Marshall Field III (September 28, 1893 – November 8, 1956) was an American

investment bank Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort. In finance, the purpose of investing is ...

er, publisher, racehorse owner/breeder, philanthropist, grandson of businessman Marshall Field, heir to the Marshall Field

department store A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...

fortune, and a leading financial supporter and founding board member of Saul Alinsky's community organizing network

Industrial Areas Foundation The Industrial Areas Foundation (IAF) is a national community organizing network established in 1940 by Saul Alinsky, Roman Catholic Bishop Bernard James Sheil and businessman and founder of the '' Chicago Sun-Times'' Marshall Field III. The ...

Early life

Born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Roc ...

, he was the son of Albertine Huck and Marshall Field, Jr. He was raised primarily in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, where he was educated at

Eton College Eton College () is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI of England, Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. i ...

and the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. In 1917, he joined the

1st Illinois Cavalry The 1st Illinois Cavalry Regiment was a cavalry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War and Spanish–American War. Civil War Service Companies "A" to "G" of the 1st Illinois Volunteer Cavalry were mustered int ...

and served with the 122nd Field Artillery in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. He built an estate in 1925.

Early career

On his discharge after the war, Field returned to Chicago where he went to work as a bond salesman at Lee, Higginson & Co. After learning the business, he left to open his own investment business. A director of

Guaranty Trust Co. Guaranty Trust Company may refer to: * Guaranty Trust Holding Company PLC, a multinational financial services group headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria *Morgan Guaranty Trust J.P. Morgan & Co. is a commercial and investment banking institution fou ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, he eventually teamed up with Charles F. Glore and Pierce C. Ward to create the investment banking firm of Marshall Field, Glore, Ward & Co. In 1926, Field left the firm to pursue other interests. Already a recipient of substantial money from the estate of his grandfather Marshall Field, on his 50th birthday he inherited the bulk of the remainder of the family fortune. His brother, Henry Field, who was to have shared in the fortune, had died in 1917.

Publishing industry

He was primarily a publisher, and in late 1941 he founded the '' Chicago Sun'', which later became the ''Chicago Sun-Times''. The primary investor in the newspaper '' PM'', he eventually bought out the other investors to become the publisher. He also created ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of s ...

'' as a weekly magazine supplement for his own paper and for others in the United States. By 1946, ''Parade'' had achieved a circulation of 3.5 million. In 1944, Marshall Field III formed the private holding company Field Enterprises. That same year, he purchased

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pub ...

and

Pocket Books Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books. History Pocket Books produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in the United States in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishin ...

. After his death, his heirs sold the company back to its founders, Richard L. Simon and

M. Lincoln Schuster Max Lincoln Schuster (born Max Schuster) ( ; March 2, 1897 – December 20, 1970) was an American book publisher and the co-founder of the publishing company Simon & Schuster. Schuster was instrumental in the creation of Pocket Books, and the mas ...

, while Leon Shimkin and James M. Jacobson acquired Pocket Books.

Thoroughbred racing

A polo player, Field invested heavily in

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

racehorses in the United States and in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

. Among his successful British horses were three fillies, who won the Irish Oaks, Golden Corn, who won England's Middle Park Stakes and Champagne Stakes in 1921 and the July Cup in 1923. In the United States, Nimba was the 1927 American Champion Three-Year-Old Filly, and Tintagel won the 1935 Futurity Stakes and was voted American Champion Two-Year-Old Colt. In 1926, one year after his estate was built, Marshall Field partnered with

Robert A. Fairbairn The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

, William Woodward, Sr., and

Arthur B. Hancock Arthur Boyd Hancock (June 26, 1875 - April 1, 1957) was a breeder of thoroughbred racehorses who established Claiborne Farm in Paris, Kentucky, United States. Born at Ellerslie Estate in Albemarle County, Virginia, near Charlottesville, Arth ...

to import Sir Gallahad III from France to stand at stud in the United States. One of their horses, named Assignation, born in 1930, was the great-great grandfather of Secretariat. The Marshall Field III Estate is a mansion built in 1925 on Long Island Sound which was designed by

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

John Russell Pope John Russell Pope (April 24, 1874 – August 27, 1937) was an American architecture, architect whose firm is widely known for designing major public buildings, including the National Archives and Records Administration building (completed in 19 ...

. It was built on the grounds of a estate, now called

Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve Caumsett State Historic Park Preserve is a state park on Lloyd Neck, a peninsula extending into the Long Island Sound, in the Village of Lloyd Harbor, New York. It is operated by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preser ...

, which he purchased in 1921. an
''Accompanying 16 photos, exterior and interior, from 1975 and 1976''
/ref> It is a New York State Historic Site.

Philanthropy

Field supported a number of charitable institutions and in 1940 created the Field Foundation. He personally served as president of the Child Welfare League of America. He also donated substantial funds to support 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 ...

symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning co ...

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

and served as its president.

Death and family

Field died in 1956 of

brain cancer A brain tumor occurs when abnormal cells form within the brain. There are two main types of tumors: malignant tumors and benign (non-cancerous) tumors. These can be further classified as primary tumors, which start within the brain, and secon ...

. His widow and third wife, Ruth Pruyn Field, who had previously been married to sportsman Ogden Phipps, died on January 25, 1994, at 86. They had two daughters, Phyllis Field and Fiona Field. By his first wife, Evelyn Marshall (the daughter of Charles Henry Marshall), he had daughters Barbara Field and Bettina Field and son Marshall Field IV. By his second wife, of whom he was the second husband, Audrey Evelyn James (April 21, 1902 - February 14, 1968), whom he married on August 18, 1930, and divorced in

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...

, Washoe County,

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a state in the Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the 7th-most extensive, ...

, in 1934, he left no issue.