is the informal name for a section of Northwest Washington, D.C. with a high concentration of embassies, diplomatic missions, and diplomatic residences. It spans Massachusetts Avenue N.W. between 18th and 35th street, bounded by ...
. In 1928, when Glover provided a site for the British Legation at 3100 Massachusetts Avenue, it was the birth of what is now known as Embassy Row.
The construction of the
National Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington, commonly known as Washington National Cathedral, is an American cathedral of the Episcopal Church. The cathedral is located in Washington, D.C., the ca ...
was launched under Glover's leadership at a meeting in his house on
Lafayette Square in 1891. In 1896, anticipating on the avenue's extension beyond
Rock Creek, he built his country house and estate, ''Westover'', south of the present
Ward Circle
Ward Circle is a traffic circle at the intersection of Nebraska and Massachusetts Avenues in Northwest, Washington, D.C. The circle, totaling , is owned and administered by the National Park Service through its Rock Creek Park unit. On three sid ...
. (Westover was razed and redeveloped in the 1960s.) About a decade later, he moved there permanently and used the avenue for his daily commute downtown. Glover was also a trustee of
American University
The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...
, and was instrumental in its establishment on its current main campus, immediately northwest of Westover. Fittingly, when a new
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
was built in the late 1930s to carry Massachusetts Avenue over Rock Creek, it was dedicated with Glover's name.
In addition to promoting the creation of parkland through his efforts in Congress, Glover also donated land of his own. In 1924 he gave some 80 acres of land which, together with a smaller gift from oil heiress Anne Archbold, daughter of
John Dustin Archbold
John Dustin Archbold (July 26, 1848 – December 6, 1916) was an American businessman and one of the United States' earliest oil refiners. His small oil company was bought out by John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Company. Archbold rose rapidl ...
, formed
Glover-Archbold Park
Glover Archbold Park is a 183-acre, frequently-used, quasi-natural, stream-valley park in Northwest, Washington, D.C., on the western edge of Georgetown University and the Burleith-Hillandale, Glover Park, McLean Gardens, and Westchester neighbor ...
. He also donated other tracts of land in the Eastern part of the District of Columbia. In the early 1920s, he also secured funding for the design of
Arlington Memorial Bridge
The Arlington Memorial Bridge is a Neoclassical masonry, steel, and stone arch bridge with a central bascule (or drawbridge) that crosses the Potomac River at Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. First proposed in 1886, the bridg ...
, which was completed a decade later.
He was Vice-President and Treasurer of the
Corcoran Gallery
The Corcoran Gallery of Art was an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University.
Overview
The Corcoran School of the Arts & Design ...
.
Personal life
Glover married Annie Cunnigham Poor, daughter of
Charles Henry Poor
Rear Admiral Charles Henry Poor (June 11, 1808 – November 5, 1882) was a U.S. Navy officer of the mid-19th century.
Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1808, Poor entered the Navy in 1825 and served nearly 30 years at sea. During the Civil War, ...
, on January 10, 1878. They had two children, Elizabeth Lindsay Glover and
Charles Carroll Glover Jr. Elizabeth Glover married
René de Marees van Swinderen
Jonkheer, Jhr. Reneke (René) de Marees van Swinderen (6 October 1860, in Groningen (city), Groningen – 17 January 1955, in London) was a Dutch people, Dutch diplomat and politician. He married Elizabeth Lindsay Glover 21 December 1904 in Washin ...
, Dutch ambassador to the United States.
Glover, his wife, their son, and his wife Marion Everett Wise Glover, were all buried in a family grave in
Oak Hill Cemetery.
Legacy
Glover's name is carried by the
Glover-Archbold Park
Glover Archbold Park is a 183-acre, frequently-used, quasi-natural, stream-valley park in Northwest, Washington, D.C., on the western edge of Georgetown University and the Burleith-Hillandale, Glover Park, McLean Gardens, and Westchester neighbor ...
, and by extension, the
Glover Park
Glover Park is a neighborhood in northwest Washington, D.C., about a half mile north of Georgetown and just west of the United States Naval Observatory and Number One Observatory Circle (the Vice President's mansion). Every morning and evening, ...
neighborhood; the
Charles C. Glover Memorial Bridge; Glover Road in Rock Creek Park; and Glover Drive, a small street south of the site of Westover (see below).
His children dedicated a plaque commemorating his key contribution to the construction of the Washington National Cathedral in the church's south nave.
At American University, where Glover was treasurer of the Board of Trustees from 1891-1922, the gate of the main campus on Massachusetts Avenue bears Glover's name. A student award, the Charles C. Glover Award, was established in 1950 and is awarded annually to a senior that combines citizenship with business leadership in service to the university.
Riggs Bank
In the 1880s major shareholders of
Riggs National Bank
Riggs National Bank is a historic former headquarters of Riggs Bank, located at 1503–1505 Pennsylvania Avenue, Northwest, Washington, D.C., in the downtown Washington, D.C. neighborhood.
It was designed by architects York and Sawyer in 1899, co ...
were dissatisfied with antitrust rules and federal banking legislation.
The legislation made it challenging for commercial banks to manage trust funds. In response, the shareholders established the American Security and Trust Company, which was founded in 1889. Where Riggs was the commercial bank arm, American Security and Trust was the trust arm.
When Glover became president, he was involved American Security and Trust Company's creation. When he built the new Riggs building, he gave one wing to its use. American Security and Trust grew in the coming years, and in 1931, moved to a 10-story building across the street.
Westover
Also associated with Glover is the memory of his country estate, Westover. It occupied the whole 30-acre area between what are now Massachusetts Avenue NW, Nebraska Avenue NW, New Mexico Avenue NW, Cathedral Avenue NW, and the Glover-Archbold Park. The mansion of the same name, with entrance at 4300 Massachusetts Avenue, was built in 1896. In 1920, Glover gave the southern half of the estate (with entrance at 4200 Massachusetts Ave) to his son, Charles C. Glover Jr, who named it Orchard Hill and built a large Tudor-style house. After Glover's death, Westover was rented during the 1950s as the Irish Embassy. It was sold in 1959 to the
National Presbyterian Church
The National Presbyterian Church is a Christian congregation of approximately 1,500 members of all ages from the greater metropolitan Washington, D.C., area. The mission statement of the church is "Leading People to Become Faithful Followers of J ...
, which razed the house in 1967 but decided not to build a church there and relocated farther northeast on Nebraska Avenue NW instead. Orchard Hill in turn was razed in 1977 after the death of Glover's son. A number of residential developments were built on the site of Westover, including: The Towers at 4201 Cathedral Ave NW (1960), The Foxhall (1971), Westover Place (late 1970s), Sutton Towers (1979), Embassy Park (1981), Avalon at Foxhall (1982), and the East Campus of American University (under construction in 2015).
Assessment
James M. Goode, a historian of Washington, D.C., wrote of him: "Few if any native Washingtonians have left a more positive and lasting contribution to the city than Charles C. Glover Sr., who gave of his wealth (before the days of income-tax deductions for philanthropy) to the future public good."
Goode also attributes a key role to Glover in the creation of the
National Arboretum by act of Congress in 1927.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glover, Charles C.
1846 births
1936 deaths
American bank presidents
American philanthropists
People from Macon County, North Carolina
Burials at Oak Hill Cemetery (Washington, D.C.)
Philanthropists from North Carolina
Businesspeople from North Carolina
Philanthropists from Washington, D.C.
Businesspeople from Washington, D.C.
20th-century American businesspeople
American people of English descent