Donald Roebling (November 15, 1908 – August 29, 1959) was an eccentric twentieth-century American
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 ...
, engineer,
industrial designer
Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in advance of the manufactur ...
, and
inventor
An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...
.
He was the great-grandson of
John A. Roebling
John Augustus Roebling (born Johann August Röbling; June 12, 1806 – July 22, 1869) was a German-born American civil engineer. He designed and built wire rope suspension bridges, in particular the Brooklyn Bridge, which has been designated as ...
, who began the design of the
Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/ suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River ...
, and the grandson of Colonel
Washington A. Roebling and
Emily Warren Roebling
Emily Warren Roebling (September 23, 1843 – February 28, 1903) was an engineer known for her contributions over a period of more than 10 years to the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge after her husband Washington Roebling developed caiss ...
, who together completed the design and supervised its construction. His father was
John A. Roebling II
John Augustus Roebling II (November 21, 1867 – February 2, 1952) was an American civil engineer and philanthropist. Following his father's death, he became the largest individual shareholder in the family business, John A. Roebling's Sons.
...
.
History
Born in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, Roebling grew up in his family's Boulderwood Mansion in
Bernardsville, New Jersey
Bernardsville () is a borough in Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The borough is nestled in the heart of the Raritan Valley region. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 7,707, .
Roebling built Spottiswoode, now known as the
Donald Roebling Estate
The Donald Roebling Estate, also known as Spottiswoode and Spotswood, is a historic residential estate in Clearwater, within Pinellas County on the West coast of Florida.
History
It was the home of inventor, engineer, industrial designer, and ...
, in
Clearwater, Florida
Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, northwest of Tampa and St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2020 census, the city had a populat ...
, in 1929. The estate and its buildings were added to the
National Register of Historic Places in Pinellas County in 1979.
Roebling died in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
on August 29, 1959, following complications of an earlier gall bladder operation.
Science and invention
Roebling had an interest in science, and sponsored
Paul Bartsch
Paul Bartsch (14 August 1871 Tuntschendorf, Silesia – 24 April 1960 McLean, Virginia) was an American malacologist and carcinologist. He was named the last of those belonging to the "Descriptive Age of Malacology".
Early life
Bartsch emigrat ...
's 1937
Smithsonian marine research expedition.
He was also involved in the establishment of the
Archbold Biological Station
The Archbold Biological Station (ABS) is a research institute with a surrounding estate near Lake Placid, Florida, USA. It includes an extensive area of Florida scrub, a scientifically interesting and highly threatened ecosystem. It was establ ...
.
He is most famous for inventing the
amtrac in 1937, which he originally intended to be a
hurricane
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
rescue device. The
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
awarded Roebling a Certificate of Achievement in recognition of "exceptional accomplishment" for his invention, dubbed the Roebling Alligator. In 1948, he received the
Medal of Merit Several countries award a military or civil medal called Medal of Merit:
* Medal of Merit (Czech Republic)
* Medal of Merit (Denmark)
* Medal of Merit of the Dominican Woman
* Medal of Merit of the National People's Army (East Germany)
* Medal o ...
from President
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
, "for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding service to the United States."
See also
*
*
References
External links
"Roebling's Amphibian" GlobalSecurity.org
GlobalSecurity.org is an American nonpartisan, independent, nonprofit organization that serves as a think tank, and research and consultancy group. Focus
The site is focused on national and international security issues; military analysis, syste ...
. 1987.
"Roebling Alligator Amphibian Tractor" ibiblio
ibiblio (formerly SunSITE.unc.edu and MetaLab.unc.edu) is a "collection of collections", and hosts a diverse range of publicly available information and open source content, including software, music, literature, art, history, science, politic ...
. May 23, 2006.
"Business & Finance: Alligators by Roebling" ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
''. January 11, 1943.
American industrial designers
1908 births
1959 deaths
People from Bernardsville, New Jersey
People from Clearwater, Florida
Scientists from Florida
20th-century American engineers
Engineers from New Jersey
20th-century American inventors
20th-century American philanthropists
Roebling family
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