Richard Beatty Mellon (March 19, 1858 – December 1, 1933), sometimes R.B., part of the

Mellon family The Mellon family is a wealthy and influential American family from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The family includes Andrew Mellon, one of the longest-serving U.S. Treasury Secretaries, along with prominent members in the judicial, banking, financi ...

, was a banker, industrialist, and philanthropist from

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

Biography

He and his brother

Andrew Mellon Andrew William Mellon (; March 24, 1855 – August 26, 1937), sometimes A. W. Mellon, was an American banker, businessman, industrialist, philanthropist, art collector, and politician. From the wealthy Mellon family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylv ...

, sons of Judge

Thomas Mellon Thomas Mellon (February 3, 1813 – February 3, 1908) was an American entrepreneur, lawyer, and judge, best known as the founder of Mellon Bank and patriarch of the Mellon family of Pittsburgh. Early life Mellon was born to farmers Andrew Mell ...

, were frequent business partners. Richard served under Andrew at

Mellon Bank Mellon Financial Corporation was an investment firm which was once one of the world's largest money management firms. Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, it was in the business of institutional and high-net-worth individual asset management, incl ...

, and assumed its presidency in 1921 when Andrew was appointed

Treasury Secretary The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretary of the treasury serves as the principal a ...

. They also made joint philanthropic gifts, notably several large donations to their alma mater, the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

, including creation of the

Mellon Institute of Industrial Research The Mellon Institute of Industrial Research is a former research institute in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, which is now part of Carnegie Mellon University. It was founded in 1913 by Andrew Mellon and Richard B. Mellon as part of the ...

to honor their father, which is now a part of Carnegie Mellon University. Richard B

R.B. served from 1899–1910 as president of the Pittsburgh Reduction Company, renamed the Aluminum Company of America ( Alcoa) in 1907, and was heavily invested in the

Pittsburgh Coal Company The Pittsburgh Terminal Coal Company was a bituminous coal mining company based in Pittsburgh and controlled by the Mellon family. It operated mines in the Pittsburgh Coalfield, including mines in Becks Run and Horning, Pennsylvania. Unusuall ...

, today part of

CONSOL Energy Consol Energy Inc. is an American energy company with interests in coal headquartered in the suburb of Cecil Township, in the Southpointe complex, just outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 2017, Consol formed two separate entities: CNX Resour ...

, where he clashed with

John L. Lewis John Llewellyn Lewis (February 12, 1880 – June 11, 1969) was an American leader of organized labor who served as president of the United Mine Workers of America (UMW) from 1920 to 1960. A major player in the history of coal mining, he was the d ...

and the United Mine Workers.Ingham, John N.
Biographical Dictionary of American Business Leaders
'. Greenwood Press, Westport, 1983. . Later, he was instrumental in forming Mellbank Corporation, a bank holding company, which helped the affiliated banks weather the Great Depression. In 1918, R.B. Mellon organized the Citizens' Committee on City Plan, which sought to improve Pittsburgh through better urban planning and zoning. In honor of his civic efforts, the Air and Waste Management Association recognizes individuals who have made administrative, legislative, and judicial contributions to the field of pollution abatement with the Richard Beatty Mellon Award. In 1931, R.B. Mellon, along with C.C. Macdonald, assumed control of Idlewild Park in Ligonier, Pennsylvania. He was the founder of the Rolling Rock Club. Mellon's philanthropic gifts were primarily church-oriented. In 1926 he established a $15 million pension fund for

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

ministers. He and his wife, Jennie Taylor King, were the major donors to the Cathedral of Hope, the new home for the East Liberty Presbyterian Church, which they and their parents had attended. He died on December 1, 1933, before the new building was completed. The $13.3 million in taxes paid on his estate enabled the state to meet its payroll.Beers, Paul B. ''Pennsylvania Politics Today and Yesterday: The Tolerable Accommodation''. The Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, 1980. p.118. . His children, Sarah Mellon and her younger brother

Richard King Mellon Richard King Mellon (June 19, 1899 – June 3, 1970), commonly known as R.K., was an American financier, general, and philanthropist from Ligonier, Pennsylvania, and part of the Mellon family. Biography The son of Richard B. Mellon, nephew of ...

, were heirs to the family fortune alongside their cousins Paul Mellon and

Ailsa Mellon-Bruce Ailsa Mellon Bruce (June 28, 1901 – August 25, 1969) was a prominent American socialite and philanthropist who established the Avalon Foundation. Early life Ailsa was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on June 28, 1901. She was the daughter of t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mellon, Richard B. Mellon family 1858 births 1933 deaths Presbyterians from Pennsylvania Businesspeople from Pittsburgh American people of Scotch-Irish descent University of Pittsburgh alumni Philanthropists from Pennsylvania American industrialists American bankers