Henry Pomeroy Davison Sr. (June 12, 1867 – May 6, 1922) was an American banker and philanthropist.

Biography

Henry Pomeroy Davison was born on June 12, 1867 in

Troy, Pennsylvania Troy is a borough in Bradford County, Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The population was 1,354 at the 2010 census. Children residing in the borough are assigned to attend the Troy Area School District. History The borough ...

, the oldest of the four children of Henrietta and George B. Davison. Henry's mother died when he was nine years old in 1877.

Career

After completing his education he became a bookkeeper in a bank managed by one of his relatives, and at age 21 he gained employment at a bank in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the hometown of his wife. Three years later he moved to New York City, where he was employed by the Astor Place Bank, and sometime later became president of the Liberty National Bank. Several years later he was involved in the founding and formation of the

Bankers Trust Company Bankers Trust was a historic American banking organization. The bank merged with Alex. Brown & Sons in 1997 before being acquired by Deutsche Bank in 1999. Deutsche Bank sold the Trust and Custody division of Bankers Trust to State Street Corpo ...

. In 1909 he became a senior partner at JP Morgan & Company, and in 1910 he was a participant in the secretive meeting on

Jekyll Island Jekyll Island is located off the coast of the U.S. state of Georgia, in Glynn County. It is one of the Sea Islands and one of the Golden Isles of Georgia barrier islands. The island is owned by the State of Georgia and run by a self-sustaining, s ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

that laid the foundation for the creation of the

Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States of America. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a ...

system in 1913.

Involvement with the Red Cross

After the

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entered

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 ...

in 1917, Davison was named chairman of the War Council of the American Red Cross. In this capacity, he led a campaign to win financial support for the Red Cross, quickly raising four million dollars used to fund Red Cross ambulances. In recognition of his service he was awarded the

Distinguished Service Medal Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a high award of a nation. Examples include: *Distinguished Service Medal (Australia) (established 1991), awarded to personnel of the Australian Defence Force for distinguished leadership in action * Distinguishe ...

, one of the few civilians so honored. After the war ended, he pressed for the creation of an international organization to coordinate the work of the different national Red Cross societies. Based on his recommendation, the

League of Red Cross Societies The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is a worldwide humanitarian aid organization that reaches 160 million people each year through its 192-member National Societies. It acts before, during and after disas ...

was founded on May 15, 1919 by the societies of

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, Japan,

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, and the

. Davison, wanted the League of Red Cross Societies to supersede the

International Committee of the Red Cross The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signato ...

(ICRC) in controlling the Red Cross action in international affairs. He argued that:

It should be in reality, and not merely in name an International Committee, a Committee on which there will be representatives from all countries, instead of, as at present, a committee consisting of amiable but somewhat ineffective Geneva gentlemen. That which calls itself "international" has grown rather provincial… New blood, new methods, a new and more comprehensive outlook, these things are necessary.

The League was established in 1919 with Davison as its chairman. However, "Swiss aloofness or unilateralism was hard to overcome", and the relationship between the ICRC and the League became, and remained, a problem for years to come. In 1919, Davison published ''The American Red Cross in the Great War'', a book describing the wartime activities of the Red Cross. He remained chairman of the league until his death in 1922. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (the league's name since 1991) grants the ''Henry Davison Award'' in his memory.

Personal life

On April 13, 1893, he married Kate Trubee (1871–1961). Together, they had two sons, and two daughters: *

Frederick Trubee Davison Frederick Trubee Davison (February 7, 1896 – November 14, 1974) was an American World War I aviator, assistant United States Secretary of War, director of personnel for the Central Intelligence Agency, and president of the American Museum o ...

(1896–1974), was a director of personnel for the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

*Henry Pomeroy Davison Jr. (1898–1961), was a director at

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who married Anne Stillman (1902–1987), daughter of James A. Stillman *Alice Trubee Davison (1899–1983), who married Artemus Lamb Gates (1895–1976) in 1922 *Frances Pomeroy Davison (1903–1969), who married Ward Cheney, a son of Charles Cheney, a partner at J.P. Morgan & Company, in 1926. Davison died on May 6, 1922, at the age of 54 at his family estate, Peacock Point in

Locust Valley Locust Valley is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 3,406 at the 2010 census. History The rollin ...

, Long Island, while undergoing an operation to remove a brain tumor. He had undergone two prior failed brain operations. He left the bulk of his estate to his wife to be held in trust.

References

;Notes ;Sources * Henry P. Davison: ''The American Red Cross in the Great War.'' The Macmillan Company, New York 1919

External links